Fountain Valley, Calif., February 17, 2000 - To stay ahead of the competition in today's crowded marketplace, businesses are now looking to the Internet not only as a communications and acquisitions channel, but as a tool to improve productivity and efficiency. With the wide availability of broadband connections, businesses are able to access a greater scope of services delivered over the Web. When considering platform upgrades or ongoing systems maintenance, the Internet presents unique benefits to businesses of any size with services such as Personable.com.

For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), platform upgrades (which always include increased hardware and software costs) and ongoing systems maintenance remain enormous challenges that SMEs often have neither the budget nor dedicated resources to handle. A major platform change or upgrade does not have to be a logistical nightmare with services such as Personable.com to help SMEs meet these challenges and stay competitive.

Personable.com: the instant IT department

Launched in December 99, Personable.com is an application service provider (ASP) that provides a fully-operational Windows 2000 desktop and popular software with familiar titles for rent over the Internet. Small businesses rent software and pay only for the application and resources they use, when they need to use it. The SME professional can easily try a program out with the help of Personable.com.

Personable.com automatically upgrades software, providing access to the latest versions of today's popular applications. In addition, working on Personable.com servers, small businesses no longer have the need to upgrade existing hardware to accommodate new applications and growing storage requirements. Access to Personable.com has been engineered to provide all functionality from standard web browsers. Multiple users in a business enterprise can have secure access and work on files or company projects from any Internet connection anywhere in the world.

In essence, Personable.com serves as the instant IT department, responsible for installing and upgrading software, maintaining systems, reporting usage, and backing up files on a daily basis. Eliminating costs of upfront software investment, hardware upgrades and ongoing systems maintenance by using a service such as Personable.com means more budget available to upgrade connection speed, so businesses may enjoy a wider scope of services delivered through the Internet.

Personable.com: perfect test drive platform for Windows 2000

Deciding when to upgrade and what Windows 2000 features work for a particular company is one hurdle to upgrading. "Upgrading operating systems for small businesses is a particular challenge, so they often delay until upgrading is essential and then underestimate the steps needed to ensure success," said Benjamin Chou, President, Personable.com. "Not upgrading results in lost productivity and efficiency. Conversely, upgrading can have productivity and efficiency impacts, too. So it can be a real Catch-22 situation."

As the only ASP to deliver a fully functional Windows 2000 desktop to the browser, offering Microsoft Office 2000 Suites for rent over the Internet, Personable.com can be an essential tool in implementing a Windows 2000 upgrade by providing access to the product for demonstration and training prior to changeover. In addition, there are no local compatibility issues when using Windows 2000 via Personable.com, since all application processing is done on Personable.com servers.

"Because Personable.com is not tied to a company's local network, we can be the virtual IT department keeping a company productive and efficient," explained Chou. "Personable.com users can save completed projects remotely on Personable.com servers."

About Personable.com

Personable.com is the first true consumer ASP providing maintenance, accessibility and ease of use to a full spectrum of shrink-wrapped applications online for individuals and small-to-mid-sized enterprises on a subscription basis. Personable.com's mission is to offer virtually limitless application computing power anytime, anywhere. Visit www.personable.com for additional information.

For further press information, please contact: