HDI 2005 is produced by HDI, the world’s largest membership association for IT service and support professionals and the premier certification body for the industry. Nearly 2,000 service and support professionals will congregate for a robust conference program that will address the needs of customer service, help desk, and support organizations to maximize performance and productivity, become more strategic, and integrate more effectively with the organization overall. HDI 2005’s conference program will include more than 90 sessions, and the expo hall will feature nearly 80 vendors featuring the latest solutions for the industry.

“At this year’s HDI, we will be showcasing why more companies are beginning to implement on demand solutions due to quick deployments, lower operating costs, and substantial returns on investment,” said Duke Chung, CEO of Parature. “We welcome help desk and customer support practitioners from businesses large and small to stop by our booth and share with us your immediate and future support needs.”

With Parature’s Campus Support Solution, ISU’s Office of Information Technology was able to implement the solution in a matter of weeks to address the needs of their campus community. “Remedy’s deployment and continuing implementation costs became an expensive application to keep in operation,” stated David Bigney, Office of Information Technology Help Desk Manager, ISU. “With Parature’s solution modifications can easily be done by an ISU employee, or requests can be submitted directly to Parature, who is quick to determine the priority and get it in production.”

“Having had experience and success in the higher education market, we are excited to include ISU as a client,” said Duke Chung, CEO of Parature, “We recognize that institutions can’t afford to invest time or money on support solutions that will not meet or exceed their expectations. That’s why, at Parature, we focus on delivering both innovative technology and stellar customer support to ensure Institutions, both large and small, will experience success in supporting their campus.”

A full case study on Indiana State’s selection and application of the Parature Support Solution can be found at www.parature.com/clients.aspx.

The overall judging conducted by Beagle’s personnel was based on an evaluation of surveys and in-depth interviews with individual customers of all the finalists. Parature was chosen for their knowledgebase that continually stores service solutions that can be reused or accessed by self-service customers, also includes a ticketing system, discussion boards, chat capabilities, asset system, product catalog, contact management, email management, surveys, reporting, activity scheduler, and document management tools all in one solution. The list of winning products is featured online at www.beagleresearch.com

“Parature is an example of how continuing innovation has resulted in a multi-channel support infrastructure that is affordable for a range of companies from small to very large. Their on demand infrastructure allows organizations customized access to a support knowledgebase either through direct self-service or by service mediated by a support representative,” stated Denis Pombriant, Managing Principal at Beagle Research Group. “The combination of multiple access points, self-service, and on demand delivery leads us to conclude that Parature deserved this award.”

“We are extremely honored to earn the Beagle Research Group’s inaugural award. Parature’s innovative support solution combines a blend of support activities that truly makes us unique in the market place,” said Duke Chung, CEO at Parature. “Our focus has and always will be on improving how companies support their customers. We have further developed this mission by expanding our solution into two packages, the Professional and Enterprise Editions, which are specially designed so support teams of all sizes can deliver superior customer support solutions.”

Professional Edition, best suited for a support team of 1-4 representatives, provides support teams with Parature’s robust and customizable support portal, a robust knowledge base, ticketing system, download capabilities, reporting functionalities, a contact management tool and an activity scheduler that are all integrated into one solution. “In addition to these easy to use features, we have automated the deployment process so that clients can effortlessly set up their own solution, and be up and running in a matter of minutes at no additional cost,” noted Karolyn Abram, Vice President of Services.

Enterprise Edition, best suited for a support team of 5 or more representatives, combines the features of the Professional Edition with the additional tools necessary to address the multiple facets of supporting a large end user base. The additional fully integrated and easy to use features includes an asset management system, real-time chat and monitoring applications, survey tool, product catalog and online discussion boards. “The Enterprise Edition fully meets all the demands of providing a large end user base the multiple levels of support,” noted Chung. In addition to the full features offered in the Enterprise edition, Parature’s professional services team works along side the client to customize their Parature support solution to meet their unique requirements to have them fully up and running in 3-4 weeks.

“To keep pricing simple, we are offering each edition at $1,500 per user, per year. We tested this new model out over the last quarter, and have found a huge reception and great success,” noted Chung. “Along with this announcement, for the first time we are giving prospective clients the ability to test out our software for 30 days free. During this 30 day preview, they will have the ability to enjoy all of the aspects of the Professional Edition, and experience the ease of use and robust nature clients like HP and Office Depot enjoy,” noted Chung.

