Twin Triumphs: GWI AG Presented with Frost & Sullivan Awards for Market Penetration Leadership As Well As Product of the Year

Business Wire, June 22, 2004

FRANKFURT, Germany -- As the recipient of two Frost & Sullivan Awards this year - the 2004 Awards for Market Penetration Leadership and Healthcare Information Technology Product of the Year - GWI AG is doubly recognised for its success in capturing a substantial share of the European healthcare IT solutions market and developing highly innovative hospital information systems.

GWI AG's achievement in this respect is particularly commendable given the state of the German healthcare industry, which has not attracted any appreciable investment in recent years to help modernise its healthcare IT infrastructure. Despite these less than ideal conditions, GWI has recorded phenomenal growth and built up an approximately 500-strong customer base in Germany.

The figures speak for themselves - GWI AG added a whopping 89 new clients in 2003 and registered a more than 20 per cent growth over the previous year. The company has shown the strongest growth rate in the German market for hospital information systems, accounting for a substantial 21.7 per cent of this industry segment in 2004.

This exceptional gain in market share reflects the company's overall excellence in business development strategies. Having built up a strong base in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, GWI is now looking at expanding into new markets such as France and the Benelux.

GWI AG has also been able to leverage its compelling value proposition at a time when severe budgetary constraints are forcing European healthcare providers to deliver low-cost but high-quality healthcare.

"With the emphasis on realising efficiencies in healthcare delivery, GWI AG's premium product range - ORBIS(R) Hospital Information Systems Software - is finding growing favour among customers seeking a reliable information system backed by scalable and state-of-the-art hardware," remarks Frost & Sullivan Healthcare Industry Analyst Siddharth Saha.

In fact, a large part of GWI AG's success can be attributed to the ORBIS portfolio of products. For its tremendous impact in increasing market acceptance of IT solutions with enhanced decision support capabilities among healthcare providers, Frost & Sullivan has named GWI AG the recipient of the Healthcare Information Technology Product of the Year Award as well.

ORBIS' key strengths are that it is comprehensive, highly customisable and allows customers to control their processes and resources from a single application. The product range boasts of several sub-components for treatment management and medical documentation, nursing management and cross departmental integration, among others. These subsystems carry out separate but critical functions and seamlessly integrate to act as an organisation-wide enterprise system.

Among its other distinctive features, ORBIS' communications module develops and maintains secure networks that provide a common platform for medical professionals at remote locations, to work together on common resources. ORBIS' innovative OpenMed(R) Technology is the base of GWI's leading position in technology. It enables a tremendous variety of data exchanges and medical and nursing documentation thus become one entity.

"Frost & Sullivan believes that GWI AG rightly deserves recognition for developing and marketing a hospital information system that truly meets customer expectations and sets a benchmark for others to emulate," says Mr. Saha. "Combined with a strong value proposition and innovative business development strategies, Frost & Sullivan believes that GWI will continue to garner market share in the otherwise fragmented European healthcare IT solutions market," he adds.

About GWI AG

GWI AG is a technology organisation and market leader in the German-speaking area in Clinic Information Systems. The company's ORBIS(R) software offers comprehensive solutions for medical, nursing, business management and administrative needs in hospitals and other health-care facilities. In 2003 GWI AG produced sales of around 74.2 million Euros and recorded in that year an average full-time personnel count of 460 in Germany, Austria, Switzerland.

Also belonging to GWI AG are, among other companies, GWI Research GmbH (Research & Development), GWI Medica GmbH (sales, implementation, services, operational efficiency), medical net AG (infrastructures for networking in health-care) and TIANI Medgraph AG (development and sales of PACS) plus majority holding in medical economix AG (e-procurement, supply chain management). In addition, GWI AG has a minority share in medical partners AG (management consulting in health-care affairs).

About Frost & Sullivan

Founded in 1961, Frost & Sullivan is recognized as a global leader in growth consulting. Frost & Sullivan Awards are presented to companies that demonstrate excellence in their industry, commending the diligence, commitment, and innovative business strategies required to advance in the global marketplace. Frost & Sullivan rigorously analyzes specific criteria to determine award recipients in a vast variety of market industries and landscapes. For further information, visit www.frost.com.