Compuware Selected as Exclusive IT Partner for Netmarket Group Inc.'s Internet Businesses

Compuware Professional Services Managing Development of Back-End Order Tracking System, Supply Chain Integration and Other E-Commerce Projects for Business-to-Consumer Web Sites

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. -- May 22, 2000 -- Compuware Corporation (NASDAQ:CPWR) today announced an agreement to serve as the exclusive information technology partner to Netmarket Group, Inc. (NGI), one of the largest providers of consumer products and services on the Internet. Compuware Professional Services has partnered with NGI to deliver a new custom-built order tracking system, a next-generation transaction processing system and closer integration of their supply chain of 800 vendors, among other e-commerce initiatives.

"Our partnership with Compuware is really key to keeping up with the demands for growth that we have upon us," said Lisa Dossenback, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for NGI. "Our business cycle is such that we ramp up information technology projects in January for deployment before the next holiday shopping season. That doesn't give us much time. There are truly projects that we would not be able to do without the Compuware partnership. It takes many of the burdens of resource recruitment and management off my plate. In addition, the expertise Compuware has brought us in the world of project management has contributed to our success and has spread throughout our organization."

Currently, Compuware consultants are engaged in application design, development and integration and project management at NGI. In addition to co-managing the redesign of NGI's online auto membership service and leading executive-level strategy teams, consultants:

Managed the development and enhancements to an order tracking and customer service system for orders received through NGI's online shopping businesses, including Hagglezone.com, the first site where consumers interactively haggle on prices, and Netmarket.com, one of the top 40 e-commerce sites. The system, integrated with those web sites, will give consumers real-time access to order information, ship items faster and significantly reduce operational costs. The first phase of the system went live in July 1999; the second release went live on May 1, 2000. The n-tier system was built with C++, BEA Tuxedo, Visual Basic, ActiveX, Visual Workflow and Oracle 8 on Sun Solaris and HP UNIX servers and Windows NT clients.
Assist with the overhaul of a middle-tier application that checks pricing and availability of more than 800,000 items available to shoppers. The system, called ECAST, will replace an older system to achieve gains in scalability, availability, response time and cost efficiencies when it is complete in the summer of 2000. ECAST system uses BEA Tuxedo to process transactions against an Oracle database and is integrated on the back end with the order tracking system.
Manage the Vendors Solutions supply chain integration initiative to give NGI more control over the order fulfillment process with the 800 vendors who ship products directly to NGI customers. Targeted for completion by the end of 2000, the Vendor Solutions initiative will expand electronic data interchange (EDI) transactions with larger vendors and provide smaller vendors with a web interface to an intermediary who will communicate with NGI.

"The NGI partnership underscores the breadth and depth of expertise that Compuware can deliver in e-commerce solutions," said Larry Freed, Vice President of Compuware Divisional Practices. "NGI far surpasses most business-to-consumer sites with a robust, integrated infrastructure to support growth and streamline the consumer experience from the time they place an order until they receive their goods."

Netmarket Group Inc.

Headquartered in Stamford, Conn., Netmarket Group, Inc. (NGI) is one of the largest providers of consumer products and services on the Internet with over 1.3 million customers. Netmarket Group sites generated over 60 million online sessions in 1999 and NGI expects sessions to double in 2000. Its unique, high-growth Internet businesses--Netmarket.com, Hagglezone.com, PrivacyGuard.com, and National Card Registry.com--generate diverse revenue streams from transactions, memberships, sponsorships and advertising. In addition, NGI provides turnkey e-commerce outsourcing solutions.

Compuware Professional Services

The Compuware Professional Services Division deploys information technology to achieve business results for clients on a worldwide basis. Nearly 11,000 Professional Services Division technicians bring together people, processes and tools for IT solutions. With a focus on a client's business needs, Compuware Professional Services provides end-to-end support of the entire life cycle of an e-commerce project, from advisory services to building, testing and managing an implementation.

Compuware Corporation

With fiscal year 2000 revenues of more than $2.2 billion, Compuware is a world leader in the practical implementation of enterprise and e-commerce solutions. Compuware productivity solutions help 14,000 of the world's largest corporations more efficiently maintain and enhance their most critical business applications. Providing immediate and measurable return on information technology investments, Compuware products and services improve quality, lower costs and increase the speed at which systems can be developed, implemented and supported. Compuware employs more than 15,000 information technology professionals worldwide. For more information about Compuware, please contact the corporate offices at 800-521-9353. You may also visit Compuware on the World Wide Web at http://www.compuware.com.