Business Overview And Strategy Samples of Builds

Business Overview & Proposed Strategy Bruce Cardinal Gale Group Corporate Division May 21, 1999 Confidential and Proprietary. Do Not Distribute.

Corporate Division Overview ComputerSelect Results The IT Market Opportunity Sierra Concept Overview Sierra Plan Next Steps Agenda Corporate Division

Leverages current assets IT customer base ComputerSelect brand Product and company content Market dynamics attractive Fastest growing U.S. industry High rate of change increases demand for information High risks associated with wrong decisions New opportunity for Thomson Why IT Vertical? Corporate Division

Changes in Customer Base 9,710 8,593 6,178 4,781 4,391 The number of customers is dropping as we target higher dollar accounts and spend less effort on smaller CD sales ComputerSelect

Percentage of Total Revenues The Gale Corporate Division generated revenues of $40 million in 1998 Resellers 57% ComputerSelect 25% InSite 18% $40 Million Lines of Business Corporate Division

Average revenue per customer is rising as the mix shifts to more web sales Sales Trends ComputerSelect

Majority of CS Web sales are small installations...1 to 3 concurrent users Breakdown of CS Web Accounts 6 or More Concurrent $14,395+ Standalone $1,550 1 Concurrent $2,995 3 Concurrent $7,595 ComputerSelect

New Content Customer Experience Market Research Panel (IntelliQuest) Expert Opinion Licensed content (Giga or Gartner) Training Resource Center Original content Links to CBT sites and Amazon.com Bug Reports and Alerts Original content Cambridge/IT Group support Web Search Results Aeneid technology Integration of Indices Computer Database and DataSources Outside experts (Giga/Gartner) Expanded journal coverage (80+) Content Sources Existing Content Computer periodicals (100+) DataSources product data Indexing and term mapping from Computer Periodicals Database and DataSources Project Sierra

New Technology needed Technology Purchasing

Research and identify technology Research Search Network New Technology Technology Purchasing

Create “short” list (3 - 5 Vendors) Conduct research Compare products (specs, integration) Research ownership issues Evaluate support Research and identify technology New Technology Technology Purchasing

Obtain references Look for bugs Refine cost model Investigate training Create “short” list (3 - 5 Vendors) Research and identify technology New Technology needed Select vendor and deploy technology Technology Purchasing

Maintain new technology Follow developments Monitor bugs Evaluate upgrades Obtain training Create “short” list (3 - 5 Vendors) Research and identify technology New Technology needed Select vendor and deploy technology Technology Purchasing

PROJECT Maintain new technology Create “short” list (3 - 5 Vendors) Research and identify technology and vendor options New Technology needed by organization Select vendor and deploy technology Technology Purchasing