Andersen Consulting and Biztro, Inc. Team To Deliver Outsourced Web Applications Platform to Fortune 500 Companies.

Business Editors/High Tech Writers

PALO ALTO and SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 17, 2000

Alliance Will Help Blue-Chip Companies Better Serve

Their Small-Business Customers

Andersen Consulting, a leading global management and technology consultancy, and Biztro,(TM) Inc., a leading provider of online services for emerging businesses, today announced a strategic alliance in which the two companies will collaborate to integrate Biztro's Business Operations Platform(TM) with the Web offerings of Biztro's leading blue-chip partners.

Andersen Consulting will serve as a preferred provider of professional technology consulting services, integrating Biztro's platform -- which provides core business services to small businesses on an outsourced basis -- with the online services of Biztro's strategic partners. Andersen Consulting, which is advising Biztro on business strategy and insurance operations, will also be available to help Biztro's business service providers connect with Biztro and small businesses.

In addition, AC Ventures, the venture capital unit of Andersen Consulting, has taken a minority equity stake in Biztro, serving as an investor in a third round of funding for the company.

The Biztro platform integrates core business services -- such as procurement, payroll, telecommunications, financial services and human resources -- enabling leading corporations to offer a customized, comprehensive operations solution to their small-businesses customers without having to develop and support the platform on their own. Biztro licenses its Business Operations Platform as a value-added service to a network of Fortune 500 companies and large strategic partners with existing small-business customers. As a result, large businesses provide a valued service to their small-business customers; small-business customers benefit from the economies of scale enjoyed by large organizations; and service providers gain an efficient channel for reaching the small-business market.

"By teaming with Biztro we will help our larger clients who serve the small-business market, as well as our small business clients who want to streamline their operations and improve workflow," said Lawrence Leisure, a managing partner of Andersen Consulting's Dot-Com Launch Centres. "This alliance is consistent with our strategy of providing our clients with access to innovative ideas and services that will help them succeed in the eEconomy."

"Bringing together Biztro's strategic partners and Andersen Consulting's client network will be of tremendous benefit to small businesses," said Navin Chaddha, chairman and CEO of Biztro. "The alliance will provide small businesses with best-of-class core business processes, provide full integration among Biztro's partners, and enable large companies to offer the Business Operations Platform to their small-business customers."

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, the small-business sector accounts for approximately half of the nation's gross national product. In addition, according to International Data Corporation (IDC), there are 7.5 million businesses with fewer than 100 employees each and 23 million income-generating home offices in the United States. IDC estimates that these two groups, together called "small businesses," will spend more than $107 billion online annually by 2002.

About Andersen Consulting

Andersen Consulting is an $8.9 billion global management and technology consulting organization whose mission is to help its clients create their future. The firm works with clients from a wide range of industries to bring about far-reaching change by aligning their people, processes and technology with their strategy. Andersen Consulting has more than 65,000 people in 48 countries. Its home page address is http://www.ac.com.

AC Ventures, the venture capital unit of Andersen Consulting, works with entrepreneurs to build companies that transform industries and generate superior economic returns. The unit provides a unique venture capital option that can help start-ups accelerate growth and market penetration. Based in Palo Alto, California, AC Ventures expects to invest up to $1 billion globally over the next five years.

About Biztro, Inc.

Biztro, Inc., headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., was founded in March 1999 to address the fastest-growing segment of the B2B eCommerce and eServices marketplace: small business. Biztro is transforming the way small businesses run their operations by integrating leading service providers into its powerful Business Operations Platform, which dramatically increases small business buying power and improves back-office administration. Biztro distributes its Business Operations Platform through a network of strategic partners. Biztro's supplier partners, key to Biztro's business model, include best-of-class companies in various industries that service the small business market. Biztro is funded by leading organizations, including Andersen Consulting, Bank of America, SOFTBANK Venture Capital and Marsh & McLennan Capital. For more information, visit http://www.biztro.com or contact Biztro public relations at [e-mail].