Analyst Study Quantifies Benefits of NetIQ Systems and Security Management Solutions.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 21, 2003

Customers See 600 Percent ROI, Payback Period of 156 Days

and 17.5 Percent Reduction in System Downtime 

NetIQ Corp. (Nasdaq: NTIQ), a leading provider of Systems & Security Management and Web Analytics solutions, today announced the results of an IDC study(1), that highlights the return on investment (ROI) and other benefits achieved by customers using NetIQ(R) systems and security management solutions. Principal findings of the study, which was sponsored by NetIQ, show significant cost savings, reduction in downtime and improvement in IT and user productivity that result in an average ROI of 600 percent, an average payback period of only 156 days and an average reduction in system downtime of 17.5 percent. These results demonstrate NetIQ's longstanding record of developing systems and security management solutions that offer customers fast implementation time resulting in immediate value.

IDC surveyed a cross-section of NetIQ systems and security management customers, ranging from smaller organizations to larger enterprises, across several industries. IDC sought to measure the business benefits provided by NetIQ solutions in terms of real cost savings, productivity gains and time-to-value. Specific customer benefits cited include:

-- Annual cost savings of three times the NetIQ software purchase

price

-- Reduction of end-user productivity loss by 10.8 percent on an

annual basis

-- Deployment in two to three days with functionality that had

taken competing vendors five to six months to achieve

"Doing more with less has become the rule in many IT installations and considerations such as time to value, short payback periods and fast ROI have become integral parts of IT selection criteria for management software," said Tim Grieser, program vice president for Enterprise System Management at IDC. "The NetIQ product strategy resonates well with these realities in the current market climate."

IDC analysts also found value in converging systems and security management, an approach NetIQ is making possible for its customers. Driving this trend is a desire to eliminate existing silos of management in favor of a more unified approach, which increases the performance, availability and security of systems and applications.

"NetIQ solutions are designed to install in minutes, configure in hours and deploy enterprise-wide in days requiring little to no professional services to support," said Chris Pick, vice president of market strategy at NetIQ. "This research reinforces and quantifies what customers have been telling us--NetIQ solutions provide fast time to value."

To obtain a copy of the IDC study, please go to www.netiq.com.

About the NetIQ Systems Management Solution

AppManager(R) Suite, NetIQ's systems management solution, assures the performance and availability of mission-critical servers and applications across Windows, Linux and UNIX platforms through proactive monitoring and quick diagnostics and recovery. It also helps optimize the utilization and productivity of IT resources through advanced reporting, analysis and automation. In addition to delivering the broadest and deepest management view into the IT infrastructure, AppManager provides a robust architecture that is easy to use, quick to deploy and capable of scaling to thousands of servers.

About the NetIQ Security Management Solutions

Focused on providing the competitive advantage necessary to survive and thrive in today's real-time business environment, NetIQ offers security management solutions that deliver rapid time-to-value for managing risk and protecting IT infrastructures. NetIQ(R) VigilEnt(TM) Security Management solutions help assure compliance with security policies, government regulations and audit requirements; enable real-time detection, analysis, and response to internal and external threats; and deliver better efficiency through process automation and task delegation.

About NetIQ

Founded in 1995, NetIQ Corp. (Nasdaq: NTIQ) is a leading provider of Systems & Security Management and Web Analytics solutions. Historically focused on the Windows management market, NetIQ now delivers cross-platform solutions that enhance business performance resulting in higher returns on infrastructure and Web investments. NetIQ products are sold across all continents directly and through a network of authorized NetIQ partners and resellers. The company is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with development and operational personnel in Houston, Texas; Raleigh, N.C.; Bellevue, Wash.; Auckland, New Zealand and Portland, Ore. For more information, please visit NetIQ's Web site at http://www.netiq.com or call [phone].

NetIQ, AppManager and VigilEnt are trademarks or registered trademarks of NetIQ Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

(1)"Enhancing IT Productivity and Improving ROI with NetIQ Management Software," by Tim Grieser, Charles J. Kolody and Randy Perry, IDC (August 2003).