DATA RANKS AMONG MOST VALUABLE ASSETS.

STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 1, 1996--Imagine the hassle of losing your daily planner. Even if you tried to recreate the information in it -- your entire calendar, the numbers and addresses of your business associates; and personal reminders, it would be almost impossible to remember everything you lost. Now imagine multiplying the information lost many times over and you will experience what it's like to lose all the critical data in your computer.

Experts agree, sooner or later anyone who uses a computer will experience a loss of important data. A simple wrong command that deletes a file, or worse a hard disk crash, can have disastrous results for the home office professional, the small business user, and even the individual storing financial records or a family tree. Yet, in a survey of 500 computer users conducted by Surefind, a leading on-line backup and recovery service, 50% of small business users and 65% of home users said they only back up their data when they get around to it, or not at all.

In this same survey, respondents listed computer data as one of their most valuable assets, with 41% estimating its worth at more than $10,000 and 53% agreeing that losing significant amounts of data would be catastrophic. However, despite the high value and importance of computer data, many users have no consistent method or time for backing up their data and do not take the necessary precaution of storing their data in a safe place.

These survey results show that computer users need a wake-up call about how to protect one of their most valuable assets:

-- 68% of those surveyed say the professional results would be disastrous if their PC's or laptops were lost or stolen.

-- 41% say the data on the computer is worth more than $10,000, with 17% of those describing their data as "priceless".

-- 32% of the respondents report losing a single document, an entire set of documents or all their documents.

-- 51% said it would take from a week to over a year to reconstruct their data if it were lost with 7% of the group saying their data would be impossible to replace.

-- And yet, over 50% of small offices and 65% of home users only back up their data when they get around to it or not at all.

-- Encouragingly, the remaining 50% divide into 17% who perform backup daily, 16% who schedule backups for a specific day each week, and 13% who back up their data once a month.

-- Less encouraging is the fact that 65% of those doing backup are using the least reliable and most easily corruptible form of backup--floppy diskettes.

-- And finally, 53% of those who back up data on tapes or diskettes store them next to or near their computer, while only 4% store the save information in a secured area or vault.

As the supplier of a groundbreaking concept in data backup and recovery, Surefind recognizes that people often fail to backup their files because it is time consuming and a hassle, or they just plain forget. As the survey illustrates, even computer users who do back up their files are using the least reliable form of backup -- diskettes, and are storing them in unprotected areas where they can be damaged or stolen. Addressing these issues, Surefind designed its service to allow customers to back up their data through an automated, unattended program that transmits data via modem to complete safety in Surefind's offsite electronic vaults.

"It is clear from this survey that despite the value people put on their computer data, the traditional methods of backup are not sufficient," says Edward J. Sarkisian, Surefind's president and chief operating officer. "Most people are too busy to be rigorous about backup. With Surefind, you just set it and forget it."

Pricing and Availability

The Surefind service is available globally and is compatible with most of today's operating systems. The Surefind software is available for Windows 3.1 and Windows 95. There is currently a free 30-day trial offer that allows users to schedule an unlimited number of backups and recoveries with a combine total of up to 100 megabytes of data. Following the free trial, Surefind offers billing plans starting as low as $9.95 per month for once-a-week backup of up to five magabytes of data.

In addition, Surefind's backup and recovery service further protects users against data loss by offering a $100,000 guarantee. In the unlikely event that data is damaged after receipt by Surefind, the company will pay up to $100,000 to recover or reconstruct a company's or individual's lost data.

Interested users can call 1-800-787-0009, access the Surefind service via GO BACKUP within the CompuServe network, or go to the company's web site at www.surefind.com.

Surefind is headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA. The company also sells its services to corporations and organizations that require on-line storage and retrieval for local area networks. Surefind was recently acquired by Stamford-based EIS International (Nasdaq:EISI). EIS International is a leading application software and systems supplier, providing business solutions to the financial service, direct marketing, fund raising and telecommunications industries.

CONTACT: Aimee Martin Donna Ceparano

Surefind Ruder Finn 

203/351-4800 212/715-1591