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March 1, 2001

Evolving Solutions, Inc. selected by IBM to open TotalStorage™ Solution Center

Minneapolis, MN - March 1, 2001:
On March 06, 2001 Evolving Solutions, Inc. will become the first IBM TotalStorage™ Solution Center worldwide to showcase a full range of IBM Storage products including the recently announced IBM Ultra scalable Linear Tape Open (LTO) Tape Library, the IBM Modular Storage Server (a fibre channel disk subsystem) and recently announced IBM Network Attached Storage (NAS) products.

IBM has mounted a $400 million initiative to open TotalStorage™ Solution Centers in 20 countries around the world which will complement IBM's own TotalStorage™ Solution Centers in Gaithersburg, MD and abroad in Germany, France and Japan.

IBM chose Evolving Solutions, Inc. as a Business Partner predicated on their extensive expertise in the heterogeneous environment of Open Systems architecture, including IBM AIX, HP-UX, Sun Solaris, and Windows 2000/NT operating systems.

"We are thrilled that IBM has also chosen us to be a TotalStorage™ Solution Center for this exciting initiative," said Evolving Solutions' President, Jaime Gmach. "Our Storage Solution Center accurately depicts the heterogeneous environment in which our customers run their businesses," said Gmach recently at the Evolving Solutions headquarters in Hamel, MN. "Our ability to replicate real world environments in our TotalStorage™ Solution Center adds the dimension of 'proof of concept' for an even greater value than what we have provided to our customers in the past," he added.

The exponential growth of storage requirements due to ever increasing demand for scalable storage, 24 X 7 X 365 day reliability and the need to maximize IT dollars, has made the evaluation of Storage Area Networks (SAN) and/or Network Attached Storage (NAS) essential for all business users of information systems and particularly open system computer users.

A Storage Area Network (SAN) is a high speed network, comparable to a Local Area Network (LAN), that allows direct connection between storage devices and servers via fibre channel technology. A SAN is able to bypass traditional network bottlenecks using direct, high speed data transfers between servers and storage devices in a number of different ways. In such a manner, a SAN allows "any to any" connection between the devices participating on the SAN at very high speeds. Using a SAN can produce benefits such as higher application performance; centralization and consolidation of storage for simplified management, scalability, flexibility and availability; and disaster protection through improved data transfer and remote vaulting capabilities.

Evolving Solutions expects that by making it's TotalStorage™ Solution Center available to it's customers, great value can be realized by determining the best solution for a unique environment without disrupting a customer's normal business cycle or production processing schedule. Evolving Solutions offers hands-on interoperability, performance testing and proof of concept to minimize a customer's risk of buying into something that is not a correct solution for their environment. Before a SAN or NAS can be properly implemented, a significant amount of effort must be put forth in the development of an assessment to determine if the requirement exists for such a solution and the optimum methods by which to implement it. Evolving Solutions provides its customers with a Technology Assessment to be sure all possible challenges are addressed in advance of moving into the implementation phase of a SAN project.

Evolving Solutions, Inc. is an open systems technology integration and consulting firm based in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul) metropolitan area of Minnesota, serving regional (5-state) as well as national clientele. As an IBM Business Partner and TotalStorage™ Solution Center, Evolving Solutions crafts business solutions for its customers utilizing open systems hardware, software, consulting & integration services, education & training and ongoing support. Evolving Solutions may be found on the internet at www.evolvingsol.com.