WAYLAND, Mass., Aug. 16, 2005 -- Softscape, an industry leader in strategic people management technology and services, today announced that Medica, one of Minnesota's largest providers of health plans, is expanding its strategic human capital management (HCM) initiatives with Softscape. Medica selected the Softscape Apex(TM) integrated HCM platform as the foundation for this initiative, having successfully deployed Softscape's performance management suite to manage employee performance and align its staff with organizational goals, and is now deploying Softscape's succession planning and learning management modules. By linking these processes, Medica now has a single integrated HCM platform to optimize the performance and development of its employees, creating a strategic process that functions more effectively and efficiently, ultimately lowering operational costs.

"As a non-profit organization, we have an obligation to our customers, stakeholders and one another for the wise and effective use of all of our resources," said Gloria Hoffman, HRIS and Payroll Manager and HR Business Partner, Medica. "By automating performance reviews and connecting individual goals with organizational objectives to align activity company-wide, we have been able to cut process administrative time by 60 percent and reduce management time by another 40 percent in the first year."

Medica currently uses Softscape's integrated HCM solution to create a unified process so that performance plans are related to department and organizational goals, tied together with Medica's six standard competencies and include the individual job accountabilities. As a result of the implementation, employees are able to feel more connected to the organization and can now see how their efforts support the company's mission. Further connecting talent management and learning into this platform will allow Medica to identify gaps in the skills of the organization and develop training and hiring strategies to ensure that Medica has the right staff to meet its future growth needs.

Hoffman goes on to state: "We continue to recognize efficiency gained from our HCM strategy. Goals that are common throughout the organization are easily disseminated to all employees, mid year goal changes are tracked online and now, by integrating learning and succession planning, or talent management, into our goal setting and review processes, we will have a strategic HCM platform to address gaps in performance and plan employee growth opportunities. We believe Softscape's integrated solution will result in greater employee satisfaction, higher levels of retention, and more effective training."

Medica has also deployed Softscape's learning solution for its external Provider College to offer training material and online course scheduling for the providers in its network. By further consolidating several disparate internal learning systems into a single application as part of the Softscape Apex platform, Medica will streamline how training and development courses are delivered to employees. The system will provide a consistent user experience for employees to link to both physical and electronic learning and enable individuals to develop their own learning plans.

Softscape Apex is the industry's most comprehensive HCM platform providing fully integrated, enterprise-wide workforce management. Softscape Apex connects critical workforce processes into a single system for complete planning, hiring, aligning, developing, compensating, managing, reporting, collaborating, and knowledge sharing across an organization's entire workforce. Now customers are far better equipped to optimize resource planning and allocation, control costs, motivate employees and managers, align the workforce with business objectives, and drive individual and organizational performance.

"Numerous studies point to a heightened focus on the intangible assets of the corporation, and its people in particular, as the last great frontier in strategic and competitive advantage," said Dave Watkins, co-founder and CEO, Softscape. "Medica has recognized the value derived from this focus by strategically integrating key components of its human capital operation. Medica is an excellent example of how to leverage the connections of these key components to align the activity of employees with the mission of the organization, and differentiate the company through its people."

For more information on Softscape's Human Capital Management solutions, please visit http://www.softscape.com.

About Softscape (www.softscape.com)

Softscape provides integrated people management solutions to enterprises and government agencies. With global customers across 46 countries representing millions of workers, Softscape's award-winning, web-based technology and proven strategic services offer customers comprehensive solutions to better manage strategic HR functions and government case management. Softscape continues to advance the market with the broadest and most complete set of fully integrated enterprise software modules with unprecedented flexibility, rapid deployment, and lower total cost of ownership. Embodying a unique approach to people-centric systems that is redefining the standard for operational effectiveness, Softscape solutions are focused on enhancing productivity, facilitating long-term planning, reducing operational costs, and driving organizational performance. Customers include Merrill Lynch, Corning, Northrop Grumman, GKN, Freightliner, Medica, and Ceridian. Softscape is based in Massachusetts with offices in Chicago, San Francisco, Connecticut, Washington DC, New York City, London, Munich, and Hong Kong.

About Medica (www.medica.com)

Medica is Minnesota's largest HMO, largest PPO, and leading non-profit and independent provider of health plans. Medica has 1.2 million members and 24,000 providers in a regional health care network service area that includes 98 percent of Minnesotans and a growing number of adjoining counties in Wisconsin, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Medica also offers national network coverage to employers who also have employees outside the Medica regional network.

The Softscape logo and marks related to Softscape products are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Softscape, Inc. Other brand & product names contained herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Aaron Dun, 508-358-1072 x1140
adun@softscape.com