Prudential Business Operations Staff Now Uses Blaze Advisor Solutions Suite.

Business/Insurance Editors

NEWARK, N.J. and SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 25, 2000

The Prudential Insurance Company of America today announced that its operations personnel are now equipped with a new tool, created by Blaze Software, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLZE), to help them keep pace with changes in the rules, regulations and form requirements that govern insurance and annuity sales.

The Blaze Advisor Solutions Suite(tm) allows users to capture their business policies, practices and procedures in a single database and more effectively maintain and communicate them to those involved in the sales process. Previously, the necessary data was spread across different information mediums.

"Having the most up-to-date information isn't easy in today's environment of frequent regulatory and compliance changes. But it's an important business ingredient when processing financial products for our clients," said Doris Cattie, operations project manager for Individual Financial Services at Prudential.

"Our new Blaze-enabled system informs us of current regulations and requirements that are applicable to each client's unique needs and personal situation. Blaze Advisor's business rules technology lets our operations personnel directly participate in systems development and modifications to keep pace with today's changing requirements," added Cattie.

According to Howard Frost, systems director, Individual Financial Services at Prudential, the new Blaze-enabled system provides a win-win environment for the business side as well as the technology side of the company. "Our technical staff is excited to be using leading-edge technology to implement real-world business systems. The addition of the Blaze product to our Java, CORBA, XML technology-based infrastructure gives us the capability to deliver next generation e-business solutions," said Frost.

Blaze Software President and CEO Tom Kelly noted that "Prudential's strategy for staying a step ahead of the insurance and financial services industry includes providing its business operations staff with the power to control the systems used to provide customer service. Blaze Software enables business leaders like Prudential to leverage their best practices by capturing and applying this expertise across their enterprise." Blaze Software, Inc. is a leading provider of rules-based e-business software enabling adaptable and consistent personalized interaction across all contact points. The Blaze Advisor Solutions Suite, written entirely in the Java programming language, is designed to give e-business applications more personalized interaction for users, which can lead to greater customer retention, decreased costs, and increased sales. Blazed applications can be changed on the fly, allowing e-business offerings to respond to changing market conditions, business practices, and customer preferences. Blaze Software personalization solutions are constructed to be extended easily across contact points (Web, IVR, call centers) and across processes (customer, employee, partner and supplier).

Blaze Software powers e-business projects for more than 200 customers in the high technology, financial, insurance, manufacturing, telecommunications, and healthcare industries, and Blaze Software products are embedded in leading e-business software packages. Blaze Software offers complete support for implementations across extended enterprises and within software applications, including training, consulting, and integration services. Blaze Software is headquartered in San Jose, California, and maintains a global network of subsidiaries and resellers in North and South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. For more information, visit www.blazesoft.com.

Prudential, with $362 billion in assets managed and administered as of September 30, 1999, is one of the largest life insurance companies in the United States and is among the largest financial institutions in the world. Prudential serves more than 30 million customers worldwide, offering a variety of products and services, including life insurance, property and casualty insurance, mutual funds, annuities, pension and retirement related investments and administration, asset management, securities brokerage, and real estate and relocation. Prudential is headquartered in Newark, New Jersey. Visit the Prudential Web site at www.prudential.com.