Giga Information Group Launches Total Economic Impact Analysis Service; New Offering Helps Companies Determine Value of Technology Investments.

Business/Technology Editors

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 13, 2000

Giga Information Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:GIGX) today launched a new service designed to help companies determine the value of their investments in technology and technology services. The new offering, called Total Economic Impact(TM), or TEI(TM), gives organizations the tools required to not only determine a project's costs, but also to assess whether it meets the organization's overall business objectives.

Unlike traditional cost-only based analyses, TEI takes into account several other key factors, such as business benefits, future needs, potential return on investment and risk. Without taking these additional factors into account, an organization could be making high-cost technology decisions without looking at a critical component of any capital investment; that investment's strategic impact on the bottom line.

"In business, an organization cannot afford to run its IT operation as a mere cost center; too much is riding on technology for success in today's economy," said Chip Gliedman, a vice president of Giga Information Group and creator of the TEI process. "Cost-based analyses, while easier to understand and quantify, do not provide the information needed to make a sound business-based technology decision. Never before have we needed such close partnership between business, financial and technology executives when it comes to making big-ticket technology decisions. TEI provides a common ground: a measurable look at the value of a technology implementation."

Giga's TEI model goes beyond the traditional review of cost components and cost minimization to include analysis and quantification of both business benefits and flexibility, plus a quantified analysis of the risks associated with a particular project or service. Where most IT-oriented financial analysis only looks at IT spending, TEI adds business alignment and effectiveness considerations. Using TEI, an organization can evaluate project and product decisions in light of individual organizational goals; helping turn the IT organizations into a strategic "value center." TEI is designed to help align technology with business needs in order to increase project success rates, ensure business alignment, accelerate business growth, facilitate sourcing decisions and reduce risk.

Giga offers two TEI service offerings:

The TEI Concepts Workshop - Giga's TEI experts will train key technology executives and managers to conduct their own TEI analyses. These workshops instruct executives on the concepts, methodology and application of TEI to assess the value of internal projects, and provides the materials and tools that can be customized to the future needs of an organization.

TEI Projects Assessment - Giga's TEI experts will provide a quantified analysis of the cost, benefit, flexibility issues and risks associated with a specific project. Analysts will deliver a comprehensive set of findings that will help organizations assess the value of a technology implementation.

"We believe it is critical to not only provide individual project assessments, but also to teach organizations to perform their own TEI analyses," said Robert K. Weiler, chairman, president and CEO of Giga Information Group. "We find that less than 30 percent of all companies worldwide have any program to measure the value of IT, while others have trouble properly aligning their IT program with their business goals. By offering two TEI services, we can provide the assessment that helps companies make strategic technology decisions, or we can help companies help themselves. Without an analysis like TEI, companies could be missing big opportunities by not turning their IT costs into strategic investments."

Giga new TEI service offerings are based on a proven methodology that has been used to measure a broad range of projects - including server consolidation, data center consolidation, operating system upgrades, offshore outsourcing, security software implementation and high-availability analysis - for organizations in a broad range of industries, such as finance, pharmaceutical, petroleum, computer hardware and software. The costs of the services are dependent upon the scope of the projects involved. For more information on Giga's TEI offerings, please contact [e-mail].

About Giga Information Group

Giga Information Group provides objective research, advice and continuous coaching on technology for e-Business. Giga's integrated suite of offerings helps clients make strategic decisions about the technologies, people and processes needed to excel in the new digital economy. Emphasizing close interaction between analysts and clients, Giga delivers support with the speed and scope necessary for e-Business.

Giga began providing services in April 1996 and now has a global client base encompassing more than 1,100 organizations and over 120,000 licensed users. Its enterprise clients include companies that use, sell and invest in technology.

Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Giga has 10 other offices covering the Americas and Europe. Giga is also represented by distributors in other areas of the world. The Company's Web site can be accessed at http://www.gigaweb.com/. The Company's logo with the name Giga Information Group is a registered trademark of Giga Information Group, Inc.