CIO Solutions Leverages SilverBack's IT Monitoring Software to Add Valuable Service to Portfolio.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

BILLERICA, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 27, 2002

Cottage Health System is One of the First Companies to Benefit

From Profitable Remote IT Management Services From CIO Solutions

SilverBack Technologies, Inc., the industry's leading provider of integrated network, system and application monitoring solutions, today announced that California-based, CIO Solutions, Inc., is using SilverBack's InfoCare software to monitor multiple customer IT infrastructures, on a 24x7 basis. CIO Solutions, a computer and network integrator that provides customized information technology consulting to more than 40 companies in the central coast, Tri-Counties region of California, selected SilverBack's InfoCare based on its flexibility, simplicity and unbeatable price point. Prior to going live with InfoCare, CIO Solutions evaluated a number of network monitoring tools and software solutions including Tivoli's TME and Nortel Network's Optivity Network Management System, and determined that the SilverBack solution provided the appropriate level of functionality at the lowest price point.

"For many of our clients we are their de-facto IT staff, and they count on us to maintain their IT health on a 24x7 basis," said Andrew West, vice president, Engineering Services, at CIO Solutions, Inc. "We quickly realized the importance of having an IT monitoring package that would enable us to proactively capture the information needed to effectively diagnose and fix network, system and application problems. With SilverBack's InfoCare, we have gained the ability to identify IT problems and make recommendations to our clients, in many cases, before they are even aware of them."

CIO Solutions has begun using SilverBack's InfoCare to monitor performance and availability trending information at one of its longest standing clients, Cottage Health System. Cottage Health System, founded in 1996, is the parent organization of Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, Goleta Valley Hospital and Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital, and handles more than 87,000 patients a year in the Tri-Counties area of California. For Cottage Health System, CIO Solutions provides maintenance for most of its hardware such as PCs, monitors, printers and scanners. In addition, CIO network specialists and certified engineers worked closely with Cottage's Information System's staff and Advanced Cable Systems personnel to install a wireless network throughout the three hospital system; which increased mobility and flexibility for doctors and the nursing staff through the use of laptops, handheld PDAs and other wireless devices.

"One of the very best aspects of working with CIO Solutions is the flexibility of staffing; CIO can meet our ever changing daily requirements," said Alberto Kywi, chief information officer at Cottage Health System. "We've noticed increased productivity since CIO began using InfoCare as part of its ongoing operations support for our network servers and WAN. We have always had complete confidence in the solutions CIO has delivered to Cottage, and with the new proactive IT monitoring capability they have recently implemented, our network and system users are enjoying minimum down time."

SilverBack's fully integrated network, system and application Dashboard and remotely maintained software enables CIO Solutions' certified network and consulting professionals to be more customer-facing, which translates to ongoing cost-savings and improved customer satisfaction. CIO Solutions leverages InfoCare to improve their ability to deliver existing services and sell new managed services to clients like Cottage Health System, in the Tri-Counties area. CIO Solutions has been satisfying clients in the Tri-Counties region of California since 1986. Its solutions team members' experience spans all aspects of Information Technology including short and long-term planning, infrastructure, applications, and training. By focusing on long-term relationships with its clients, CIO Solutions understands business needs, and provides best-of-breed technologies as the standard for top-notch IT outsourcing.

"InfoCare's ease-of-use and robust functionality, as well as our unique software delivery model, continue to gain acceptance from leading IT support vendors, end-users and service providers," said James Hare, vice president of Business Development for SilverBack. "For companies such as CIO Solutions, they're able to round out their existing portfolios with a valuable, revenue-generating, remote IT monitoring services that are comprehensive and cost-effective."

About CIO Solutions, Inc.

CIO Solutions is a computer network integrator that provides customized information technology consulting, services, and products which enable their clients to focus on and perform their core business more efficiently and effectively. Headquartered in Santa Barbara, California, CIO Solutions has been satisfying clients in the Tri-Counties area since 1986.

About SilverBack's Strategic Partner Program

SilverBack's Strategic Partner Program provides service providers with a fully integrated, Web-based IT management solution, enabling them to quickly and profitably deliver Remote IT Management Services to their customers. As either a Platinum or Gold member, partners can bundle SilverBack's industry-proven, InfoCare software with their own unique customized services. In addition to managing multiple customer IT environments from a single InfoCare appliance, partners can also use InfoCare as a value-add service to better understand their clients' network, system and application environments, enabling them to quickly identify areas that require additional hardware, software, bandwidth and/or specialized services.

About SilverBack

SilverBack Technologies, Inc., is a leading innovator of affordable, fast and easy software-based IT monitoring solutions, which deliver network, system and application information through a single Web-based console. SilverBack's InfoCare enables service providers and mid-tier enterprise customers to proactively monitor their IT computing environments, avoid costly downtime and improve Quality of Service (QoS) at a fraction of the cost of traditional IT monitoring solutions.

Headquartered in Billerica, Mass., SilverBack Technologies derives its name from the eldest member of the African mountain gorilla species due largely in part to the defining characteristics that the gorilla possesses including leadership, loyalty, adaptability, dependability and an on-going commitment to protect other members of the gorilla band. SilverBack is a patron of the Gorilla Foundation, which promotes the protection, preservation and propagation of gorillas. For more information on SilverBack, please visit our Web site at www.silverbacktech.com.