Help Desk Institute Names Courion's Kurt Johnson to Newly Formed Strategic Advisory Board

Business Wire, Jan 22, 2002

Business/Technology Editors

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 22, 2002

Board Will Advise on Technologies, Tools and Trends Central to the

Help Desk and Customer Support Industries

Courion(R) Corporation, the leading provider of self-service identity management solutions, today announced that Kurt Johnson, its vice president of Strategic Business Development, has been named to the Help Desk Institute Strategic Advisory Board. The Help Desk Institute (HDI) is the world's largest membership association for service and support professionals and the organizational resource for help desk industry standards, certification and training programs.

The Strategic Advisory Board's mission is to advise and counsel on issues related to product development, industry trends and membership needs, assess their impact and ensure that HDI remains responsive to the needs of business, industry, education and communities. The board will meet periodically to discuss business trends and objectives and assist HDI in documenting and communicating new developments.

"Kurt was an obvious selection for the Help Desk Institute's Strategic Advisory Board," says Ron Muns, founder, HDI. "He is widely recognized as an industry authority and his extensive experience as both a former META Group analyst and as a strategist at Courion Corporation make him a valuable asset to us, as we continue to lead and serve this vital industry."

As vice president of Strategic Business Development for Courion, Kurt spearheads the company's strategic partnership alliances and new market development efforts. His expertise in the help desk arena ensures that Courion's identity management solutions enable companies to align their service and support needs with their overall business imperatives of reducing costs and improving productivity and service.

Kurt's selection also highlights the importance that self-service applications such as PasswordCourier, Courion's industry-leading self-service password reset and synchronization solution, and AccountCourier, Courion's new self-service account provisioning solution, will have in shaping the future of the help desk market. Self-service has been recognized as one of the market's hottest growth areas and Kurt's involvement with HDI will assist help desk organizations as they transition to self-service.

"Kurt has been a key player in helping drive Courion's growth and we are extremely pleased that he has been named to HDI's new Strategic Advisory Board," said Chris Zannetos, CEO at Courion. "Kurt brings great knowledge and insight to the service and support industry and will be a valuable contributor in helping HDI analyze industry trends and adopt strategies that will help organizations navigate their support challenges."

About Help Desk Institute

Help Desk Institute's mission is to lead the customer support profession worldwide by setting the standards, establishing certification and training programs and providing access to industry resources. HDI provides targeted information about the technologies, tools and trends of the help desk and customer support industry. HDI's Annual Conference and Expo (April 14-17, 2002) is the largest gathering of support professionals in the world. HDI also offers regional training and publishes a wide range of training publications and research materials. Membership exceeds 7,500 with members from every continent worldwide. To become a member, or to obtain further information on the benefits of becoming a member, please visit the HDI Web site at www.thinkhdi.com.

About Courion

Courion Corporation provides self-service identity management solutions to more Fortune 500 enterprises than any other company. IT security and support organizations choose Courion's secure, self-service password, account, directory and digital certificate management and provisioning software to reduce operational costs, increase security and improve employee productivity. Companies that rely on Courion solutions include customers such as The Boeing Company, Cummins, Inc., Dell Computer Corp., ExxonMobil Corp., Kaiser Permanente, Lockheed Martin Corp., SunTrust Bank, Target Corporation and U.S. Census Bureau and partners such as Compaq Computer Corp., Unisys Corp. and Peregrine Systems. Courion's headquarters is in Framingham, MA. For more information visit www.courion.com.