Everest Group Expands HR Outsourcing Specialty Practice to Accommodate Accelerated Growth in HRO Consulting; Former EquaTerra, Convergys and Hewitt Associates Executives Join Industry-leading HRO Team

Business Wire, Nov 30, 2005

DALLAS -- Everest Group, which provides strategic advisory services that help companies worldwide harness the power of outsourcing, today announced the expansion of its HR specialty practice to meet the growing demands of the HR outsourcing (HRO) marketplace and to accommodate the firm's rapid growth in this area. Three HR business process outsourcing experts - Marc Pramuk, Scott McNerney and Dwayne Fowler - recently joined Everest Group from Convergys, EquaTerra and Hewitt Associates, respectively, as HRO Specialists, augmenting the firm's high-powered, highly collaborative HRO consulting team.

"We are pleased to have assembled such a talented team of HRO experts, coming together from diverse HR and outsourcing backgrounds, to form a seasoned, collegial group of HRO Specialists," said Todd Furniss, COO, Everest Group. "It is a team that really enjoys connecting and collaborating with clients to create simplicity out of complexity - a group that clients can trust to get them the right answers and ultimately take the pain out of outsourcing."

Marc Pramuk was named one of the "Top 100 Most Influential People in the Recruiting Industry" (Recruiter Magazine, 2003) and one of the "100 Superstars of HR Outsourcing" (HRO Today, 2002-2003). He joined Everest Group from Convergys Employee Care, where, as Principal, Business Intelligence, he successfully built new HRO solutions offerings.

Scott McNerney has more than 20 years of experience in Human Resources Management, HRIS and HRO, working with clients across a broad range of industries and helping them successfully manage all phases of HRO initiatives. He was formerly a Senior Advisor with EquaTerra's HR Advisory Practice.

Dwayne Fowler has more than 10 years of experience helping companies achieve significant cost savings while improving efficiency, productivity, employee service, and regulatory compliance through HRO. Prior to joining Everest, he was Outsourcing Services Delivery Manager at Hewitt Associates, where he was responsible for directing the resources needed to support HRO engagements for over 20 major clients.

"The expansion of our HR practice in North America represents an important milestone in our firm's 15-year history," Peter Bendor-Samuel, founder and CEO of Everest Group, said. "We began, in the early '90s, with the lofty goal of helping shape the discipline of business process outsourcing as a strategic management approach to improving business performance. Today, our vision of a flourishing, segmented global BPO marketplace is a reality, to the point where our firm is able to organize and grow around specific areas of focus, such as human resources, finance and accounting, offshoring and procurement, and deliver long-term value to clients. It is truly an exciting time to be in this industry."

About Everest Group

Everest Group provides strategic advisory services that help companies worldwide harness the power of outsourcing. Our offices in the United States, Canada, India, Australia, and the UK enable us to serve clients effectively around the world. Our breadth and depth of experience allow us to deliver expert analysis and strategic results. Since 1991, we have completed hundreds of major outsourcing transactions in more than 30 key business processes.

Everest Group helps companies create sourcing strategies and outsourcing relationships that deliver total value-improving performance and results throughout their organizations. Our reliable, realistic, proven approach, developed over the course of 14 years of experience in this space, analyzes the specifics of each complex sourcing challenge and produces a simplified, trusted solution that recognizes the strengths, weaknesses and strategic objectives of both parties.

Everest Group is committed to continuing research and analysis of the strategic issues of the outsourcing market. We created the Everest Research Institute (www.everestresearchinstitute.com) as the central source of industry information. We also developed specialized training and knowledge management systems that enable our consultants to create and share innovative approaches worldwide, as well as a forum for learning about outsourcing through the Outsourcing Center (www.outsourcing-center.com) - the largest online educational resource on outsourcing.