Inforonics Unveils Industry's First Predictable Pricing Program for Custom Application Management; Pricing Model So Successful that Boston Capital Has Realized a 40 Percent Cost Savings

Business Wire, Jan 13, 2003

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

LITTLETON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 13, 2003

Inforonics, a leading managed services provider specializing in custom application management and support, today announced its predictable pricing program for Paragon4(TM). Paragon4 is a flexible, cost effective suite of services for maintaining, supporting and enhancing an organization's custom-developed or customized off-the-shelf applications. By offering a predictable monthly fee, organizations can better identify cost structures and reduce their overall application management spending while assuring a high level of service for and supporting applications. This is critical since on average more than 70 percent of an IT department's budget is allocated to managing and supporting software and the systems on which the software runs.

"Inforonics' predictable pricing model is right in line with the pricing trends and requirements the market is demanding right now," said Joshua Beil, vice president of research and development at Tier 1 Research, an independent research and consulting firm. "Companies are looking to create operational efficiencies and derive ROI from their existing investments. More than ever before, companies must gain confidence in their costs to conduct accurate strategic planning and resource allocation."

Many businesses spend considerable financial and development resources to maintain existing, custom-developed and departmental-level software systems--often to the detriment of strategic new developments, developer morale and the efficiency of the existing systems. In addition, custom applications frequently contain unsupportable, embedded third-party technology and lack technical documentation. Through years of maintaining custom-developed applications, Inforonics has the specialized knowledge, skill sets and repeatable processes necessary to cost-effectively maintain the software.

Inforonics Helps Boston Capital Maintain Online Presence and Save Money

Boston Capital Corporation (BCC) is a leading provider of integrated real estate financial services targeted at investors and real estate developers. In 2001 BCC launched an enhanced version of BostonCapital.com with the goal of empowering its various constituents with the ability to use the Web as a means to transact business.

Instead of creating an infrastructure to manage a dynamic and highly complex Web application, BCC selected Inforonics to handle the day-to-day break/fix support, database administration, evolutionary enhancements and legacy data feed integration. By outsourcing the daily management of BostonCapital.com, BCC can allocate critical IT resources and funding to forward-looking initiatives.

"By utilizing Paragon4, and thereby not using internal resources for the maintenance and support of our Web applications, Boston Capital is able to realize significant cost savings," said Tom Gardner, director of Information Technology for Boston Capital. "We win on several counts: Inforonics takes responsibility for keeping our applications up and running, our internal IT resources can focus on strategic initiatives and, lastly, we get a predictable monthly fee for the ongoing maintenance of our applications."

Using its Paragon4 suite of services, Inforonics tailored a solution for BCC using a fixed price model that translated to a predictable monthly support cost for the company. The Paragon4 collection of services ensures that custom-built applications are stable, well-documented and highly portable. Paragon4 uses proven, repeatable processes to efficiently address the entire lifecycle of custom applications. It includes: discovery, planning, certification and remote application management and support.

Inforonics uses an actuarial model based on historical data and predictive analysis learned from managing and maintaining thousands of applications and custom developed software systems. This approach allows Inforonics to deliver a predictable pricing program to its clients.

Inforonics resources complement Boston Capital's internal IT staff by providing quality 24x7x365 application monitoring and support ensuring constant availability, reliability and performance of the Web site. Paragon4's support model also gives Boston Capital the flexibility to select the support level which suites its business needs best.

"Inforonics' predictable pricing model allows companies to properly forecast budgets and get their arms around their IT spending," said Bruce Mills, president of Inforonics. "For more than ten years, Inforonics has been providing services that address the entire maintenance lifecycle of existing custom applications, allowing organizations to focus on their core businesses and reduce costs."

About Inforonics, Inc.

Founded in 1962, Inforonics is a leading managed services provider that specializes in custom application management and support, helping cut customer costs by allowing them to operate in a more efficient manner. Inforonics maintains, enhances, and supports existing custom developed software systems with a specified service level agreement for a fixed monthly fee. Customers include some of the world's leading organizations such as Pfizer, BusinessWire and Major League Baseball. Inforonics is based in Littleton, Mass., and can be found on the Web at www.inforonics.com.