CES International Introduces Next Generation Utility e-Business Solutions to GITA

MyCentricity Portal is the First Internet Crew and Material Exchange Built Expressly for Distribution Utilities

DENVER - March 27, 2000 - CES International, the global leader in real-time infrastructure reliability solutions, today demonstrated a new suite of Internet-based extensions to its market-leading Centricity operations resource management system for distribution utilities.

Included in the CES exhibit (BOOTH #1228) at the 23rd Geospatial Information & Technology Association (GITA) annual conference here is the MyCentricity portal that will enable utilities to deliver customized, real-time service reliability, network status, outage and other relevant information to the desktops of consumers, commercial and industrial accounts, parts suppliers, business partners, regulators and the media.

Scheduled for general availability in Q4 2000, supports the MyCentricity portal also incorporates a real-time, crew and materials exchange built specifically to support the crew and material collaboration needs of global utility distribution companies and the thousands of contract crews and suppliers who support them.

"Centricity provides the utility industry with the vital link to bridge operations with real-time customer service," said Ken Geisler, president and CEO, CES International. "By leveraging the full potential of the Internet, these new solution suites engage a wider spectrum of the distribution utility service value chain including parts suppliers, contract crews, customers, regulators, and the media. We're confident that these new solutions will be extremely well received in the industry, and will extend our leadership position as the premier provider of e-Business solutions for distribution utilities worldwide."

The Centricity Operations Resource Management (ORM) System has been expanded to include four suites:

OpsCentricity - The foundation suite within the Centricity system, it includes the market leading InterSys EAI solution with its complement of product based integration for leading SCADA, CIS, AMR, MDT, and GIS vendors. OpsCentricity also includes outage and trouble call management, web call entry, operator's workspace, outsourced trouble-call processing, switching management, and the recently released powerflow application. OpsCentricity is generally available in its current release 5.5.

CrewCentricity - Generally available modules of this suite in release 5.5 include crew management and dispatch support. A new addition to this suite on display at GITA is an application designed to support web-based work execution through distributed field operations centers. This field operations capability includes support for an intranet-based, thin-client view of the visual operations model depicting maps and associated network facilities. It also includes support for a browser user interface with work agendas tailored to specific field operations districts/locales as defined by the customer. This web-based work execution application will be made generally available in Q3 2000. CrewCentricity also supports InterSys-based, XML driven integration to leading mobile workforce management vendors. (As announced earlier this month, CES has formed an alliance with MDSI Mobile Data Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: MDSI; TSE: MMD), a leading provider of workforce management solutions).

CommandCentricity - Current generally available elements include the Centricity Performance Mart and Executive Dashboard. The performance mart is being expanded to support a full operations data warehouse schema structure. This will serve as an enterprise information engine to support a variety of new developments including internal portals for media and regulatory relations personnel, suppliers and contractors. It will also incorporate tools to manage publishing to the external MyCentricity customer service and information portals. These expanded capabilities will be made generally available in Q4 2000.

MyCentricity - The module includes the market's first Internet portal created exclusively to meet the specific needs of utility distribution companies, their customers, partners, and suppliers. Incorporating a real-time crew and materials exchange, as well as customer, media and regulator portals, MyCentricity will be on-line and generally available in Q4 2000. CES International has secured several utility and application partners to support the development and roll out of MyCentricity in 2000.

"Our new applications capitalize on our rich product foundation while leveraging the full potential of the Internet to drive information out across the utility service value chain," Geisler said. "And our development and delivery plans are supported by one of the largest proforma R&D budgets in the market. We intend to continue to capture first mover opportunities in the e-Business space for utility distribution companies to maximize benefits for all of CES International's stakeholders - especially our customers."

About CES International Inc.:

Founded in 1990, CES International is the global leader in internet-based, real-time infrastructure reliability solutions. CES' Centricity operations resource management system helps companies in the deregulating utility, transportation, and telecommunications markets meet mission-critical, customer service and infrastructure reliability imperatives through the deployment of e-Business solutions. For more information on CES International, visit www.ces.com or call 1-800-450-0266.

Trademarks: CES International, ces.com, Centricity, and InterSys are all trademarks of CES International. All rights reserved. Other trademarks are used for reference only.

CONTACT:
Don McDonnell
Vice President Marketing
CES International Inc.
(770) 680-2617
don.mcdonnell@ces.com

David Morrison
Hayslett Sorrel Public Relations
(770) 522-8855
dmorrison@hayslettsorrel.com

www.ces.com