BellSouth Forms Network Consulting Alliance, Acquires Equity Stake in Predictive Systems, Inc.

News/Assignment Editors

ComNet 2000

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 25, 2000

Strategic alliance preps customer networks for rigorous

e-business demands

          Editors' note: The following BellSouth Corporation press
          release is one of three releases being issued today on
          Business Wire. Please be sure to review all three
          announcements to get the full story of BellSouth's new
          corporate emphasis on delivering a &uot;best-of-breed,&uot; turnkey
          e-business infrastructure to business customers. (Today's
          releases include: BellSouth Forms Network Consulting
          Alliance, Acquires Equity Stake in Predictive Systems, Inc.;
          BellSouth and Internet Security Systems Team Up to Offer
          Total Managed Security Solution; and BellSouth Guarantees
          Businesses Unparalleled Dedicated Internet Service.)

BellSouth (NYSE: BLS) and Predictive Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRDS) a leading network consulting firm, announced today a strategic alliance to enhance BellSouth's offerings to businesses and emerging technology companies joining the e-business marketplace. Additionally, BellSouth made an equity investment by purchasing shares in Predictive Systems' initial public offering. The alliance and equity investment in Predictive Systems is the latest move by BellSouth to complement its reliable network infrastructure with the network consulting services many business customers need to compete in today's Internet-driven economy.

With business-to-business Internet commerce projected to account for $2.8 trillion of domestic purchasing by 2003(a), companies are scrambling to conduct a significant portion of business over their network. BellSouth's strategic alliance with Predictive Systems helps companies enable their networks for success in the e-business arena.

BellSouth's equity investment in Predictive Systems marks the beginning of future complementary investments in companies that will enhance BellSouth's e-business offerings. The alliance fortifies BellSouth's current Enterprise Network Consulting services, furthering the company's foray into the network consulting services market, which analyst firm International Data Corporation predicts will grow to $6 billion worldwide in 2003.

&uot;Network readiness is vital as today's companies focus on enhancing their business with electronic business processes and e-commerce initiatives,&uot; said Donna Lee, president of marketing for BellSouth. &uot;Many companies are focusing on the transaction aspect of e-business but ignoring the supporting infrastructure that allows that commerce to occur. Businesses are learning quickly that network readiness is the key enabler of e-commerce.&uot;

BellSouth's alliance with Predictive Systems will help companies ready their network infrastructure to meet the availability, performance and demands of e-business. Core professional services available include:

--   Network Readiness -- Assesses a network's ability to support
     anticipated e-commerce initiatives. The integrated assessment
     covers Internetworking infrastructure, enterprise management and
     business justification.
--   Performance Management -- Conducts a baseline assessment of
     existing networks for performance improvements. With
     sophisticated network modeling tools and mathematical situation
     modeling, consultants can simulate the network under various
     &uot;what if&uot; scenarios and make recommendations for optimal network
     performance today and six to 12 months out.
--   Design and Planning -- Maps business requirements against network
     capabilities to determine optimal network design. The practice
     revolves around providing designs for high-performance global
     networks using ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) and other
     advanced technologies.
--   Network Management -- Arms businesses with the ability to manage
     their networks online. Engineers provide complete network
     management capabilities, from designing and building a Network
     Operations Center to developing the processes needed to manage
     the network from a central location.

Predictive Systems will serve as BellSouth's preferred provider of network consulting for business customers. Companies can contact BellSouth as their single point of accountability for e-business needs, reducing the investment in time and resources needed to implement an effective solution.

BellSouth and Predictive Systems will assess a company's network needs, map those requirements against current network capabilities and conduct an in-depth analysis examining critical business issues such as readiness, risk and return on investment. BellSouth engineers will work with Predictive Systems consultants to design, implement and manage a detailed network solution that fully supports Internet, intranet and extranet business applications. Separately, BellSouth currently utilizes Predictive Systems for internal network consulting.

&uot;The proliferation of trading communities, Application Service Providers and e-business opportunities is driving the need for greater network bandwidth,&uot; said Ron Pettengill, chairman and chief executive officer of Predictive Systems. &uot;Companies that want to be successful in the long-term need to invest in assessing, protecting, enhancing and integrating their network infrastructure. We're pleased to work with the extensive customer base of a company like BellSouth that has such high customer satisfaction ratings and has excelled in its development of e-business solutions. Our combined capabilities will give business customers a full range of networking solutions from a single, experienced source.&uot;

BellSouth delivers the world-class Internet infrastructure and services companies expect. In an independent survey conducted by Survey.com for Inter@ctive Week, BellSouth's business Internet services were recognized as garnering the highest level of satisfied customers over all other major global providers. In addition to managing over 1,500 customer web sites and nearly 3,000 Wide Area Network (WAN) sites, BellSouth provides web development and a variety of Internet access options.

For more information on network consulting from BellSouth, companies should contact their BellSouth account representative, call 1-877-954-7827 or e-mail inquiries to [e-mail].

About Predictive Systems, Inc.

Predictive Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRDS) is a network consulting firm focused on the design, performance, management, and security of business-critical computing networks. The firm's proprietary BusinessFirstTM methodology is designed to address the functional, technical, and business challenges of developing large-scale, highly complex network projects, while ensuring that technology decisions support business goals. Predictive Systems' Fortune 1000 clients span the financial services, telecommunications, publishing, manufacturing, insurance and pharmaceutical industries, and include Bear Stearns, BellSouth, Cisco Systems, DLJDirect, First Union, MCI WorldCom, Qwest Communications and Pfizer. Headquartered in New York City, Predictive Systems has regional offices throughout the United States. Its international operations are managed from the firm's office in London, United Kingdom.

About BellSouth

BellSouth is a $25 billion communications services company. It provides telecommunications, wireless communications, cable and digital TV, advertising and publishing, and Internet and data services to nearly 36 million customers in 20 countries worldwide. BellSouth's Web site is located at http://www.bellsouth.com.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Predictive Systems, the Predictive Systems logo and BusinessFirst are trademarks of Predictive Systems, Inc. All other brands or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

(a) According to December report issued by The Boston Consulting

Group.