Business & Money Trail:

UNICA LAUNCHES AFFINIUM SUCCESS ACCELERATION PROGRAM

Unica Corporation, a provider of award-winning analytical CRM and marketing automation solutions, launched its Affinium Success Acceleration Program (ASAP). Combining Unica's open, best-of-breed Affinium software suite and proven implementation methodology with the expertise, technology and services from leading systems integrators and data mart technology and service providers, ASAP enables partners to offer customers rapid deployment of a complete, pre-integrated analytical CRM solution that accelerates return on investment (ROI).

In addition to working with a proven solution, Unica's ASAP enables partners and their customers to achieve measurable ROI early in a project. Affinium's open architecture permits organizations implementing a large enterprise data management or reporting initiative to employ an iterative approach, which allows for testing and learning along the way, minimizing project and integration risk and improving long-term results. The end result is a superior data mart design and a flexible solution built for dynamic businesses and infrastructures. Initial Unica ASAP partners include Braun Consulting Inc, a leading professional services firm delivering customer-focused business solutions; Compaq Computer Corporation, a leading global provider of technology and solutions; Group 1 Software, a leading provider of CRM-enabling software solutions; MicroStrategy Incorporated, a leading worldwide provider of business intelligence software; Stonebridge Technologies, a leading provider of technology consulting and enterprise integration services; and Quaero LCC, a leading CRM services provider.

"In today's challenging economic environment, organizations that can adapt their businesses quickly to capitalize on new opportunities are the ones that will survive and thrive," said Yuchun Lee, CEO and co-founder of Unica. "Through this program, we are enabling customers to build a solution that meets their specific needs and increases business velocity. With ASAP, companies can prove the efficacy of data prior to committing it to their data mart, reflecting the uniqueness of their business needs and processes rather than a vendor's preconceived notion of a 'one size fits all' data mart."

Unica's Affinium software suite is the only open platform that easily adapts to changes in a customer's data management strategies, including the addition of new data sources and changes in customer touch point systems. Through this unique solution, businesses can simultaneously build a data mart or implement an enterprise-wide reporting strategy while conducting predictive modeling analysis and building and executing marketing campaigns with existing data sources. By utilizing the monitoring and measuring functionality of Affinium and testing throughout data mart implementation, businesses benefit not only by being able to demonstrate ROI early in the project, but also from the experience gained over time. This affords them the flexibility to make improvements to the system throughout the implementation and beyond.

"Particularly in a down market, CRM vendors must demonstrate ROI quickly in order to be successful," said Harry Watkins, research director, CRM, at Aberdeen Group. "Unica's ASAP initiative is designed to help companies rapidly achieve ROI from their campaign management investment, while simultaneously leveraging proven methodologies in partnership with leading systems integrators and data solution providers to yield an open, optimized data management solution. Under the ASAP methodology, the early results from the first marketing campaigns not only demonstrate quick returns - they also inform the data warehouse design effort."

Jonathan Huth, vice president of relationship database marketing at Scotiabank, one of North America's premier financial institutions, added, "Leveraging Unica's methodologies significantly reduced the risk of our CRM project and enabled us to execute marketing campaigns and build our data mart concurrently. Unica's unique, open architecture allowed us to rapidly transform our branches, call centers and direct mail 'touchpoints' into an integrated and measured component of Scotiabank's CRM strategy. With Unica, we were able to demonstrate ROI within the first three months of implementation."

About Unica's Affinium Success Acceleration Program

ASAP enables systems integrators and suppliers of leading customer data management and reporting solutions to accelerate ROI for data mart and reporting implementations by combining best practices to deploy, integrate and optimize the Affinium Suite in parallel with the data mart or reporting implementation.

Through this program, Unica will arm partners with solution integration guidelines including minimum system requirements, deployment methodology and process alignment guidelines. Unica also will provide starter templates that include data model guidelines, tables and message libraries. Unica's ASAP partners will collaborate on a complete solution matrix outlining the mapped implementation methodologies and customized templates, including a draft ASAP project plan and baseline data model (industry specific, if applicable).

In addition to working with a proven solution, Unica ASAP partners benefit from referrals and joint marketing opportunities. To apply for the Unica Affinium Success Acceleration Program, please visit Unica's Website, www.unicacorp.com/alliance/index.htm or contact a business development representative at 781-259-5900 or busdev@unicacorp.com.

About Unica

Unica, a provider of award-winning analytical CRM and marketing automation solutions, helps leading businesses implement one-to-one customer interaction strategies that communicate the right message to the right person at the right time - whatever the channel. Affinium, Unica's modular, cross-channel marketing suite, delivers deep functionality for data mining and predictive modeling, customer interaction and campaign management, reporting, and real-time personalization. Hundreds of businesses worldwide rely on Unica's software, services, and expertise to build profitable customer relationships and achieve marketing success. Headquartered in Lincoln, Mass., Unica is privately held with offices throughout the U.S. and a network of distribution partners in Europe, South Africa, and South America. Its customers include Lands' End, Merck-Medco, Bank of Montreal, Fingerhut, ABN AMRO, United Parcel Service, Marriott, Scotiabank, and AOL-AAdvantage. For more information, call 781-259-5900 or visit www.unicacorp.com.

Contact Beth Sulak, Unica Corporation, 781-259-5900, bsulak@unicacorp.com.