Honolulu, HI - January 22, 2001- Inovaware, a leading supplier of billing and customer lifecycle management software, today announced that it has been invited to join the Content Alliance, an industry group initiated by Cisco Systems, Inc., to accelerate and lead the development of Internet content delivery services .

Inovaware will assist the Content Alliance with accelerating the development of open standards and protocols for usage-based billing of transit charges across content delivery networks.

"We are glad to work with such a well respected group and look forward to applying our billing expertise to the development of workable business models in the content delivery arena," said Inovaware CEO Marc Rapoza. "The Content Alliance will optimize Internet performance and reliability through accelerated deployment of standards-based content delivery networks.

"Billing and real-time rating are essential elements of the content delivery effort to help service providers rapidly introduce content networks based on viable business models," said Cheng Wu, vice president and general manager, Cisco Systems. "We are pleased to have Inovaware participate in the Content Alliance and look forward to their assistance in advancing the Alliance's goal of accelerating the content networking market."

The goals of the Content Alliance are to accelerate the development of open standards and protocols to advance content networking and delivering key technologies such as content peering, which enables the content services networks of multiple service providers to work in cooperation.

"The Content Alliance initiative has rapidly gained acceptance by a wide range of companies across the content networking value chain," said Alex Benik, Analyst at the Yankee Group. "This exemplifies the rapid growth in momentum of the content networking industry, and the desire of service providers to quickly resolve the technological and business issues that could otherwise slow down the development and delivery of advanced content services to customers."

Inovaware offers an end-to-end solution for the IP billing and customer management requirements of Internet service businesses worldwide. The company's clients include web hosting/data center Micron PC, financial content provider Morningstar, Unified Messaging giant j2 Global Communications and sales force automation ASP SalesForce.com.

About Inovaware
Inovaware Corporation is a leading business systems provider for the Internet industry. With clients in over 30 countries worldwide, the company provides advanced billing and customer management software to ISPs, ASPs, broadband services, content providers and other next- generation service providers. Inovaware's Synchronized Business Infrastructure™ is the only framework that integrates separate customer-centric operations such as billing, customer management and helpdesk processes into one centralized system-lowering overall cost and time-to-implementation. More information about Inovaware and its product offerings can be found at the company's Web site, www.inovaware.com.

About the Content Alliance
The Content Alliance was formed in August 2000 to accelerate creation and adoption of open standards for content networking. Its focus has been on defining frameworks for the interoperability of Content Delivery Networks. While initiated by Cisco Systems, the Content Alliance is self-governing, and leverages open standards bodies such as the IETF. With a current membership of over 60 organizations, including, Cable & Wireless, America Online and Sun Mircosystems, the Content Alliance is open to technology vendors, service providers, or content providers that wish to support the development of open standards for the advancement of content networking. For more information on the Content Alliance, please visit: www.content-peering.org

About Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. News and information are available at the Cisco Press Room: http://newsroom.cisco.com/