CSI Selects Vantive Over Competitors for Enterprise-Wide Front-Office Automation System.

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 10, 1998--The Vantive Corporation (NASDAQ:VNTV), a leader in the front-office automation software market, today announced that Computational Systems, Inc., (CSI), a leading developer and producer of predictive maintenance hardware and software, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Emerson Electric Company, has implemented Vantive Sales, Vantive Support and Vantive FieldService for its enterprise-wide sales and customer support system.

The new Vantive system will be used by 160 sales and support professionals, including more than 60 mobile users, located throughout the United States. Within the year, CSI expects the number of mobile sales and field service professionals using the Vantive system to double. Future plans include deploying the Vantive system internationally, to more than 25 CSI distributors located throughout the globe.

The Vantive Enterprise software will be integrated with CSI's MRP and accounting system, Fourth Shift, providing CSI with an enterprise-wide customer information system that encompasses order entry, manufacturing planning, accounting, shipping, and customer service and support.

The new Vantive system will enable sales and support representatives to easily access and share customer and product information, maximizing their productivity, ultimately improving sales results and customer loyalty.

Vantive Sales will enable CSI's direct sales force, including a number of mobile reps, to devote more time to selling and less time with administrative tasks, by giving them immediate access to current information about customers, competitors, products and pricing. The company expects the Vantive system to significantly increase selling time -- up to two additional days each month for each sales rep.

"Within days of implementing Vantive we received rave reviews from the sales force," said Shawn Carson, director of Customer Service for CSI. "One rep referred to the Vantive customer database before visiting a customer and was completely up to date on some network issues that had just surfaced. The customer was extremely impressed."

CSI selected Vantive Support and Vantive Field Service to increase the satisfaction of its base of more than 8,000 customer contacts. The company will use the Vantive system to track and manage information and support requests and collect valuable feedback that can be used to improve documentation, training or product design.

Unlike many support organizations that strive to increase the volume of calls handled by the support staff, CSI is focused on customer loyalty, obtained by resolving customer issues as quickly as possible and consistently providing thorough follow up. To ensure that customers receive excellent service, CSI surveys customers on a weekly basis.

"Vantive provides the flexibility we need to support our products, which are complex and highly technical," added Carson. "Many of our customers are extremely large manufacturing operations, and we often have many contacts within one organization. Tracking support requests can be a challenge, and we needed a robust infrastructure and centralized customer database -- Vantive best meets our needs. Also, sharing customer information throughout the organization has been extremely valuable, especially to our sales force."

Prior to implementing the Vantive system, CSI was using standalone sales automation and support systems with separate customer databases. None of the customer information from these systems could be integrated with the company's accounting and manufacturing system, which resulted in redundant or inconsistent customer information. CSI required an integrated system that could serve both the sales and support organizations and enable the sharing of customer information throughout the enterprise.

CSI selected Vantive Enterprise based on the products' easy-to-use features, ability to seamlessly integrate with other systems and functions across the company, its multi-tiered architecture, flexibility, and ease of upgrades and maintenance. Vantive's commitment to providing outstanding support to its customers was another key factor in CSI's selection of Vantive.

"CSI is a leader in using front-office automation to increase sales performance and customer loyalty," said Phillip Dunkelberger, chief marketing officer at Vantive. "We are proud CSI selected Vantive as its software partner. CSI's market leadership is a prime example of the advantage that is achieved by using an integrated front-office automation suite."

About CSI

Computational Systems, Inc., founded in 1984 and based in Knoxville, Tenn., is the world's leading designer, producer, and marketer of condition-monitoring products and services for large, continuous process manufacturers and utilities.

About The Vantive Corporation

Vantive is a worldwide leader in the front-office automation software market with more than 650 customers and $117 million revenue in 1997. Vantive's vision is to help companies improve sales performance and create customers for life.

The Vantive Enterprise is an integrated suite of web-enabled software that automates sales, marketing, call center, help desk and field service operations, and provides the foundation of customer asset management. Vantive Enterprise is differentiated by its rich functionality; proven mobile solutions; component-based, high-performance architecture; and time- and cost-effective implementations.

Founded in 1990, Vantive is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., and distributes its products in more than two dozen countries. Contact the Vantive Corporation at 1-800-VANTIVE, 408/982-5700, or www.vantive.com.

Note to Editors: Vantive, Vantive Enterprise, Vantive Sales, Vantive Support, Vantive Quality, Vantive FieldService, Vantive HelpDesk, and VanWeb are trademarks of The Vantive Corporation.

CONTACT: The Horn Group

Jaia Zimmerman, 415/905-4021

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