US Social Security Administration Selects BackWeb to Communicate Critical System Changes and Disaster Recovery Notifications

BackWeb's Proactive Notification Ensures Reliable, Instantaneous Communication With 85,000 SSA Employees and Affiliates

SAN JOSE, Calif.—Feb. 4, 2002— BackWeb Technologies (Nasdaq: BWEB), the leading provider of ProactivePortal™ technologies for the enterprise, today announced that the United States Social Security Administration (SSA) has selected BackWeb's ProactivePortal technology to replace its existing mainframe-based critical communications system.

The SSA IT organization replaced its previous solution with BackWeb® technology because it needed to implement a system that would proactively communicate vital information to its more than 85,000 users, rather than wait for each person to seek the information themselves. Using BackWeb technology, the SSA will be able to track and ensure that its employees and affiliates are informed of critical system changes. SSA needed a system that could function as a reliable backup communications channel during periods of routine and unplanned email downtime, such as maintenance or computer virus attacks, as well as during disaster recovery situations. BackWeb anticipates that with its technology the SSA will be able to accelerate business cycles, cut down the workload for its Help Desk, reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction.

"The SSA is one of a growing number of organizations that recognize the need for a proactive communications system to deliver critical information reliably, rather than depending on traditional, passive send-and-pray methods," said Eli Barkat, CEO and president of BackWeb Technologies. "In an era when companies are demanding long-term ROI on their IT investments, and continuous, reliable information flow is essential to conducting operations, government and industry are turning more and more to a proactive solution. BackWeb technology fills the communication gap by ensuring that information which is truly critical to an organization's success reaches the attention of the right people so that they not only receive, but interact with it."