FAST and Criterion Systems Team to Deliver Premier Service and Support of Convera RetrievalWare for Federal Government

Business Wire, May 15, 2007

Criterion to Resell and Support FAST Technologies, Including FAST ESP, Providing Sensitive Government Agencies Access to Cleared Knowledge Ecosystem

NEEDHAM, Mass. -- FAST Search & Transfer[TM] (OSEAX: FAST.OL) (FAST[TM]), a leading provider of search technologies today announced a strategic partnership with Criterion Systems, a top provider of IT services, to deliver premier search services to the U.S. defense and intelligence communities. Under the agreement, Criterion will be a reseller and solutions integrator of FAST technologies, including Convera Corporation's RetrievalWare[TM], (NASDAQ: CNVR) which is being acquired by FAST. Criterion will service and support RetrievalWare and FAST solutions for sensitive government accounts that require security-cleared personnel.

FAST announced its intention to acquire the RetrievalWare assets from Convera on April 2, as a means of expanding its presence in the Federal Government sector. FAST has stated its commitment to support the entire RetrievalWare product suite, and is honoring development commitments Convera has made to its customer base. For more details about the acquisition please visit http://www.fastsearch.com/press.aspx?m=63&amid=8194 .

"We have partnered with FAST because our companies share similar philosophies - a commitment to innovation, to excellence, and to serving the customer mission," said Mike Dillard, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Criterion Systems and former chairman of the CIA Information Policy Board. "FAST and Criterion fully understand the critical need for real-time access to vast amounts of data that government agencies face, and the need to leverage existing IT assets. By teaming with FAST, Criterion will provide best-of-breed technologies and services to tackle the toughest of government information challenges."

Headquartered in Northern Virginia, Criterion Systems is managed by a nationally recognized management team with a deep understanding of the U.S. defense and intelligence communities, civilian government and commercial sector. This partnership expands upon the RetrievalWare expertise available to FAST customers, which includes the existing experts at FAST, the core RetrievalWare experts joining FAST from Convera and the RetrievalWare experts in FAST's partner network.

"We are pleased to welcome Criterion to our network of partners that serve the federal government," said Dr. John M. Lervik, CEO and co-founder of FAST. "They are a strong complement to our network's collective capabilities and bring a wealth of intelligence community experience and relationships. We look forward to working closely with the Criterion team to meet the special requirements of government customers, including extending their RetrievalWare capabilities via advanced FAST search technologies. Our ability to serve the needs of the federal government is second to none in the industry."

About Criterion Systems

Headquartered in Northern Virginia's technology corridor, Criterion Systems, Inc. specializes in providing information technology services to Intelligence agencies, the Federal Government, Department of Defense and Fortune 500 commercial enterprises. Criterion is managed by a nationally recognized group of senior executives with extensive industry experience delivering large scale technology engagements. Criterion services include next generation initiatives that enable secure, real-time information and data sharing between trust domains using web services and service oriented architectures. Criterion's Government customers include all of the major Intelligence agencies, Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Department of Defense and the Government Services Administration as well as various other Federal agencies. For more information about Criterion Systems: www.criterion-sys.com.

About FAST

FAST is recognized as the leading provider of search technologies to the world's best known Global 500 enterprises. FAST delivers exponential value by connecting users and applications to the right information to improve decision-making, provide intelligence and deliver constituent services. FAST ESP is successfully deployed at 38 US Government installations and at more than 3800 commercial enterprises.

FAST is headquartered in Needham, MA and in Oslo, Norway. The FAST Group operates globally with operations in the United States, Europe, Asia Pacific, Australia, South America, and the Middle East. For further information about FAST: www.FASTsearch.com.

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