Customer Relationship Management Consortium Announced with KPMG, Pivotal Software Inc., Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard to Serve Mid-Enterprise Market.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. and BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 11, 1998--

Consortium to set industry standard providing rapid delivery of

pre-configured, vertical solutions -- other complementary solutions

providers to join the consortium

KPMG Peat Marwick LLP, Pivotal Software Inc., Microsoft Corporation and Hewlett-Packard today announced a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) consortium for mid-enterprise organizations to deliver rapid, results-based solutions.

For the first time, mid-enterprise business units (MEBU) can experience one-stop shopping, giving them cost-effective access to the implementation experience and industry knowledge of KPMG's Customer Management practice, the award-winning functionality and extensibility of Pivotal Relationship 98 and enterprise-ready software and hardware technology from Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard.

As a result of this consortium, MEBUs can implement comprehensive sales, marketing and customer service solutions that include integration with configuration, data warehousing, Internet and back-office solutions. Additional consortium participants are being selected to provide best-of-class solution components. The first of these participants, Epiphany, will leverage its existing relationship with KPMG and Pivotal to provide robust customer analysis functions.

Consortium members have joined together to deliver on the concept of rapid return on investment with shorter implementation timelines, measurable business process improvement and predictable cost. KPMG's Rapid Return on Investment (R2i(sm) portfolio toolkit and methodology, optimized for Pivotal Relationship 98, gives MEBUs added benefit from pre-defined process templates incorporating industry-specific best practices, planning documents detailing the phases from planning to training and rollout, and tools to more effectively deploy a customized solution. The consortium has already experienced market acceptance with many MEBUs having purchased the solution.

"As a leading provider of Internet applications for e-commerce, financial services and knowledge-management, the R2i/Pivotal combination allows access to real time customer relations data that is critical to help us keep pace with our rapid growth," said Jim Thanos, general manager of the Americas for BroadVision. "The collaborative solution of Pivotal Relationship 98 and KPMG's experience helps assure us of future market advantage."

"In today's dynamic and highly competitive business world, companies need to leverage technology for quick business gains," said Chris Pavlic, research analyst for the Aberdeen Group. "Leveraging KPMG's R2i methodology and toolkit combined with Pivotal Relationship 98, this consortium can deliver a complete CRM solution addressing the customer's top need -- immediate results. To date, customer management implementation projects are simply taking too long to implement, causing many projects to stall or veer off course from their original objective. This approach is unique in setting obtainable results that will drive more rapid return on a customer's investment."

The consortium is key to KPMG's strategy for growth in the mid-enterprise customer relationship management market. Over the last six months KPMG has worked with the consortium members to establish a team within its Customer Management practice devoted to the mid-enterprise: creating industry-based solution maps, building solution centers, training personnel and creating joint marketing and sales teams.

"Our mid-enterprise strategy is to offer a cost-effective alternative to the traditional method of separately purchasing services, applications software and hardware," said Doug Holden, KPMG's partner-in-charge of the Customer Management practice. "Our vision is to set the de facto standard for mid-enterprise customer relationship management solutions. We believe Pivotal's broad functionality and customizable architecture built on component-based solutions, such as Microsoft BackOffice and Hewlett-Packard technologies combined with Epiphany software solutions will serve as a strong foundation for mid-enterprise customer relationship management solutions."

"Traditional CRM implementations are often complex, time consuming and expensive for the customer," said Norm Francis, president and chief executive officer of Pivotal Software. "The consortium addresses these issues with a new paradigm -- a compelling offering unmatched in the industry -- validated by the numerous organizations that have rapidly realized success as a result of our solution." Francis added that Pivotal's soon-to-be-announced eCRM initiative will extend the solution beyond the enterprise, enabling companies to use the Internet to integrate their business partners and customers into their CRM system.

About KPMG Peat Marwick LLP

KPMG Peat Marwick LLP is the U.S. member firm of KPMG International, a leading professional services firm. In the U.S., KPMG partners and professionals provide a wide range of accounting, tax and consulting services. As one of the foremost providers of information-based value added services, KPMG serves clients with complex needs by capturing, managing, assessing and delivering information to create knowledge that can help maximize shareholder value. KPMG International has more than 6,500 partners and 85,300 professionals in 155 countries. KPMG's Web site is: http://www.us.kpmg.com.

About Pivotal Software Inc.

Named one of Upside's Hot 100 Private Companies and Red Herring's Top 50 Privately-Held Companies, Pivotal Software Inc. develops and markets integrated 360(degree) Customer Relationship Management(TM) application software products. Its flagship product, Pivotal Relationship(TM) 98, is the leading CRM software application for mid-enterprise business units standardized on the Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) BackOffice platform, with over 25,000 users licensed worldwide.

Pivotal is a privately held corporation that reported year-to-year revenue growth of 320 percent for the quarter ending in June 1998. The company's investor partners include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Integral Capital Partners, Ventures West and Oak Investments. As of September, 1998, the company has over 200 employees and 350 customers worldwide, including Hewlett-Packard Co., (NYSE:HWP) UNOCAL, Inc. (NYSE:UCL), Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB), USG Corporation (NYSE:GYP), Cadence Design Systems, Inc., (NYSE:CDN), The Principal Financial Group and Sun Healthcare Group (NYSE:SHG).

Pivotal is a global organization with sales offices around the world and an international alliance network of certified solution providers, systems integrators and distributors. Pivotal products are sold in 26 countries from more than 40 offices in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, India, China, Japan and Australia/New Zealand. For more information about Pivotal and Pivotal Relationship 98, visit Pivotal Place(R) at www.pivotal.com.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.

About Hewlett Packard

Hewlett-Packard Company is a leading global provider of servers, software and services. Together with its partners, HP provides the total solution for its customer's business needs. HP support services include outsourcing of defined IT operations and primary support for other partners such as Microsoft including Wolfpack. NT based HP Net Servers are scalable systems available with a variety of clients, including desktops and laptops. Along with HP's OpenView software, Hewlett-Packard also has software for computer telephony integration (CTI) applications such as, HP Customer Contact Manager and high availability software for mission-critical applications. HP has 127,200 employees and had revenues of $42.9 billion in its 1997 fiscal year. Information about HP and its products can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com.