ATLANTA, Aug. 23, 2006 -- Business Intelligence (BI) and its accompanying production reporting, scorecards and analytical dashboards have been called the "ultimate CEO tool."

Executives at companies like Wal-Mart, GE and Marriott have long relied on BI applications to peer into the day-to-day actions of thousands of employees, vendors and operations; sniff out glitches in the supply chain; drive suppliers toward perfect orders; and manage accounts and revenue with real- time price, promotion and inventory adjustments.

Industry analysts have long bemoaned the fact that BI has only been available to large companies requiring start-up costs well into the six figures. However, new players are emerging promising to price BI in the $20,000 range, and within the reach of small and medium size businesses, and with robust, integrated capabilities, including analytical dashboards.

Leading the charge to bring BI to the middle and small market is Bitam, a Mexico-based business intelligence pure-play software firm. Bitam says it has solved the middle and small-market mystery and that more than 75% of its 1,000-plus customers have revenue of $500 million or less. While the majority of Bitam's customers are in Mexico, Latin America and Europe, Bitam CEO David Abdo says he has made it his company's quest to "put BI into the hands of every person making business decisions -- no matter what the size of the company is." Bitam also claims to have displaced industry leaders Business Objects, Cognos and Microstrategy at dozens of its customers.

Bitam is betting that its unusual subscription-based trial, which some have referred to as "Try Before You Buy" is removing one of the large evaluation hang-ups for smaller businesses. Bitam offers prospects a full installation of a BI suite that is integrated with all the company's critical functions. Bitam says it also includes full service consulting and training to get the company running with a fully-functioning BI suite.

"This is not a limited-license trial that expires in two weeks or a web- based demo; this is a fully-installed, integrated and fully-functional trial period for prospects to live with and use a BI suite," said Mr. Abdo. "We have total confidence that once a prospect sees the value in BI, they'll buy it. We're just taking the risk-reward evaluation off the table for them."

WEBINAR: BI for Small and Medium-Size Businesses: Is it Finally Here? Will New Pricing and Try Before You Buy Remove Hurdles for SMBs?

What: 45-Minute Free Webinar

When: Wednesday, August 30, 2006 from 11 am EDT to 11:45 am EDT

Presenters: Kevin Floyd & Randy Long, formerly of Business Objects and currently with Bitam U.S.

Register: http://www.bitam.com/smbwebseminar

Bitam Media Contact:
     Bill Getch
     bgetch@bitam.com
     770.380.8481