Crossroads A-List Award Applications Being Accepted; The Best, New Products and Services Transforming Businesses Today.

Business/Technology Editors

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 18, 2001

The Crossroads A-List Awards Program, now in its ninth year, has begun accepting applications for its 2002 Crossroads A-List Awards -- recognizing emerging products, technologies, and services transforming businesses today. Applications for 2002 Crossroads A-List Awards are due on Monday, July 16, 2001.

The Crossroads A-List Awards signal that a provider has successfully combined three elements critical to mainstream adoption: strategic focus; a viable product, technology, or service offering; and, most importantly, consistent business results.

"The Crossroads A-List Awards have an unprecedented track record for recognizing the most innovative technologies making a real world impact on the business operations of major organizations" said Chris Veator, CEO, of Artesia Technologies.

According to Kate Armstrong, President and CEO, netDecide, Corp., "The Crossroads 2001 A-List Awards are unique in their focus on companies addressing real-world concerns with measurable success through the adoption of new and emerging technologies. These awards provide a credible, third party assessment of complex technology.

The Crossroads A-List Program is extremely competitive. According to Bryan Plug, CEO of Kintana, Inc., "anyone who has been through this competition knows how touch it is. Real-world results are the only thing that counts." To participate in the A-List Program, a provider must offer: an emerging product, technology, or service that is either new to the market or a significant enhancement to an existing offering and four deployed Lighthouse customers willing to speak confidentially to the Crossroads research team about the business impact of the product, technology, or service.

Crossroads Decisions research (available at www.crossroads-osa.com) identifies the pivotal technology decisions for business in 2002 and sets the framework for A-List Award submissions. For 2002, the A-List Program groups the key business priorities for technology investment into three major areas:

-- The Customer Experience: Customer-facing business processes and initiatives (including technology and services bundled into product offerings)

-- The Business Network: Supplier-facing business processes and initiatives (including applications and services that re-define business relationships)

-- The Core Enterprise: Enterprise process and initiatives (including both strategic business applications and IT infrastructure)

Crossroads A-List Award winners will be recognized at the ninth annual Crossroads Conference, to be held March 17-20, 2002, at The Wigwam Resort in Phoenix, AZ. Crossroads attendance is limited to bizno-tech executives--leading edge adopters who are using emerging technologies to transform their business. Crossroads is the only event where every participant has a track record of success, documented by the Participant Profiles for users and the Crossroads A-List Awards for vendors.

"Winning a Crossroads A-List Award is like having your customers give you a standing ovation. This is because the awards reflect not only the carefully considered opinion of the Crossroads Research Team, but also in-depth, confidential interviews with a broad sampling of your company's customer base. It is truly an honor for any organization that places high value on maintaining an ongoing dialog with its customers" according to Jeffrey Beir, President and Chief Executive Officer of eRoom Technology, Inc.

Crossroads A-List Award Program information is available on the Web at www.crossroads-osa.com or by contacting Alison Howard at 617.859.0859 or [e-mail].

Founded in 1989, Open Systems Advisors, Inc. (OSA) helps organizations understand and align business priorities with technology investments. OSA provides exploration and alignment consulting to technology and service provides, customer organizations, and investors. On an annual basis, OSA conducts research under its Crossroads brand that includes the publication of the Crossroads Decisions, conferring of the Crossroads A-List Awards, and production of the Crossroads Conference.

The company can be reached at 268 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02116 Telephone [phone] | Fax [phone] | www.crossroads-osa.com | [e-mail].

(R)Crossroads is a registered trademark, and(TM)Crossroads Decisions and Crossroads A-List are trademarks of Open Systems Advisors, Inc.(c)2001, Open Systems Advisors, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.