Parature Announces 2004 Product Advisory Board

Business Wire, Sept 20, 2004

RESTON, Va. -- Parature, the leading provider of on-demand support software, announced today the members of their 2004 Product Advisory Board. This client lead advisory board consists of top technology leaders, such as Dr. Michael Barker of Florida State University, Hugh Reynolds of Havok, Ling Richardson of Webroot and Kevin Smith of SEVEN. The board has been assembled to advise Parature with key customer initiatives and strategic development with their suite of modules.

"From the results we've seen from using Parature, customer support optimization has certainly become a critical aspect of our operations," said Dr. Michael Barker of Florida State University. "I am thrilled to collaborate with Parature in taking their support technology in a direction that real companies want and can use."

Dr. Barker is the Director of User Services at Florida State University (FSU), and is responsible for managing FSU's information technology efforts. Prior to becoming the Director of User Services, Dr. Barker was Assistant to the Associate Vice President of Program Development and Faculty Support and Assistant to the Dean of Graduate Studies at FSU.

"With Parature's recent implementation successes they have moved the bar forward for on-demand computing in all enterprises," said Hugh Reynolds of Havok. "I am looking forward to working with Parature to develop new features to their currently sound solution for expanding its growth in the marketplace."

Mr. Reynolds serves as the Director of Professional Services at Havok. He is responsible for the delivery of professional services and support to all of Havok's customers. Reynolds was a finalist in the 2001 Ernst & Young 'Entrepreneur of the Year' awards, and is recognized as a leading authority on, and driver of, the emerging physics software industry and its applications.

"Parature has made it clear that customer input is essential to the ongoing development of its products," said Ling Richardson of Webroot. "I am looking forward to sharing my experience and my knowledge with Parature and the rest of the Board."

Ms. Richardson is an industry expert with 20 years of support experience with 8 of those years in management. As the Manager of Technical Support at Webroot Software, developers of privacy software, her team handles both phone sales and technical support for nearly 1 million global customers. Prior to joining Webroot, Ling served as the Senior Manager of Enterprise Support at Level 3 Communications.

"Parature has proven that the on-demand model can penetrate the enterprise market," said Kevin Smith of SEVEN. "I look forward to working with Parature to develop product enhancements to keep pace with its growing presence in the marketplace."

Mr. Smith is the Director of Customer Care, Technical Publications and Training at SEVEN. He brings 16 years of industry experience with enterprise software products; from the process of sales, engineering, product management, deployment, and technical support. Prior to joining SEVEN, Smith worked at Viador and was instrumental in launching Viador's Business IntelligencePortal, a self-service portal product that serviced such clients as Sprint, Verizon, and Citigroup.

"I am extremely pleased to welcome all four members to our Product Advisory Board," said Duke Chung, CEO of Parature. "With their extensive expertise in multiple and diverse industries, this board will continue to ensure that Parature's solution will grow with the times, and position us as the continued leader of on-demand support software for years to come."

About Parature

Parature, the leader of online support software, enables companies to improve their internal and external support, while reducing costs. Through its suite of modules, Parature allows companies to provide critical self servicing information on a 24x7 basis via the web, resulting in reduction of inbound support load and therefore reducing support costs. Continually growing, Parature serves industry leaders such as Hewlett Packard, Rothschild and Florida State University. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, Parature can be found on the Web at www.parature.com.