IBM - BackWeb Strategic Alliance to Enhance CRM with Push Technology in Financial Services and Telecommunications

Deal Integrates BackWeb's Foundation with IBM's WebSphere*, DB2*

SOMERS, NY, and SAN JOSE, Calif., July 24, 2000 -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) and BackWeb Technologies (NASDAQ: BWEB) today announced an e-business alliance that will help companies improve the level of customer relationship management (CRM) service offered in the financial services and telecommunications industries.

As part of this three-year alliance, BackWeb is integrating its BackWeb Foundation software with Websphere studio tools and Visual Age* for Java**, which will allow developers to push-enable Web sites, portals and applications.

"The combination of IBM's eBusiness solution with BackWeb's Polite™ push technology means companies can use information more strategically than ever before," said Stephanie Hahn, IBM's General Manager for CRM solutions. "For example, an investment firm can quickly notify hundreds of its traders or customer service agents about stock price movement or IPO activity, so they can relay this information to the company's valuable customers."

This agreement is the most recent example of the e-business alliances that IBM is creating with leading software solution providers. Under the initiative, IBM is integrating its platforms with technologies from other providers, all focused on creating powerful customer relationship solutions for businesses across industries and geographies.

As part of the this alliance, IBM's worldwide CRM sales force will promote BackWeb's Foundation and e-Accelerator product lines as a push application development platform for e-business. BackWeb applications will support the IBM Application Framework for e-business, a technology roadmap that blends Internet technology with traditional information technology. Under the terms of this agreement, BackWeb will build solutions on IBM's DB2 Universal Database* and RS/6000*, AIX* and Netfinity* servers as preferred middleware and hardware platforms. BackWeb will also integrate its BackWeb Foundation with the IBM Websphere suite and Visual Age for Java** tools.

Additionally, BackWeb has signed an alliance with IBM Global Financing, the world's largest information technology financier, to allow IBM to provide financing for customers seeking to deploy BackWeb technology.

The BackWeb Foundation product is a powerful communications system that can proactively deliver large amounts of data and scale to reach large numbers of users without degrading the performance networking applications already in use, even for users connected on slow communication lines.

"This is a major step forward in customer relationship management," said Eli Barkat, chairman and CEO of BackWeb Technologies. "BackWeb's Polite push technology on WebSphere application servers will allow customers to implement a broad range of programs – including proactive portals – that help establish lasting customer relationships."

IBM and BackWeb have agreed to a collaborative distribution strategy that includes jointly selling the integrated e-business solution globally. The companies have also jointly established funding to drive cooperative promotions, field training, web site promotions and links, and joint event and trade show participation.

About BackWeb Technologies
BackWeb Technologies is a leading offline Web software company. BackWeb extends the value of technology investments by offering mobile and remote employees offline access to portals, intranets and other Web-based applications and content. The company's products reduce network costs and improve the productivity of an increasingly mobile workforce. At the core of BackWeb's products is its patented Polite® synchronization technology that can distribute large amounts of data even over narrow bandwidth connections. BackWeb® customers include market leaders such as Boehringer Ingelheim, Centocor, Eastman Kodak, GE Healthcare, Guidant, HP, KLA Tencor, Lam Research, Pfizer and more than one hundred other companies. BackWeb also has strategic reseller alliances with software industry leaders: Plumtree, SAP and IBM. The company is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. and Rosh Ha'ayin, Israel. For more information, visit www.backweb.com or call (800) 863-0100.

Statements in this news release, which are not purely historical, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Securities laws, including statements of beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Examples of these statements include, but are not limited to, the ability of BackWeb software to allow customers to gain mobile, disconnected use of their portals and help increase field sales and field service productivity, the integration of BackWeb software with BEA products will help developers extend portal applications for offline use without changing the way they work, and the ability of the resulting applications to help field sales and service organizations realize maximum productivity, cost savings, and process acceleration gains while disconnected from the network. Actual results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include unforeseen technological issues related to use of the BackWeb software, deployment issues related to implementation, unforeseen software errors, competitive factors and business and expense factors that may affect the perceived efficiencies from use of BackWeb's products, and the risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in BackWeb's periodic reports and registration statements filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. BackWeb assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release.

© 2004 BackWeb Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved. BackWeb and Polite are registered trademarks of BackWeb Technologies. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.