Niku's Next-Generation Solution Raises the Bar on Portfolio Management.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 27, 2003

Niku 6.1 Empowers Industry-Leaders such as BTexact, Cendant,

Fox Filmed Entertainment, Best Buy, Overture and Royal Caribbean to

Manage and Govern the "Business of IT"

Niku Corporation (Nasdaq:NIKU) announced today its next-generation solution for Enterprise Portfolio Management, Niku 6.1. Version 6.1 enhances Niku 6 with new capabilities for IT Management and Governance. These capabilities include greater visibility into project portfolios, an unprecedented ability to align projects with corporate strategy, and the unique ability to tailor the system to match business processes. More than 180 world-class companies use Niku 6.

"Niku gives us visibility into our 250+ projects, as well as our 'pipeline' of incoming projects. We can now handle IT with the same the control and predictability mandated in other areas of our business," said Tom Murphy, CIO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL), one of the best-known global cruise vacation companies. "With Niku 6.1, we will further this by pushing strategic project snapshots into the executive offices, giving even our president an intuitive way to see what's going on from his own desk."

"When we evaluated solutions for portfolio management, most systems provided either business intelligence, or the underlying project and program execution functionality," said Vincent Hill, Senior Director of Technology Planning at Overture Services, Inc. (Nasdaq:OVER). "We selected Niku 6.1 because it couples both pieces together, while also providing a broad process framework for our IT portfolio management. Niku is an excellent platform for Overture's project, program, and portfolio management needs."

"Niku 6.1 results from our commitment to solving concrete business problems facing our customers," commented Joshua Pickus, President and CEO of Niku Corporation. "We invested over 18 months in this major release, and have now realized our vision of true Enterprise Portfolio Management. Version 6.1 of Niku 6 also makes real the promise of Web services and portals in ways that customers will appreciate for years to come."

About Niku 6.1

Niku 6.1 connects a company's strategic goals to tactical project execution, enabling control and predictability of strategic operations, such as IT and New Product Development. By coupling top-down portfolio analysis with bottom-up project, program and initiative management, then interweaving in the supporting processes, Niku 6.1 offers the first seamlessly integrated Enterprise Portfolio Management system.

The Niku application is comprised of seven modules, five of which are used by people throughout an organization, and two more modules, including the new Niku Studio, which are used to configure the system and author best practice processes. This modular structure enables phased implementations that can be as small as 100 users focusing on project management, or as extensive as 100,000 users engaged in all aspects of Enterprise Portfolio Management.

Niku 6.1 includes 40 major new features, a new product module and hundreds of user requested enhancements. These major enhancements focus on three themes:

Alignment through Governance -- Governance goes beyond project portfolio analysis. Governance ensures that IT can engage business sponsors into a dialogue about desired business results, budgets, and portfolio assessments. Niku 6.1 enables this with new functionality for conducting unlimited what-if scenarios, as well as instant visualization such as bar charts of capacity or cost over-runs and under-runs. Additionally, Niku 6.1 delivers exceptional accountability between IT and business by now providing the ability to bill project costs to funding departments with charge-back allocations.

Portfolio Visibility -- While Niku 6 delivered the ability to monitor and track projects and resources at any level of detail, Niku 6.1 extends this by allowing organizations to do more with the information. For example, by using the new Niku Studio module, companies can configure and build dashboard portlets enabling C-level executives to review portfolios through intuitive graphics and to understand the status, costs and resources allocated to funded and planned projects, as well as to future opportunities. With new risk and status "stoplights," problem areas can be quickly spotted and resolved. Managers drill down into projects at any level of detail, or conversely roll up projects on the fly by any number of variables -- including geography, organization and program type.

Tailored for Unique Business Processes -- Niku 6.1 eases the burden of tailoring the system to suit an enterprise's processes through the unprecedented ability to configure user views and workflow, as well as to connect to external sources of information. With the new Niku Studio module, companies can create new pages as well as uniquely tailor the user interface. Additionally, companies can build executive dashboard portlets which pull information out of, or push information into, third-party solutions via XOG, Niku 6.1's enhanced XML Open Gateway. Niku 6.1 now allows executives to receive and analyze information from virtually any location or application.

Pricing and Availability

Niku 6.1 is shipping now. Pricing is dependent on the number of users and modules selected. For example, a 100-user configuration starts at $90,000. For detailed product information, Niku can be reached at [e-mail], 877-846-6458 (NIKU) and www.niku.com.

About Niku

Niku Corporation (Nasdaq:NIKU) is the leading vendor of Enterprise Portfolio Management systems. More than 400,000 users at industry leaders such as 3M, BT, Best Buy, Emerson, Philips and Unilever depend on Niku to manage mission critical projects, programs and initiatives. Niku's flagship product, Niku 6, offers superior functionality, scalability and architecture, making it the leading solution for the management of IT operations, new product development efforts and services operations. Niku Corporation is a publicly held, profitable company with global operations.