Interpath Rated Among World's Dozen Most Successful Application Service Providers by IDC; Twelve Highest-Ranked ASPs Accounted for 55% of Worldwide ASP Spending in 2000

Business Wire, May 22, 2001

Business Editors & Hi-Tech Writers

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 22, 2001

Interpath, an established, full-service Application Service Provider (ASP), has been named among the world's 12 most successful ASPs by IDC, a leading provider of technology intelligence, industry analysis and market data to users of information technology. IDC made its rankings known in a report published this month.

In determining its rankings, IDC collected information from more than 75 of the most significant ASPs around the world. These companies were then measured against criteria including reported revenues, number of customers, average contract size and pricing. Based upon IDC's findings, the 12 highest-rated ASPs accounted for 55% of worldwide customer spending on ASP services in 2000.

"Interpath's ranking in this report clearly speaks to the strength of our business model, especially during a year of upheaval in the ASP market space," said Joel Schleicher, Interpath's Chairman and CEO. "Our reaffirmed dedication to customer service and our flawless application service and management will continue to propel Interpath on its mission to be the leader in outsourced application development, integration and hosting solutions."

"In any emerging market, early entrants are always subject to high risk and many early entrants fail," said Jessica Goepfert, Senior ASP Analyst at IDC. "We credit these top 12 ASPs for managing to not only stay afloat, but also for gaining traction during a slippery time."

In creating this report, IDC did not consider pure hosting services (Web hosting) as ASP services. The essential characteristics used to define an ASP's services were: the company sells application access; the application/service is externally managed; the company offers one-to-many services; and the company delivers on a predetermined contract.

About IDC

IDC delivers dependable, high-impact insights and advice on the future of ebusiness, the Internet, and technology to help organizations make sound business decisions. IDC forecasts worldwide markets and trends and analyzes business strategies, technologies, and vendors, using a combination of rigorous primary research and in-depth competitive analysis. IDC provides global research with local content through more than 700 analysts in 43 countries worldwide. IDC's customers comprise the world's leading IT suppliers, IT organizations, ebusiness companies, and the financial community. Additional information can be found at http://www.idc.com.

IDC is a division of IDG, the world's leading IT media, research and exposition company.

About Interpath

Interpath is an established, full-service Application Service Provider. Through scalable skills, support, and security, along with financial stability, Interpath enables customers to be secure in the knowledge they can focus on their core competencies.

Interpath partners with customers to offer application development, integration and hosting solutions and services. Interpath's applications expertise, combined with its state-of-the-art data and operations centers, offers customers a single, high-quality source for application development, management and hosting. The company is based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina and recently launched Interpath Australia Ltd. in August 2000, after the acquisition of Alta, one of Australia's leading ASPs.

In June 2000, Interpath announced that Bain Capital, a global private equity firm that manages several pools of capital including private equity, high-yield assets, mezzanine capital and public equity with over $12 billion in assets under management, gained majority ownership of the corporation with Progress Energy, Inc. maintaining a minority ownership. For more information about Interpath, visit the company's Web site at: http://www.interpath.net.