Sphera Launches New Development Center in India to Efficiently Speed Innovation of Hosting Automation Technology [January 27, 2004]

Software Development Facility in Pune, India, to Augment Sphera’s Research and Development in Tel Aviv, Israel DENVER, CO, January 27, 2004—Sphera Corporation, the leading global provider of Web hosting automation and management software, has joined forces with In-Reality Software, an India-based software services firm that is led by the former President of VERITAS Software India, to build a new development center in Pune, India. In-Reality’s skilled software engineers will augment Sphera’s own multinational resources in U.S., Europe, Japan, and Israel to accelerate Sphera’s product development in response to growing market demand.

According to Sphera CEO Michael Gold, “The formation of this relationship is in response to our success in the market and our expanding customer requirements.” In-Reality’s contributions will expedite Sphera’s already efficient development of new product capabilities for Sphera’s HostingBusiness Suite™. Gold continued, ”The joint development arrangement rounds out Sphera’s strategy to more deeply penetrate the high-end hosting provider market.”

The new center gives Sphera greater flexibility and efficiency, enhancing its core competencies with In-Reality’s management team’s extensive experience in developing software solutions for global companies. In-Reality’s President, Shirish Deodhar, has more than twenty years of industry experience and most recently served as President of VERITAS Software’s India operation, which he built to nearly 500 employees.

“As consolidation continues in the hosting industry, the larger providers are looking to us to help them differentiate their services,” says Gold. “We recently secured additional funding to accelerate and expand our business more rapidly. Capitalizing on In-Reality’s experience and best practices will enable us to be more efficient and aggressive in delivering new products and features to our customers.”

Sphera’s world-class Tel Aviv-based research and development center is currently, and will remain, the company’s core center for product development and research.

“We’ve been extremely impressed by Sphera’s innovation,” says Deodhar. “Their solutions are comprehensive, requiring the same breadth and depth of technological expertise that distinguishes In-Reality. We’re looking forward to aligning with Sphera and helping to make the hosting business more profitable for aggressive players.”

About In-Reality
In-Reality Software creates value and speeds ROI among global companies by providing high quality software development services at competitive rates. Based in Pune, India, In-Reality works with manufacturers, ISVs and OEMs worldwide to speed time-to-market and optimize use of internal resources. The company’s development approach follows a ‘build, operate and transfer’ model that enables their customers to capitalize on In-Reality’s expertise in outsourced development and transfer mindshare and employees in-house if it is part of their long-term goals. The company is led by a seasoned management team with extensive experience in conducting business in India and managing large multi-site software development teams. In-Reality’s CEO, Shirish Deodhar, recently served as President of VERITAS Software’s India operation. Shirish grew the operation from 40 employees and 2 product teams in 1999 to nearly 500 employees comprising 25% of the worldwide engineering team by 2003. For more information, visit www.in-reality.com.

About Sphera
Sphera Corporation is a global leader in Web hosting automation and management software. Sphera provides value to over 100 hosting providers and their resellers through service differentiation, increased operational efficiencies, enhanced customer satisfaction and increased profitability. Sphera's HostingBusiness Suite™, which includes HostingDirector® and ResellerDirector™, delivers immediate ROI by generating new revenue opportunities, slashing costs and winning customer loyalty. Headquartered in Denver, with offices in Boston, London, Tokyo, India and Tel Aviv, Israel, Sphera is backed by well-established global venture capital firms including JVP, TLcom Capital Partners, Gemini Israel Funds, Vision Capital and Bank of America. For more information, visit www.sphera.com, or call 1-866-SPHERA-1.

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Sphera®, HostingBusiness Suite™ and HostingDirector® are trademarks of Sphera Corporation. All other trademarks recognized.

Media Contacts:
Sandra Fathi
Affect Strategies for Sphera
212-398-9680 x141
sandra@affectstrategies.com

Robin Hodus
Sphera
617-614-1800
rhodus@sphera.com

For more information: http://www sphera.com

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Courtney Chauvin
Affect Strategies
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