BlueLight.com Taps AppGenesys' SiteStress Service to Prepare for Launch of Full Shopping Site; Key eBusiness Process Flows To Be Tested Prior to Hard Launch.

Business/Technology Editors

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 30, 2000

AppGenesys, the leading Management Services Provider (MSP) for Global 2000 companies, today announced that BlueLight.com has selected AppGenesys' SiteStress service to stress test BlueLight.com's full online shopping site, which launches in October.

The SiteStress service will drive concurrent visitor tests, simulating peak loads, through BlueLight.com's application and database servers.

With the results from the virtual simulation process of stress testing key eBusiness functionality, BlueLight.com engineers can tune the application and database environments to ensure they scale to meet target ranges of users. The stress test will be executed in a BlueLight.com controlled staging environment and will validate the load the site can handle as BlueLight.com prepares for hard launch.

The SiteStress service is an automated load simulation service delivered over the Internet from AppGenesys' Virtual Test Facilities. The SiteStress service provides global eBusinesses full-scale stress testing of a Web site's infrastructure, ideally on a copy-exact SiteStage platform. Using the SiteStress service in conjunction with the SiteStage platform enables an eBusiness, for the first time, to stress test on an exact replica of its live Web site without compromising the performance of the live Web site.

"This holiday season, consumers are going to have incredibly high expectations for all online purchases; one misstep could spell disaster for an e-tailer," said Brian Sugar, chief web officer of BlueLight.com. "We are utilizing AppGenesys' SiteStress technology to make sure we can deliver a shopping experience that not just meets, but exceeds, the customers expectations."

"Stress testing an eBusiness initiative in a copy-exact staging environment will soon become standard operating procedure for Global 1000 businesses that want to protect their brands by deploying web sites that perform to customers expectations and deliver on each brand's promise of serving their customers needs" said Benjamin Chen, chairman and CTO of AppGenesys. "As opposed to the frequent news stories regarding companies being unprepared for high traffic on the web, BlueLight.com clearly has its customers' interests in mind and will deliver a Web experience that has been tested to handle the anticipated holiday activity."

AppGenesys' services allow clients to gain deep insight into their Web systems under live conditions - "bend and break" points, configuration limitations, capacity management intelligence-- and ensures that once live, the sites deliver the quality of experience necessary to keep customers coming back. The SiteStress service is conducted on a production, copy-exact staging environment that duplicates the live environment, allowing testing to occur without compromising the live site. Clients use this environment only as long as they need it, to save the capital outlay and configuration expenses. The SiteStress Service utilizes AppGenesys's state-of-the-art Virtual Testing Facilities to apply real-world loads to mission-critical web systems. AppGenesys follows up testing with tuning services that optimize application performance and 24x7 performance monitoring services in the live environment.

When BlueLight.com's full online shopping site goes live in October, it will feature hundreds of thousands of products, virtually expanding Kmart's store shelves on the Internet. The site will include several Web exclusives found only on BlueLight.com, including the popular Martha Stewart Everyday line of products for the home, bath, kitchen, bedroom and baby.

About AppGenesys

AppGenesys, the leading Management Services Provider for Global 2000 eBusiness, focuses on the complex process of staging, testing, tuning, deploying, monitoring and scaling Web applications for clients. The company offers a scaleable suite of standardized hardware, software and applications management solutions that accelerate implementation and improve site performance. AppGenesys manages clients' Internet infrastructure operations through a global framework that ensures speed, reliability and scalability. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., AppGenesys has secured $50 million of first-round funding from Chase Capital Partners, DynaFund Ventures, Flatiron Partners, Inktomi Corporation, Intel Capital, iXL, Kelso & Company, NeoCarta Ventures and Softbank Venture Capital.

About BlueLight.com

Based in San Francisco, BlueLight.com is an independent company formed to leverage the substantial assets of Kmart Corporation, the nation's second-largest discount retailer. As Kmart's e-commerce venture, BlueLight.com's goal is to meet the online shopping needs of the more than 30 million Americans who visit a Kmart retail location each week, turning those consumers into BlueLight.com customers by offering "Great Brands at BlueLight Prices."

BlueLight.com's shopping site (www.bluelight.com) features thousands of products across multiple categories, including Martha Stewart Everyday(R) and other nationally recognized brands. BlueLight.com's Totally Free Internet Service, powered by Spinway, Inc., is the fastest growing Internet service in U.S. history with more than four million subscribers after just nine months. BlueLight.com was formed in 1999 by Kmart Corporation and SOFTBANK Venture Capital with an investment by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. For more information visit www.bluelight.com.