BackWeb Announces Availability of Profitable Enterprise Portals Study

Proactive Notifications and Offline Access Cited As ‘Must-Have' Capabilities for Next-Generation Portals

San Jose, Calif. - Jan. 15, 2002 - BackWeb Technologies (Nasdaq: BWEB), the leading provider of ProactivePortal™ technologies for the enterprise, today announced the availability of Gartner Consulting's Profitable Enterprise Portals study. Based on Gartner research, the report predicts that the portal software market – one of the most dynamic markets in the software industry – will grow to have more than $1.8 billion in new license revenue by 2005 from $200 million in 1999. The leading research and advisory firm believes this growth will come from enterprises that recognize the tangible results portals can offer, including cost avoidance, increasing velocity of business, increasing productivity and improving customer service, thereby improving sales and net profits.

Gartner research indicates that companies are investing and will continue to invest in portal technology because of the significant and immediate ROI. Gartner cites consistent offline and online access to up-to-date critical information and the ability to ensure interaction with critical data, as key benefits of a successful portal strategy and must-have capabilities of third-generation portal technology, which it anticipates will be introduced into the marketplace during early 2002.

"While the present generation of portal products provides a powerful communication gateway to access enterprise information, processes and applications, the passive nature of these portals creates a regular setting where critical information does not always reach the audience for which it is intended," said Gene Phifer, Vice President and Research Director at Gartner Inc. "In order to maximize the portal ROI, next generation portals must add proactive delivery capabilities that enable offline access and robust proactive notifications."

The BackWeb® ProactivePortal Server™ is the first enterprise solution to satisfy these portal architecture requirements. BackWeb's offline portal technology and proactive notifications bring the content to the user, no matter where the user is, while maintaining a consistent, personalized end-user experience.

"It has become evident that portals can add tremendous value to the enterprise," said Bob Braham, vice president of marketing at BackWeb Technologies. "However, the passive nature of many portals often compromises the ROI when must-have content is ignored. The Gartner Profitable Enterprise Portals study discusses the challenges of implementing a portal strategy that guarantees critical content usage, the solutions that are available and the technologies that address these challenges."

About the study
Gartner Consulting's Profitable Enterprise Portals study, provides an in-depth overview of the enterprise portal, how portals are becoming more important to enterprises, the tangible benefits of portals, third generation portal technology and criteria to use when looking for enterprise portal technology. To access this report or for more information on BackWeb ProactivePortal Server, please visit the BackWeb website at www.backweb.com.