(San Diego, CA – April 7, 2004) – The Service & Support Professionals Association (SSPA), the leading industry Association for IT support professionals, announced today that five companies, which deliver superior online web site services, were awarded the prestigious WebStar Service Awards at the annual SSPA Conference@San Diego. The annual WebStar Service Awards are presented to recognize SSPA Member companies that excel and ultimately provide superior customer service to their online customers. The SSPA Advisory Board reviews, judges and selects the winners for the WebStar Awards.

“The WebStar Service Awards winners are industry leading organizations that truly understand the impact the Internet can have on technical support,” said Bill Rose, SSPA Founder/CEO. “They are the best of the best when it comes to web-based services.

The Companies chosen for the 2004 WebStar Service Awards are:

• ADP Dealer Services- www.adp.com
  
• Aspen Technology- www.aspentech.com
  
• Cognos- www.cognos.com
  
• Mercury Interactive Corporation- www.merc-int.com
  
• Network Appliance- www.netapp.com

Created in 2000 to recognize outstanding web-based service and support, the WebStar Service Award winners have demonstrated that they not only provide customers choices in sources of services and the means of delivery; but execute these with award winning performance.

The WebStar Service Awards are one of the vehicles that companies can use to promote themselves. By prominently displaying the WebStar logo on corporate web sites, customers can quickly identify which companies have met the criteria needed to be WebStar Service Award Winner. As a result, online consumers should get a high level of assurance as to the level of customer service they will receive if they choose to use customer support on that particular site.

About SSPA
Founded in 1989, the Service & Support Professionals Association (SSPA) was formed to focus on the specific needs of service executives who are responsible for support centers and overall customer relations. Today, the SSPA represents over 23,500 service professionals at
2,700 support centers worldwide. These executives look to SSPA to provide insight into the future of support services, a road map of best practices within our industry and access to the best service and support vendors. SSPA has become the center of support providing a reliable and comprehensive resource for news, research, benchmarking, standards and collaboration.

SSPA was created for professionals, managers and executives that make their living in the IT support services community. It is not a generic, one-size-fits all website where nobody ever feels like they belong. SSPA is dynamic, interactive, living resource specifically designed for the unique needs of support professionals. This exciting virtual community creates a forum for constant interaction with peers, industry experts, technology vendors and much more. For more information regarding the SSPA and other related divisions, log on to www.thesspa.com or send an email to info@thesspa.com.