BenefitPort Selects OutlookSoft's Everest to Implement its Financial Planning, Budgeting, and Reporting Processes.

Business/Technology Editors

STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 22, 2000

BenefitPort also taps into OutlookSoft's consulting organization

for a custom revenue tracking and recognition application

OutlookSoft Corporation (www.outlooksoft.com), a leading provider of web-based business analytic solutions and professional services, today announced that BenefitPort, the leading provider of marketing services and Internet-based sales solutions for the group insurance industry, will use Everest(TM) to implement its financial planning, budgeting, and reporting processes.

OutlookSoft also said it will develop a custom application for BenefitPort that will operate in conjunction with Everest and enable the company's managers to better track and recognize revenue.

BenefitPort, which signed on with OutlookSoft after evaluating multiple competitive solutions, chose Everest because of its ability to incorporate strategic business information into its Internet-based budgeting and analysis functionality. When making its decision, BenefitPort also cited Everest's open standards architecture, which is based on Microsoft's standards leveraging Microsoft(R) SQL Server and Microsoft Analysis Services, formerly known as Microsoft SQL Server OLAP Services.

"Due to our rapid growth and recent acquisitions, the need to establish centralized budgeting processes and control became a critical need for the future success of the business. More importantly, our business presents challenges in tracking and recognizing revenue, which is vital to the growth of our business," says Keith Hopper, director of financial planning at BenefitPort. "Soon we will benefit from an integrated revenue recognition and planning system that will allow us to align our corporate objectives with key performance indicators, perform complex analysis, and report real-time budgeting and performance information.

"We expect to see a significant return on our Everest investment due to increased operational efficiencies and improved management effectiveness. Eliminating multiple rounds of data entry will streamline the budgeting process, while improved revenue tracking will help the management team recognize growth opportunities and enable strategically sound reactions to changing market conditions. "

OutlookSoft's client-driven, subscription-based pricing model

Unlike software vendors that require companies to purchase applications - and make a sizable up-front investment - OutlookSoft offers Everest on a subscription basis. Subscription commitments range from three to five years, with pricing scaled according to the commitment term and number of seats licensed.

"Our pricing model is very different from our competitors' for a good reason. We have structured our pricing to better meet the needs of our clients and offer companies, such as BenefitPort, fewer barriers to obtain Everest. To date, our experience indicates that many companies find OutlookSoft's pricing model an attractive alternative to traditional software licensing," explains Craig Schiff, president and CEO of OutlookSoft. "We expect that our pricing will contribute to our continued success with companies of all sizes as we pursue our goal of being on every manager's desktop."

In addition to subscription-based pricing, OutlookSoft offers Everest as a hosted solution for companies that do not wish to make investments in substantial technology infrastructure or do not have the technical expertise on staff to maintain an in-house application.

About Everest

Everest is an Internet-based enterprise budgeting and performance analysis solution that allows users to retain the flexibility and ease of use of existing Microsoft Excel spreadsheets while maintaining the control of a centrally administrated OLAP database. Everest enables organizations to build "actionable budgets" that reflect corporate strategy and establish both commitment and responsibility from all individuals involved. Using Everest, organizations can leverage the Internet to build budgets that go beyond the numbers of traditional budgeting solutions. They also can transform their lengthy and cumbersome budgeting processes into dynamic, flexible management tools that guide them in achieving their corporate goals.

About BenefitPort

BenefitPort is the leading provider of marketing services and Internet-based sales solutions for the group insurance industry. The Company combines a traditional network of strong general agencies with its premier Internet portal for end-to-end electronic transactions and technology-enabled tools for the broker. BenefitPort's product portfolio includes group health insurance (HMOs, PPOs, Indemnity Insurance, etc.), group life insurance, group disability insurance, group dental plans and more.

About OutlookSoft Corporation

OutlookSoft Corporation provides groundbreaking, Internet-based analytic application software, delivered through its Manager's Analytic Portal(TM) (MAP(TM)) technology. Founded by industry veterans, the company helps its clients dramatically improve their corporate performance by extending the scalability, flexibility, and accessibility of the Internet to business analytic applications. OutlookSoft is located in Stamford, Connecticut and can be reached by phone at [phone] or via the Internet at www.outlooksoft.com.