HDI and Zavata Combine Leading IT Service and Support Certification Programs

Business Wire, August 7, 2006

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- HDI, (http://www.thinkhdi.com) the leading association for IT service and support professionals, announced today an agreement with Zavata, Inc., a provider of healthcare Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services and technical help desk outsourcing and certification services. The agreement grants HDI exclusive license for the education and certification curriculum, online knowledge base, and Mindshare resources, of STI Knowledge, a division of Zavata.

The combination of expertise from HDI and STI Knowledge will result in the industry's largest centralized repository for IT service and support best practices, industry benchmarks, training, and certification. HDI will incorporate the best practices of both companies by creating a combined curriculum utilizing HDI's open standards and the STI best practices. HDI's training and certification programs are built on a set of open, internationally recognized standards, determined by an independent committee of global industry experts. STI Knowledge's certification courses are focused on delivering leading edge curriculums, engaging students and fostering a collaborative learning environment.

IT service and support professionals will now have a single industry recognized certification source encompassing all career levels from entry level support to support center director.

"Zavata's focus has shifted from help desk certification to becoming the premier provider of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services to healthcare payers and providers," stated Satish Sanan, Zavata's Executive Chairman and CEO. "We are very proud of our company's training division and are pleased that HDI will be the exclusive provider of training and certification to STI customers. This transaction allows Zavata to better concentrate on our core product of healthcare-focused BPO services, and leverages HDI's core expertise in the training and certification industry. We view this as an extremely positive step for the service and support industry."

"STI Knowledge has a well respected reputation in the industry for offering excellent certification training programs, and supporting IT service and support professionals throughout their careers," added Ron Muns, HDI founder and CEO. "HDI is excited to combine the industry's two leading certification programs and thus, become the custodian of the IT service and support certification standards. We look forward to our continued stewardship of standards and best practices."

About Zavata

Zavata provides Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services and Enterprise Support solutions for the healthcare, insurance, and commercial enterprises industries. Zavata helps its customers improve their business performance and profitability by delivering guaranteed business process outsourcing services ranging from claims processing to technical help desk. By optimizing these knowledge intensive services, Zavata enables customers to focus on their core business. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Zavata was founded in 1995 and employs approximately 1,000 professionals internationally. Zavata's Technical Help Desk Outsourcing services have been recognized in Gartner Group's Magic Quadrant of Help Desk Outsourcers for the third consecutive year. For more information, visit www.zavata.com.

About HDI

HDI is the world's largest membership association for IT service and support professionals and the premier certification body for the industry. Founded in 1989, HDI's mission is to lead and promote the IT service and support industry by empowering its members through access to timely and valuable industry information, including reports and publications; encouraging member collaboration through events and online forums; and establishing internationally recognized, standards-based industry certification and training programs. In addition to membership, certification and training, HDI produces the world's largest and highest-rated event for service and support professionals, the HDI Annual Conference & Expo. HDI is member-focused, and remains vendor-neutral in its efforts to facilitate open, independent networking and information sharing across its global association network. HDI has more than 7,500 members worldwide including most of the Fortune 500, 60 local chapters in North America and membership offices on every continent. For more information, visit http://www.thinkhdi.com or call (800) 248-5667.