MERKLE INTEGRATES NETEZZA PERFORMANCE SERVER SYSTEM INTO NEXT-GENERATION MARKETING KNOWLEDGE CENTER

Merkle Taps Netezza’s Advanced Analytics and Warehousing Capabilities to Deliver Faster Results and New Targeted Marketing Opportunities

Lanham, Md.—April 26, 2005—Merkle (www.merklenet.com), a leading database-marketing agency, announced that it has successfully integrated the Netezza Performance Server® (NPS®) data warehouse appliance into the latest version of Merkle’s Marketing Knowledge Center™, a proprietary database-marketing infrastructure that supports all aspects of campaign planning and execution at both the operational and strategic levels.

The deployment comes after successful testing and the execution of numerous pilot programs at Merkle. The results of these tests showed that Merkle decreased the amount of time needed to process and execute highly focused direct campaigns by over 3,000 percent. Merkle started to transition its clients’ data from legacy platforms to the Netezza platform in March.

With the Netezza integration, Merkle is now able to offer faster, more advanced data warehousing capabilities. With the deployment, Merkle becomes one of the first database marketing companies to integrate Netezza’s powerful tera-scale appliance, which is currently used by industry-leading organizations in retail, financial services, telecommunications and other data-intensive industries. Merkle’s clients include DIRECTV, the Arthritis Foundation, and the U.S. Marines.

Merkle Executive Vice President Lance Williams said, “At Merkle, we are constantly looking to find new ways to improve our clients’ marketing results, and data management for large data warehouses continues to be a major constraint for many marketing organizations. By integrating Netezza’s appliance into Merkle’s Marketing Knowledge Centers, we will continue to help our clients attain the next level of performance by providing innovative solutions that increase marketing results and achieve measurable ROI. We carefully evaluated the Netezza Performance Server system, and found that it is a clearly superior solution that will enable us to bring an advanced degree of highly targeted, strategic programs to our clients in a more timely fashion.”

Jit Saxena, CEO and Co-founder, Netezza Corp. said, “We are pleased that the NPS data warehouse appliance is enabling Merkle to advance its data analytics and warehousing capabilities. Merkle is an established leader and innovator in the field of database marketing, and we are excited that they are using Netezza technology to execute highly focused marketing programs for its nonprofit, financial and retail clients within the shortest time possible.”

The Netezza Performance Server system is the market-leading data warehouse appliance, built specifically to analyze terabytes of detailed data 10 to 50 times faster than existing data warehouse options, at half the cost. The NPS system stores, filters and processes terabytes of records within a single unit, analyzing only the relevant information for each query. Netezza has placed the CPU power next to the data, allowing the NPS system to speed through processes that would occupy most data warehouse systems for hours, or even days, thereby enabling dramatic increases in productivity across the organization. Customers who have recognized the performance benefits of Netezza’s approach include Ahold USA, Amazon.com, Cingular Wireless, CNET Networks, Orange UK, Premier, Inc., Shoppers Drug Mart Corporation and The TJX Companies.

Merkle’s Marketing Knowledge Centers enable organizations to aggressively apply database marketing strategies to multichannel direct marketing programs. Marketing Knowledge Centers are comprehensive database marketing infrastructures that provide advanced insight and execution capabilities into marketing campaigns at both the operational and strategic levels. Merkle’s solution, now in its fifth generation, supports the critical areas of a successful direct marketing approach by analyzing, creating, executing and measuring campaigns in a fully integrated environment.

About Merkle
Merkle is a database marketing agency offering innovative strategies that maximize results and demonstrate return on investment. Merkle’s nationwide client base spans a variety of industries and includes leaders in financial services, consumer markets, and fundraising. Merkle’s agency services and solutions include strategic marketing and consulting, business intelligence and analytics, development and maintenance of Marketing Knowledge Centers, data products, and direct mail production and processing services. Founded in 1971, the privately held corporation is based in Lanham, Maryland. For more information, contact Merkle at 1-888-4-MERKLE or visit www.merklenet.com.

About Netezza Corporation
Netezza is the market-leading provider of enterprise-class data warehouse appliances that deliver breakthrough performance and ease-of-use at a fraction of the cost of traditional data warehouses. The Netezza Performance Server system enables Fortune 1000 customers with terabytes of dynamic, detailed data to dramatically simplify even the most complex Business Intelligence (BI) initiatives. By architecturally integrating database, server and storage within a single appliance, the NPS system delivers 10 to 50 times the performance at half the cost of existing systems. Founded in 2000 and based in Framingham, Mass., Netezza has offices in Washington, DC, the United Kingdom and Asia Pacific. The Company has raised more than $68M from leading venture capital firms, including Matrix Partners, Charles River Ventures, Battery Ventures, Orange Ventures, Sequoia Capital and Meritech Capital Partners. For more information about Netezza, please visit www.netezza.com.