The Igneous Group, Inc. Announces Availability of New IGSite Service.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SANTA CRUZ, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 26, 2003

IGSite Designed to Help Small and Medium Sized Businesses Accelerate

Revenue, Enhance Customer Loyalty, and Decrease Costs

The Igneous Group, Inc. (Igneous), an eBusiness solutions company dedicated to infusing the Web into business strategy, today announced the availability of its newest service offering, IGSite. Leveraged from Igneous' IGXEC (pronounced ig-'zek) product, the IGSite service provides consulting, a customized Web site, and hosting services in one package. IGSite empowers users to create Web sites that work the way they do, and gives non-technical business users complete control over Internet, intranet, or extranet sites. What makes IGSite different from other eBusiness solutions is Igneous' skill in blending over 13 years of experience in Web technology with highly customized Web consulting services to help businesses, regardless of industry or market segment, maximize the Web to accelerate sales revenue, enhance customer loyalty, and decrease costs.

"In the past couple of years, many businesses have de-emphasized Web projects, and this has led to missed opportunities," said Geoff Caras, CEO of Igneous. "We think the Web is a vital part of business strategy. The key is to identify how to put it to work for you -- that's what Igneous does."

International consulting firm, The Meyer Group, is using IGSite for critical customer tasks. "The most important component of our site is the ability to get the right information posted quickly and easily," said Peter Meyer, Principal. "Geoff and his team have made the whole process simple and painless. With less time, less money and less hassle, The Meyer Group has a better site and happier customers. We want the Web to work for us, not vice versa, and Igneous makes that happen."

"The Web is still the least expensive form of promoting your marketing message, and visionary businesses are finding that the Web can contribute in other ways as well," said Geoff Caras. "For example, some businesses are using Web-based communities to build customer loyalty and encourage repeat business. Others are finding the Web to be an efficient and effective way to provide self-serve customer service which, when done right, can increase customer satisfaction and reduce operating costs at the same time. Still other businesses are using internal Web sites to automate business processes, making staff more efficient."

IGSite works by building management tools directly into Web sites, enabling users to enter content and publish updates easily and quickly, without the need for programmers, Web masters, expensive consultants, or customized management tools. Ideally suited to small businesses seeking control and ownership over Web site management, as well as medium-sized businesses looking to integrate business strategies into their Web sites, IGSite delivers a complete eBusiness platform in a hosted environment. With IGSite, customers get:

 -- Recommendations for how the Web can best support business strategies, and how to set up sites to support those strategies;  -- Differentiation through the ability to create an unlimited number of Web pages to visually convey a company's unique image and competitive advantages;  -- Control to update their Web site at any time, and to securely share updating responsibilities amongst staff members;  -- Security in knowing that their Web site is housed in a world-class data center with redundant Internet connections, backup power, and round-the-clock monitoring; and  -- Flexibility to update their Web site with new applications, as needed. 

About The Igneous Group, Inc.

The Igneous Group, Inc. (www.igneous.com) is a privately held, self-funded company dedicated to infusing the Web into business. Igneous' clients include growing enterprises such as Granite Construction, Nonprofits' Insurance Alliance of California (NIAC), University of California, and University of Southern California. The company's IGXEC (IGneous eXtensible Ebusines Core) product helps large enterprises create Web sites, intranets, and extranets that can be managed by non-technical users. IGSite, the company's newest service, is designed for small to medium-sized businesses. Igneous' work on the UC Gateways portal earned an IBM Best Practices Award for Student Services. Igneous is a Macromedia (Nasdaq:MACR, www.macromedia.com) partner and an IBM (NYSE:IBM) development partner. Founded in 1990, Igneous is located in Santa Cruz, California.