NEWS RELEASE

Contact: Dave Costello, DCI Media Relations
(978) 470-3870

Release Date: December 9, 1996

'Best Practice' Presentations From Senior Fortune 500 Executives To Highlight DCI Data Warehouse Conference

High-Level Officers From Wal-Mart, MCI, Sears Accent Industry’s Premier Event

Andover, MA. -- Randall Mott, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., will head a list of Fortune 500 executives offering user-story presentations at The DCI Data Warehouse Conference in Orlando, Florida, February 25-27, 1997, at the Orange County Convention Center. The conference, titled "The Business of Data Warehouse," is recognized as the industry's premier event.

In addition to Mr. Mott, high-level executives from several other Fortune 500 companies will offer "Best Practices From Early Adopters." Scheduled to appear are Lance Boxer, Chief Information Officer of MCI; Ken DeWitt, Vice President of Credit Systems for Sears, Roebuck & Company; Jeff Sturgess, Senior Advisory Systems Engineer for GTE Data Systems; Glenn McCall, Senior Vice President Strategic Technology, NationsBank; Don Groesser, Senior Manager, Union Pacific Railroad; John Davis, Chief Information Officer, Trans Financial, Inc.; and Andy Hayler, Senior Consultant, Shell International. A presentation will also be given by Mike Gower, Associate Chief Financial Officer of Duke University.

The DCI Data Warehouse Conference will feature nine tracks covering technology trends, business and vertical industry issues. Over 100 sessions, including 75 brand-new presentations and showcasing 60 leading data warehousing authorities, will address the hottest topics in the field.

The DCI Data Warehouse Conference will focus heavily on practical data warehousing information, with an emphasis on "real-world" user stories. In fact, four of the tracks - Customer Service Management, Database Management, Risk and Financial Management, and Logistics and Quality Management - are specifically "business solutions-focused."

"This conference will enable both business technologists and technical decision makers to leave with the tools and plans to ensure that data warehouse technologies will benefit their business," explained Aaron Zornes, META Group Executive Vice President and Data Warehouse Conference Chairperson.

The DCI Data Warehouse Conference is also sponsored by META Group. Co-sponsors are Arbor Software; Client/Server Computing; Compaq; COMSHARE; Data Management Review; Dimensional Insight, Inc.; EMC Corporation; IBM Corporation; Information Advantage, Inc.; Lockheed Martin IS&T; MicroStrategy, Inc.; Pilot Software, Inc.; Planning Sciences, Inc.; PLATINUM technology, inc; Price Waterhouse LLP; Red Brick Systems; SAS Institute Inc.; Silicon Graphics, Inc.; Software Magazine; Sun Microsystems; Sybase/Powersoft; and Thomson Software Products.

Members of the media interested in registering for the show should call Dave Costello at DCI Media Relations, (978) 470-3870. Editors wishing to register via E-mail can do so at dcostello@dciexpo.com. A brochure outlining all of the show details can be accessed on DCI’s World Wide Web site. Because the number of press passes is limited, it is recommended that media register as soon as possible.

A second DCI Data Warehouse Conference will be held in San Jose, California, April 8-10, 1997.

DCI, located in Andover, Massachusetts, is a world leader in high-technology education, trade shows and management consulting. META Group, Inc., headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, is an independent market assessment company in information technology.