Kalido and Ventana Research Deliver Master Data Management 'QuickStart' Program to Jumpstart MDM Initiatives

Business Wire, June 21, 2007

Program Bundles MDM Education, Training and Software Designed to Provide Customers with the Foundation for Successful, High-ROI Projects

BURLINGTON, Mass. -- Kalido, the active information management company, today unveiled the Kalido[R] MDM QuickStart Program, a new offering to help companies quickly and easily identify, understand and demonstrate the value a master data management (MDM) solution can bring to their organizations. Delivered in conjunction with expertise from Ventana Research, the Kalido MDM QuickStart Program includes MDM education, training and the use of Kalido's award-winning MDM software.

Today's organizations are faced with a number of challenges related to rapid business change, such as decreasing customer loyalty, shortened product lifecycles and evolving regulatory compliance requirements. To address these challenges, companies seek to harness their information for competitive advantage and to use it as a trusted asset to run their businesses more effectively. Many forward-thinking organizations have begun to consider the master data that describes their customers, products, financial data, key performance indicators, employees, suppliers and other key information as critical elements to a successful and effective information management strategy.

The master data management market is relatively new, and most organizations have yet to tackle the cultural and business process-related issues that MDM brings to their organizations. The Kalido MDM QuickStart Program offers a low-cost, low-risk solution to help companies understand what MDM is, how it should be deployed, and how to work across the organization to get the full benefit of an MDM project. With these tools, companies can develop a plan and an approach to making better master data a part of their information management strategy.

"Clean master data is critical to our company, and our business users need a way to manage it to gain improved information for daily decision making," said Steve Cembrinski, SVP Information & Technology Services, New York Central Mutual. "Companies like ours need an attractive, low-risk approach to tackling this new field, which is why we're excited to learn more about the new Kalido MDM QuickStart Program. A program like this will give us the chance to work with a leader in MDM and figure out how best to successfully implement master data management in our organization."

"Competitive and profitable companies in the next decade will focus their business and IT investments on improving performance by leveraging information assets," said Mark Smith, CEO and EVP Research at Ventana Research. "Master data management plays a key role in this. Unfortunately, user organizations struggle to understand MDM concepts, the practical realities of MDM and the value of what an MDM solution can provide."

The Kalido MDM QuickStart Program includes:

* MDM education and business & technology advice offered on-demand through Ventana Research;

* Kalido MDM product training;

* On-site professional services assistance for installation and configuration;

* An evaluation copy of Kalido MDM, valid for a limited time. Customers can review product functionality, load and test with their own data, and understand how to facilitate master data stewardship and governance through workflow.

"Master data management is a new discipline for most companies, and relatively few can justify a large capital outlay without a compelling ROI," said Bill Hewitt, president and CEO, Kalido. "This offering gives them the education, training and ability to 'try before you buy.' We're very excited to be offering this solution as a way for our customers to get smart, get trained and get going with MDM as a way to further improve their corporate performance."

The Kalido MDM QuickStart Program is available immediately, with prices starting at $14,995. Interested companies can find out more about the program and how to qualify at www.kalido.com/MDMQuickStart.> About Kalido

Kalido delivers active information management for business. With Kalido's unique business model-driven technology, decisions are fueled by accurate, accessible and consistent information, delivered in real time, to dramatically improve corporate performance. Kalido software can be deployed at a fraction of the time and cost of traditional information management methods.

Kalido software is installed at over 250 locations in more than 100 countries with market leading companies. Headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, Kalido is backed by Atlas Venture, Balderton Capital and Matrix Partners. More information about Kalido can be found at: http://www.kalido.com.