FirePond and Hyperion Form Strategic Alliance

FirePond, a leading global provider of integrated e-business solutions for multi-channel selling, and Hyperion, a leader in business analysis software, announced a strategic alliance to deliver an integrated eCRM analysis solution that will help organizations gain a single view of their customers across both Brick and Mortar and e-channels, including Web sites, call centers and direct sales channels. Both companies will offer the solution to thousands of customers in their combined installed base.

Under the agreement, the companies will integrate the market-leading Hyperion Essbase OLAP Server with FirePond Application Suite. The integration will provide organizations with a robust and scalable eCRM analysis platform that provides a comprehensive view of customer interactions and sales transactions originating within the FirePond Application Suite. The performance, scalability and robust, Web-enabled business analysis capabilities in Hyperion Essbase will help users across all departments analyze information from e- commerce channels or traditional channels such as direct sales forces, distributors, dealers or agents. With access to information from across all points of customer interaction, joint Hyperion and FirePond customers will be able to transform and optimize their business-to-business (B2B) selling models and execute customer-focused e-business strategies.

"As investors and managers increasingly demand accountability for e-Business investments, many companies are recognizing that business analysis is required to understand profitability and execute on plans," said Jeff Rodek, chairman and CEO of Hyperion. "Hyperion and FirePond will help organizations understand and optimize their relationships with customers, which is critical in today's customer-driven economy. These capabilities will help these organizations gain a comprehensive understanding of customer behavior, purchases and preferences in order to optimize the overall buying experience and drive profitability."

The integrated solution will provide users with a dramatically enhanced view into market trends, individual online customer behavior, preferences and transaction patterns. By accessing and analyzing data driven directly from the selling process across many channels of distribution, organizations can enrich the online customer buying experience, optimize sales and marketing strategies, enhance product planning and packaging initiatives, offer promotions for cross- or up-selling opportunities, and increase the effectiveness of supply chain forecasting efforts.

"Hyperion's world class expertise and technology leadership in eCRM analysis is the perfect complement to our leading e-business, sales and marketing solutions," said Klaus Besier, chairman and CEO of FirePond. "This partnership unites two of the most comprehensive e-business technology offerings available -- helping companies to make informed strategic decisions that drive revenue, market share, and sustainable competitive advantage."

About FirePond Application Suite

The FirePond Application Suite is integrated e-business sales and marketing software that allows companies to deliver highly consistent and personalized interactive buying experiences to their customers over the Internet, as well as in more traditional selling channels, to increase customer conversion and retention. The Suite consists of: FirePond Business Rule Engine, FirePond Commerce, FirePond Sales, FirePond Sales Manager, FirePond Process Server, FirePond Enterprise Workbench.

About Hyperion Essbase OLAP Server

In use today by more than 3,000 companies, Hyperion Essbase OLAP Server is a strategic analytical platform optimized for enterprise management reporting, analysis and planning applications. It supports multi-user read/write access, large-scale data capacity, robust analytical calculations, rich attribute analyses, and sophisticated OLAP queries and delivers it all in a Web-centric architecture across multiple open hardware platforms. Hyperion Essbase provides intuitive multidimensional data navigation and consistent, rapid response times in network-centric computing environments. More than 350 Hyperion alliance partners, including Baan, IBM, Lawson Software, PeopleSoft, ShowCase and Walker, leverage Hyperion Essbase as a strategic enterprise OLAP platform for business analysis.

Hyperion Essbase is currently available on HP-UX, IBM AIX, Sun Solaris, IBM AS/400, IBM S/390, Compaq Alpha NT, Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows NT, and Windows 95/98 platforms. Additional information about Hyperion Essbase is available at www.hyperion.com/essbaseolap.cfm.

About FirePond

Headquartered in Waltham, Mass., FirePond (www.firepond.com) is a leading global provider of integrated e-business solutions focused on multi-channel sales success. Our award winning technology and sales process expertise enable companies to exceed revenue goals and increase margins by taking control of every selling interaction.

The FirePond Application Suite enables companies to standardize their enterprise e-business sales strategies on a single Internet-based solution, by applying consistent, consultative selling practices across all sales channels simultaneously. Capturing real-time customer information from automated selling interactions, companies can coordinate immediate, intelligent responses to every revenue opportunity.

Some of the world's most successful companies depend on FirePond solutions to help them sell and distribute their complex products and services, including Freightliner, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, Renault, Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Compaq, Ricoh Europe and Hitachi.Construction Machinery.

About Hyperion

Hyperion is a leader in business analysis software. Hyperion helps business leaders plan, manage and execute on strategies by analyzing information on e-business initiatives, supply chain execution, customers, operations and finance. The company's market-leading OLAP (online analytical processing) technology, packaged business analysis applications and tools are used by 6,000 organizations worldwide, including more than 60 of the Fortune 100 and more than 40 of the Financial Times European Top 100. In addition, 350 Hyperion alliance partners deliver technology, applications and services to increase the flexibility and choice for customers. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, the company has offices in 26 countries. More information is available at www.hyperion.com, info@hyperion.com, or 1-800-286-8000.

Contact Steve Marchant, Brodeur Worldwide for FirePond, 617-587-2864, smarchant@brodeur.com or Joanna McMillan, Hyperion, 408-220-8075, joanna_mcmillan@hyperion.com.