NetObjects appoints enterprise computing veteran Morris Taradalsky as EVP, business development and GM enterprise

Business Wire, May 6, 1997

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 1997--NetObjects, Inc. today announced that Morris Taradalsky, veteran enterprise computing executive, has joined as executive vice president of business development and general manager, enterprise.

In the newly-created role, Taradalsky will spearhead NetObjects' expansion of strategic partnerships and NetObjects Fusion's adoption as a standard for building corporate Internet and Intranet Web sites.

Taradalsky reports directly to Samir Arora, NetObjects' chairman and CEO and brings a wealth of experience to his position. Most recently, as CEO of MicroNet Technology, Taradalsky expanded the company's leadership position in storage technology.

Prior to that, Taradalsky spent 6 years at Apple Computer including serving as the general manager of the Business Systems Division, the division responsible for all networking products and Apple's first line of Network Servers.

Prior to Apple, Taradalsky spent 18 years at IBM in a series of management positions including as general manager responsible for all of IBM's applications-enabling software worldwide. Taradalsky headed IBM's Santa Teresa software development laboratory, IBM's largest software operation.

Taradalsky graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of science in mathematics from Pennsylvania State University where he was recently named an Alumni Fellow.

"A seasoned executive such as Morris brings a new level of management expertise to NetObjects, helping evolve the company to a major software vendor that customers are betting their businesses on," said Arora.

"In the short-term, we will to benefit from Morris' insights into the way corporations adopt new technologies, his proven record in building alliances and overall experience in growing successful companies. Longer-term, we will rely on him to architect our strategy to penetrate the enterprise."

Market research indicates that by the end of 1996, roughly 80% of all Fortune 500 companies maintained Web sites (IDC) and 90% of corporations are currently evaluating Intranet solutions (Delphi Consulting). In addition, respondents to an Infoworld survey on Corporate Intranets in the Enterprise indicated that content was being created by HTML-savvy individuals, over 60% of whom were using authoring tools.

"I feel that NetObjects has all the assets -- the right stage of growth, a strong list of partners and a standard-setting product -- to leverage my skills and experience," said Taradalsky. "Working with the team, my mission is to establish NetObjects as the leading provider of software for corporations to build robust Internet and intranet Web sites."

NetObjects Fusion 2.0 is the only site building product that brings a top-down, site orientation to help builders visualize, create and maintain Web sites. Over 200,000 customers have tried the product and it is rapidly being adopted in Web design firms, small and medium businesses and corporations. Sample corporate customers include Greyhound Corporation and Westinghouse who have built their Intranets and Samsung and VeriFone who have built their Internet sites.

In addition, NetObjects' partners are introducing NetObjects Fusion into the enterprise. Netscape bundles NetObjects Fusion in its SuiteTools and SuiteSpot servers. IBM & Lotus have announced their intent to bundle NetObjects Fusion in several new product suites including a server code-named Lotus GoPro and the VisualAge for E-Business product.

About NetObjects

NetObjects, Inc. is a privately-held company that is funded by IBM, Perseus LLC, AT&T Ventures, Norwest Venture Capital, Venrock Associates, Rae Technology LLC and private investors. NetObjects' partners include AT&T, IBM, Microsoft, Netscape, Sun Microsystems' Javasoft and UUNET.

NetObjects Fusion is the first smart Web site building application that integrates automated site building, professional quality design and data publishing, thereby lowering the cost, time and tedium of building high-quality Web sites. NetObjects Fusion has won several awards including CNET's 1997 Internet Excellence Award for Best Web Design Product and PC Magazine's Editors Choice award. More information on NetObjects can be found at www.netobjects.com . -0-

Note to Editors: NetObjects and NetObjects Fusion are trademarks of NetObjects, Inc. For more information, contact: Kamini Ramani, kamini@netobjects.com .

CONTACT: NetObjects, Inc.

Kamini Ramani, 415/482-3200

kamini@netobjects.com