Asera Announces European Expansion, Led by Gene Greiner, President, and Michael Hunt, Vice President.

Business Editors, High-Tech Writers

BELMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 11, 2000

Asera Retains McKinsey and Company to Assist in

Building the Foundation for Asera's European Operations

Asera, Inc., a leading provider of Internet solutions for the business-to-business demand chain, today announced the company's expansion into Europe to address the e-business needs of the European marketplace.

Asera will initially open offices in Munich, Germany and London, United Kingdom to support customers across Europe. Gene Greiner and Michael Hunt will serve as President and Vice President, respectively, to spearhead the European initiative. Asera has also retained McKinsey and Company, an independent management consulting firm, to support Asera's European launch and initial business-building activities. Asera will officially launch its European operations on May 9, 2000 in London and on May 11, 2000 in Munich.

"Asera's expansion into Europe is perfectly timed with the rapidly growing demand for demand chain solutions in the European market. An increasing number of European companies realize that being competitive today requires activating a demand chain solution that enables them to automate and accelerate their marketing, sales, and support processes--increasing channel effectiveness, revenue growth, and customer loyalty," said Warren Weiss, President and CEO, Asera. "The Asera eService is the only solution in the market that uniquely allows them to achieve these benefits. The eService, combined with Gene Greiner and Michael Hunt's industry expertise and leadership, will enable European businesses to take advantage of a superior demand chain solution across the globe."

As President of Asera's European operations, Gene Greiner brings strong international management consulting talent as well as worldwide enterprise application software sales/marketing and partnership experience to Asera. Prior to joining Asera, Greiner served as Co-Founder, President, and CEO of Chicago Management Consulting, where he led the firm's strategy, sales and marketing and partnership activities. He also served as Senior Manager at Ernst & Young in Chicago, where he developed Ernst & Young's global SAP practice and SAP AG in Walldorf, Germany. Greiner speaks English, German and French fluently and is proficient in Spanish. He earned a Dipl-Inf. in Computer Science from the FH Worms and a Dipl.-Btrw. from the BA Ravensburg, Germany.

Michael Hunt, who as Vice President will lead Asera's sales, marketing, and business development activities in Europe, brings a depth of domestic and international application software experience and leadership to Asera. Prior to Asera, Hunt held senior international management positions at Oracle, Marcam, Prism Solutions, and Ross Systems. In addition, Hunt led the development of the international operations of Cincom Systems, Management Science America, and Intrepid Systems. Hunt holds a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Manitoba in Canada.

"Asera's entry into Europe brings tremendous value to European businesses. Although European enterprises have traditionally sought supply-side solutions to help reduce costs and streamline their procurement operations, many now realize that these solutions alone won't help them grow revenue and achieve market leadership," said Greiner. "Asera provides both the thought leadership and technology innovation companies need to develop successful e-businesses and a sustainable competitive advantage. I look forward to leading our European team."

McKinsey & Company, which is involved in a number of e-commerce related project efforts with Fortune 500 companies, will support the launch and initial ramp-up of Asera's entrance into Europe. The company will assist in business-building activities including prospect qualification, partner negotiations, and recruitment of full-time Asera personnel in Europe.

"McKinsey brings its strategic vision and e-commerce expertise to our partnership," said Hunt. "We are thrilled to have a world-class organization like McKinsey help build the foundation for Asera's expansion abroad."

About Asera, Inc.

Asera provides high-value Internet solutions for the business-to-business demand chain--the process of marketing, selling and supporting products through distribution channels. Delivered as a managed service on a pay-as-you-use basis, our unique offering, the Asera eService, is a high-impact e-business solution that improves channel effectiveness, sales volume and customer loyalty. Whether companies go to market via direct and indirect channels or are building a Web-based marketplace, the Asera eService can be rapidly configured and personalized to support each unique, differentiated channel strategy. Based on an open, modular architecture, the Asera eService delivers personalized functionality on demand, and can quickly incorporate best-in-class industry innovations to adapt to business change in Internet time. With the Asera eService, companies can activate their channels faster, deliver unique value immediately and adapt their e-business ahead of the competition. Asera, Inc. can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.asera.com.