North Jersey Media Group Inc. Signs Multi-Year ASP/T-BPO Contract With ARINSO International

Business Wire, Feb 21, 2001

Business Editors

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 21, 2001

ARINSO International, (BXS: ARIN), a global leader in HR solutions, announced today a multi-year agreement with North Jersey Media Group Inc., a privately-held media company with holdings in internet and print media outlets, to outsource the company's SAP Human Resources environment.

Through this agreement, ARINSO will provide technical support and maintenance for the full suite of SAP Human Resources applications using its (T)BPO (Technical Business Process Outsourcing) model, which enhances the traditional ASP (Applications Service Provider) model by adding functional HR expertise. The (T)BPO model, includes fixed monthly pricing for the full system integration, enhancements, upgrades, helpdesk support, corrective maintenance and new functionality.

"ARINSO's (T)BPO model has provided significant value to our organization by decreasing our support costs, streamlining our HR systems and processes, and improving our ability to forecast future costs," said Jennifer Borg, Vice President Human Resources for North Jersey Media Group.

ARINSO adds strategic value to its clients' businesses by integrating all human resources processes under its (T)BPO and BPO models. BPO, which includes fully outsourcing administrative and technical functionality, is the helping hand to move the HR organization from an administrative to a strategically oriented focus. The (T)BPO model avoids the need for highly skilled internal SAP resources and creates the opportunity for continuous improvement of the HR environment, taking full advantage of an integrated application. "North Jersey Media Group and ARINSO have created a strong partnership that relies on ARINSO's expertise in managing large, complex HR systems towards our clients' objectives of achieving cost savings, efficiency improvements, and a more productive workforce," said Wim De Smet, Vice President of Outsourcing for ARINSO's North American Operations.

"ARINSO is delighted to present a solution to the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) market, which lowers the cost of ownership tremendously. Savings of over 20% can be accomplished by our focus, expertise and dedication. This is the solution that allows our customers to focus on their core business without losing time and budget on ERP maintenance and setup costs. We are convinced that the Technical Business Process Outsourcing model proves to be a successful model for many SAP HR customers, allowing them to perfectly control the cost of operations of best-of-breed HR systems," says Stephen Bergson, President of ARINSO North America.

About North Jersey Media Group, Inc.

North Jersey Media Group is headquartered at 150 River Street, Hackensack, New Jersey, 07601. The parent company of five media divisions, North Jersey Media Group publishes 21 daily and weekly newspapers, as well as three monthly "Specialty Publications" - "Lifetime," "Parent Paper," and "NJ Cops." The company also operates a commercial printing division and portal Internet site that is the electronic gateway to North Jersey Media Group's publications. Among North Jersey Media Group's holdings are The Record and Herald News, which together rank 59th and 62nd in the nation in daily and Sunday circulation, respectively. For more information, contact (201) 646-4000, or visit www.northjersey.com

About ARINSO International

ARINSO International (formerly Argus Integrated Solutions) (BXS: ARIN) is a leading provider of global HR solutions for many of the world's best-known companies. Operating in 18 countries, with a U.S. headquarters in Atlanta, GA, ARINSO is active in three areas: Business Process Outsourcing and ASP (Application Service Provision) services, implementation of ERP software (Enterprise Resource Planning), and development of e-HR applications. ARINSO has entered into major partnerships with SAP, Oracle and Meta4 - three leading ERP vendors.

ARINSO offers a full suite of technical and business process outsourcing services, ranging from application hosting and maintenance to the complete outsourcing of all HR functions in midsize and large organizations.

The company was founded in 1994, and currently has more than 1,000 employees working in 18 countries, including: Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, the US, Canada, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil and Singapore. In 1999, ARINSO's net sales amounted to approximately $55 million. ARINSO trades on the Brussels Stock Exchange (BXS) under the ticker ARIN. Please visit www.arinso.com