New IT Best Practices Book to Be Launched at Upcoming META Group Operations Excellence Conference in Chicago, June 10-12

Business Wire, June 5, 2002

Business/Technology Editors

STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 5, 2002

META Group

META Group Luminaries Author Latest Addition to

Addison-Wesley's "IT Best Practices Series"

META Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: METG), today announced the impending publication of Building Operational Excellence: IT People and Process Best Practices, by Bruce Allen, vice president with META Group and prominent IT operations expert, and Dale Kutnick, META Group chairman, CEO, and co-research director.

The book is designed to guide IT practitioners through proven techniques of analysis, assessment, measurement, and process-based management to help foster an operations environment of overall excellence.

The book is the latest in the series of "IT Best Practices" books from Addison-Wesley and Intel Press, and is the fourth such book authored by META Group experts. The latest book will be featured at META Group's upcoming IT operations conference, Winds of Operational Change: Shoring Up Portfolios, Service, and Continuity, at the Chicago Marriott, June 10-12. The conference is designed to provide IT operations and infrastructure executives and managers with the best methods for achieving excellence within their IT organizations, and will feature various presentations and one-on-one meetings with META Group's top analysts and consultants.

"IT operations groups are undergoing significant change, driven by challenges in asset and financial management, new technologies and architectures, user demands for continuous availability, and expanding multivendor outsourcing relationships," said Kutnick. "Successful IT operations groups will be those that embrace portfolio management techniques, replacing 'random acts of service' with consistent, measured 'best practices.'"

The new book is a single source that provides valuable insight for organizing IT people and processes, showing overworked IT practitioners how to improve end-to-end management of critical resources. The authors also offer techniques for implementing meaningful metrics to drive and demonstrate the business value of IT.

"We're pleased to join Addison-Wesley and META Group in launching the fourth book in our IT Best Practices Series," said Tom Gibbs, Intel director of enterprise e-business marketing. "This demonstrates Intel's commitment to helping enterprise decision makers get maximum business value from their IT investments."

About the Series

The IT Best Practices Series is a joint venture between Addison-Wesley and Intel Press, launched in 2001. The tag line of the series, "making IT all work together," reflects the fact that companies must be agile and adaptable in the face of diverse, rapidly changing technologies, and in particular must be prepared and able to integrate multivendor, e-business tools. For more information on the book, visit the Just Published section at www.awprofessional.com.

About Pearson Education/Addison-Wesley

With offices in 30 countries, Pearson Education is the world's largest education business. Its leading brands include Addison-Wesley, Allyn & Bacon, Longman, Prentice Hall, Scott Foresman, and NCS Pearson, as well as the leading technology imprints, Que, Sams, New Riders, Cisco Press, and Peachpit. Pearson Education is the global leader in online learning through www.safari.com for IT publications and www.informIT.com, as well as the CourseCompass program, www.coursecompass.com, for Higher Education and its 2000 textbook companion Web sites. For more information, visit www.pearsoned.com or www.awprofessional.com.

About Intel

Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking, and communications products. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom.> About META Group

META Group is a leading research and consulting firm, focusing on information technology and business transformation strategies. Delivering objective, consistent, and actionable guidance, META Group enables organizations to innovate more rapidly and effectively. Our unique collaborative models help clients succeed by building speed, agility, and value into their IT and business systems and processes. Connect with www.metagroup.com for more details.

For more information on the conference, call META Group at (800) 945-META (6382) or visit www.metagroup.com/events. Members of the press interested in receiving complimentary registration should contact Peter Ward at (203) 973-6923 or peter.ward@metagroup.com.