Costs and number of messages received more than double from one year ago; Can-Spam Act and spam filters largely ineffective

Ziff Davis Media's Baseline magazine, and Nucleus Research, a global provider of ROI-focused research and advisory services, announced today the winners for the second annual Technology ROI Awards. The awards honor companies whose deployments of specific information systems achieve positive bottom-line financial and business results.

"Great results don't just happen. It takes the sweat and brainpower of a lot of great project teams and leaders to produce those positive results and give their companies superior operations and decision-making," said Tom Steinert-Threlkeld, Editor-in-Chief of Baseline. "The winners of these awards have produced the exceptional return on investment for their organizations over the last three years."

The winners were feted at a special ceremony during the Baseline magazine/Nucleus Technology ROI Summit, held at the Warwick Hotel in New York City. The ROI Summit was keynoted by Jeff Cohen, the Chief Information Officer who pioneered the paperless cockpit and the home-based call center for JetBlue, and Charles Feld, a leading expert on how to effectively build complex information systems, and, now, Executive Vice President of portfolio management at Electronic Data Systems. Attendees got to interact directly with these luminaries and the senior technology executives who produced the winning projects and take home lessons on how to deliver outstanding returns from deploying new systems.

"Project leaders and their teams work long days and long years, usually deep in the shadows of their organizations," said Nucleus Research President Ian Campbell. "With their innovation and tireless efforts, project teams finally have an award that puts them in the sunlight."

The Technology ROI Awards are divided into several deployment categories -- with the winning project in each category selected based on the greatest return on investment over a three-year period. An overall grand prize winner is awarded to one project that shows not just a high return, but has strategic significance and the most impact on its organization. Winners of the 2004 Technology ROI Awards are:

Category Company

• Business Intelligence: Zarlink Semiconductor
• Collaboration: Halliburton Energy Services Group
• Customer Service: Remington Arms
• Enterprise Planning: Seattle Public Schools
• Integration: Alcan
• Optimization: Los Alamos National Laboratory
• Performance Management: Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Co.
• Productivity: iLeo, division of Burnett USA
• Public Sector: State of Iowa Dept. of Revenue
• Innovation: Intermountain Health Care
• Project Justification: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
• Grand Prize: Harrah's Entertainment

Winners were selected based on three years' worth of results. Applicants had to be headquartered in the United States and have annual corporate revenue of at least $50 million. Projects had to be installed and in operation no later than Jan 1, 2002. Entrants could not be developers of digital hardware, software or services for commercial sale to other enterprises; however vendors can nominate customers as entrants.

Each winner was subject to an in-depth analysis including interviews with system users to verify all claimed benefits.

About Baseline

Baseline, published by Ziff Davis Media is a practical guide to costing and managing the deployment of leading-edge information systems. Through case studies, news stories, company dossiers, and financial tools, the publication provides technology leaders and business executives with a detailed look at how their peers are implementing information technology. The success—or failure—of each implementation is measured by the company's actual progress against "baseline" expectations of financial returns and technology deliverables.

About Nucleus Research

Nucleus Research is an independent global research and advisory firm that provides CFOs, CIOs, and their staffs with the financial and technology expertise they need to evaluate and manage their information technology investments the same way they evaluate and manage other capital investments. Nucleus Research, approved by the NASBA for professional education, is the first firm of its kind to blend financial analysis with comprehensive technology expertise to deliver 100% impartial return-on-investment (ROI) data and financial analysis services to organizations worldwide. Nucleus analysts use an uncompromising set of processes and tools to evaluate the financial return on IT assets throughout a technology's life cycle, from selection and deployment to upgrade and retirement. Nucleus Research's ROI assessment methodology can be applied to virtually any technology investment. For more information, visit NucleusResearch.com.

About Ziff Davis Media Inc.

Ziff Davis Media is a global special interest media company focusing on the technology and electronic videogame markets. The company is a leading information services provider of all technology media including publications, websites, conferences, events, eSeminars, eNewsletters, custom publishing, list rentals, research and market intelligence. In the United States, the Company publishes 10 leading magazines including PC Magazine, eWEEK, Baseline, CIO Insight, Sync, Electronic Gaming Monthly, Computer Gaming World, Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, Xbox Nation and GMR. The Company exports the power of its brands internationally with publications in 41 countries and 20 languages. Ziff Davis Media leverages its content on the Internet with seven highly-targeted technology and gaming sites including PCMag.com, eWEEK.com, ExtremeTech.com and 1UP.com. The company also produces highly-targeted b-to-b and consumer technology events including Business4Site and DigitalLife. With its main headquarters and PC Magazine Labs based in New York, Ziff Davis Media also has offices and lab facilities in the San Francisco and Boston markets. Additional information is available at www.ziffdavis.com.