http://www.wise.com

PLYMOUTH, Mich., November 18, 2002 - To help organizations prepare their

software prior to distribution, Wise Solutions announces the release of

Wise Package Studio 4.0, a scalable, enterprise solution designed to

improve desktop reliability, and reduce support costs and end-user

downtime.

With many new, exclusive features, Wise Package Studio 4.0

empowers IT system administrators with the structure and tool-set

required to prepare applications for deployment, supporting every phase

of the enterprise software packaging process: application request,

analysis, repackaging, customization, validation, conflict resolution,

acceptance testing and release to the distribution system.

"Wise Package Studio version four is a huge technological leap,

giving system administrators the ability to deploy applications

correctly the first time," said Rod Trent of myITforum.com. "Wise

Package Studio is more than a repackaging tool, it's a complete

application automation engine: from automated Web-based application

request and approval, to QA wizards, to deployment statistics tracking,

to eliminating the need for a stand-alone packaging computer."

Traditionally, a non-structured approach to preparing

applications for deployment is the main contributor to the high Total

Cost of Ownership (TCO) of networked PCs. These costs are related to

broken installations, application conflicts, help desk calls and lost

productivity. Corporations are also migrating to Windows 2000/XP to

take advantage of Windows Installer (.MSI) technology and its inherent

benefits, such as install-on-demand, application self-healing and

rollback. Wise Package Studio eliminates the non-structured approach to

application preparedness and provides exclusive technology that fosters

a collaborative approach to application packaging across multiple

locations.

"Enterprises that do not dedicate resources to packaging

applications will fail at software distributions through 2004 (0.8

probability)," according to Gartner. "Although testing done in the

application development group is an important step in ensuring

application consistency by platform, this testing does not ensure

conflict resolution across all applications and user configurations.

Large enterprises will need to dedicate separate resources for packaging

and testing applications for production rollout."

"Analyst estimates put the average cost of a networked PC at

$10,000 per year, with as much as fifty percent of that related to

software and configuration management," said John McMillan, chief

executive officer at Wise Solutions. "Improved software reliability and

smooth rollouts can reduce this cost by as much as $2,500 per year.

Using Wise Package Studio ensures that software applications are fully

tested, standardized according to corporate and industry specifications,

and integrated into an organization's environment prior to deployment."

Wise Package Studio 4 is an application management solution used

by application deployments teams to implement enterprise software

packaging. Package Studio's core features cover every stage of

enterprise software packaging-from request through release management.

Some features exclusive to Wise Package Studio include:

- Application Gateway: A Web-based application request portal uniting

all phases of the deployment process, assisting with corporate

standardization, which leads to a higher level of service to end users.

- Virtual Capture(tm): This patent-pending technology allows system

administrators to quickly and accurately captures applications on a

"non-clean" machine, eliminating the need to use a test machine, or to

re-image between captures.

- Test Expert: Intelligently generates a master test plan for each

application package, and provides a comprehensive tool for testing both

the installation and the execution of the application.

- Wise Software Repository: A central, scalable information repository

accessible by decentralized packaging teams that contains detailed

information about all applications in a company. This improves

communication, project management and process workflow.

Wise Package Studio also contains dozens of other

industry-leading features, such as: enterprise conflict management that

includes Group Policy Objects and device drivers; Workbench interface

providing process workflow templates shared by distributed teams; and

Web services support for installing Web-based services and content. The

Application Isolation Wizard(tm) also allows automatic isolation of

application files minimizing the possibility of .DLL or .OCX conflicts.

Pricing and Availability

Package Studio 4.0 is available in Enterprise, Professional and Standard

Editions, and can be purchased directly from Wise Solutions, or through

select resellers. Special pricing is available for current users of

Package Studio.

About Wise Solutions

Wise Solutions is the leading provider of application

installation and management software and services to Fortune 1000

companies. With a worldwide customer-base, Wise Solutions' global

headquarters is located in Plymouth, Mich., with regional sales and

professional services offices in Washington, D.C., Redmond, Wash., and

the Netherlands.

Learn more about Wise Solutions on the Web at www.wise.com