“This is the first of many announcements that we will be making this year that will have a high impact on our growth,” stated Chung. “In the next few months we will be announcing Parature 6, which will be extending our technology to offer many new customization and integration tools that will further separate us from our competition, solidifying Parature as the market leader in the support industry.”

Parature will be showcasing the Professional and Enterprise Editions at the Parature Launch Party at Felix in Washington, DC on February 1st. For more information on the full features available in the Professional and Enterprise edition, or to attend the event, please visit www.parature.com

“Since our inception, Parature has been focused on building our company based on our clients’ success. As a reflection of our growth, we have now dedicated a key member of our team to guarantee the rapid and continued successes for all of our clients,” said Duke Chung, CEO at Parature. “Casey’s thorough knowledge of our technology and vision, coupled with his passion and understanding of our clients needs, make him an ideal fit to lead this effort.”

“Our clients are the core of our success. It is my distinct honor and pleasure to lead this effort in strengthening this relationship,” said Golden. “Our client successes thus far have been incredible. 2005 will be even more exciting with greater achievements as we continue to help our clients achieve their current goals, and together, architect the online support of the future.”

Along side the continued dedication and focus on client success, Parature has made an additional appointment of Ching-Ho Fung as President. “We are truly fortunate to have an individual with Ching-Ho’s background be a part of our company’s development,” stated Chung. “Ching-Ho’s proven track record, along with his wealth of business experience will have a direct impact on the growth of this company.”

“I am extremely excited to grow Parature along side a team of talented and dedicated individuals,” said Fung. “Through our award winning technology, dedicated team, and our commitment to our clients’ success, Parature has and will continue to penetrate the support industry to solidify our place as the market leader in the on demand support software industry.”

The “2004 Products of the Year” awards are judged by the SearchCRM editorial staff, in conjunction with a team of users, industry experts, analysts and consultants. The list of winning products will be featured online at www.SearchCRM.com.

“We are extremely honored to win this prestigious industry award,” said Duke Chung, CEO at Parature. “We, here at Parature, have maintained a steadfast commitment to delivering innovative on demand support software. The key innovation elements to the Parature Customer Support Solution are found in the integration of eleven support modules. We recognize that providing superior support goes beyond one action, it is through the many tasks that must occur simultaneously to provide excellent customer support. It is through this acknowledgement and development of eleven support modules that best exhibits the innovative nature of the Parature solution.”

Offering the most complete support offering in the market, Parature goes beyond providing a robust knowledge base, we have extended our offering to include a ticketing system, discussion boards, chat capabilities, asset system, product catalog, contact management, email management, surveys, reporting, activity scheduler, and document management tools all in one solution. All modules are integrated together to complement the unique feature sets of the other modules, giving our clients a complete support solution.

“This major achievement is a tribute and tremendous testament to the value of our software. I would like to share this award with our clients and our team, who are continuously reinventing the way companies support their customers every day,” concluded Chung.

Parature continues to gain market share and extend its position as the leading provider of on demand customer support software , by doubling its client base. New clients include Florida State University, Mozilla, Rothschild, Inc., Wharton School of Business, WaveRider Communications, Webroot, Ubicom, Inc. and T-Fal Corporation. In addition, Parature has obtained a 95% client retention rate since their inception in 2000.
Parature reveals 2004 Customer Support Software system performance statistics. The following performance statistics were generated by Parature’s clients through the usage of Parature’s support software in 2004:

Total Tickets Submitted: 400,042 (81% increase).
Resolved Ticket Rate: 98%
Number of Registered Users: 2,537. (54% increase).
Total Number of Registered End Users: 1,000,052. (60% increase).
Number of Times Parature Clients’ End Users/Customers Accessed their Support Portal: 3.6 Million. (67% increase).
Number of Chats Logged: 17,003. (80% increase).

Parature rolls out 3 new modules: eAsset, eProduct and eSurvey. eAsset provides organizations to standardize and streamline their asset management process. eProduct provides organizations the ability to manage their support based on product lines. eSurvey provides a tool to quickly create a survey, send to target audiences, and measure user satisfaction in real-time.

Parature increases its global services and support group to deepen their commitment to excellence in customer support. Due to rapid client growth, Parature increases the global services and support group by 30%.

Parature announces Product Advisory Board, which consists of top technology leaders: Dr. Michael Barker of Florida State University, Hugh Reynolds of Havok, Ling Richardson of Webroot Software Inc. and Kevin Smith of SEVEN. The board has been assembled to advise Parature with key customer initiatives and strategic development with their suite of modules.

Parature extends its management team. Karolyn Abrams was appointed as the Vice President of Global Services, and is responsible for managing her team of support technicians in delivering top notch professional services to Parature’s clients. Cynthia Ogle was appointed as Vice President of Marketing, and is responsible for driving all the marketing and branding efforts at Parature.

Parature hosts First Annual Users Conference, ParaFest, to provide an atmosphere for clients to network with each other, receive skilled and relevant training, and learn from other clients’ successes.
“Our success has been powered by our ability to listen to our customers’ evolving needs and to leverage our technology to provide real business solutions,” said Chung. “The growth of the customer support sector within the CRM industry has increased substantially in 2004, and we anticipate 2005 to be even a bigger year for hosted support solution providers. With that anticipation we have marked 2005 to be a year of innovation, delivering new top of the line products and programs to the marketplace.”

According to the University’s Help Desk Manager, Lauren Adams, they used another support solution for approximately 10 years, prior to selecting Parature. Several of the key components they wished to integrate into their solution, such as knowledge base, inventory, and surveying capabilities either did not exist within that solution, or were slow, ineffective, and expensive. They switched to Parature in order to support their entire campus in one easy-to-use, fully integrated product. Other reasons for choosing Parature included its web-based, easy access model, portal customization, and single sign-on feature.

“Parature is a great addition to our IT department,” says Adams. “With Parature, we have experienced increased communication with our end-users through the support portal, knowledge base, and closed loop ticket systems, as well as an increase in efficiency for our IT staff. Our IT staff is able to email users directly from Parature capturing all ticket interaction, manage IT projects through the task feature, and use the knowledge base internally as a source to record common technical problems and solutions.”

Parature provides complete, affordable, on-demand customer support software solutions to associations, businesses, educational institutions, and government agencies. The Parature suite of modules is seamlessly integrated into one solution allowing organizations to effectively manage all of their support needs while reducing costs. This dynamic, online software provides all of the tools necessary to resolve issues quickly and reliably, exceeding customer expectations.

“Colleges and Universities are facing a generation that relies on cutting edge technologies,” said Duke Chung, Parature President and CEO. “Parature is championing the way and providing that ‘must have’ technology to educational institutions, increasing their efficiency and communication with students, faculty and staff.”

“Gary’s proven marketing expertise and success, particularly in developing solid marketing plans that have resulted in significant revenue growth, as well as his demonstrated ability to lead and motivate teams, makes him a great addition to our management team,” said Duke Chung, CEO and President, Parature. Parature’s innovative customer support software, combined with Gary’s sound marketing and leadership experience will further distinguish us as the market leader.”

Backed by 18 years of marketing experience, Mr. McNeil brings to Parature a wealth of insight in developing strong marketing strategies for revenue growth and brand recognition.

“It is exciting to be joining Parature, the market leader in on-demand customer support software,” said McNeil. “Parature serves a vast market and has experienced dramatic growth while leading the industry in innovation and customer success for support teams worldwide.” I look forward to being part of a world-class team that continues to deliver great products and services to our customers.”

Prior to joining Parature, Mr. McNeil was the vice president of marketing for Vocus Inc., the global leader in public relations management software, where he contributed to the company’s dramatic worldwide growth and a successful IPO. Preceding his position at Vocus, he was Vice President of Marketing for Authoria Inc., the world leader in human capital management software where he played an instrumental role in achieving a trajectory of consistent and rapid growth. Previously, he held several key positions with Kronos, Inc. most recently as Director of Marketing Programs. He is also a frequent guest speaker, having spoken at numerous online events and at industry tradeshows and conferences throughout the country.

For information on Parature’s Customer Support and Help Desk Solutions, please visit http://www.parature.com/landing/customersupport.aspx