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BEND, OR. November 2, 1998 - Orcom Solutions recently became the first utility software development company to benchmark on IBM's latest AS/400e series hardware. Testing its Enterprise Customer Information System (E-CIS) for utility billing on the IBM AS/400e server showed results which proved that Orcom's software, matched with AS/400e servers, provides significant scalability to the utility marketplace.

Orcom Solutions recently became the first utility software development company to benchmark on IBM's latest AS/400e series hardware. Testing its Enterprise Customer Information System (E-CIS) for utility billing on the IBM AS/400e server showed results which proved that Orcom's software, matched with AS/400e servers, provides significant scalability to the utility marketplace.

Orcom Solutions recently became the first utility software development company to benchmark on IBM's latest AS/400e series hardware. Testing its Enterprise Customer Information System (E-CIS) for utility billing on the IBM AS/400e server showed results which proved that Orcom's software, matched with AS/400e servers, provides significant scalability to the utility marketplace.

Orcom completed successful benchmark testing of its E-CIS for a utility with 3 million active customers, and a total database of 5.5 million customers, on the IBM AS/400e. Working with a team of IBM benchmarking specialists at IBM's AS/400 Customer Benchmark Center in Rochester, Minnesota, Orcom successfully simulated utility environments of 1.5 million, 2 million and 3 million active customers.

Interactive user response times and batch processing execution times were excellent at each benchmark level. Even at maximum transaction processing levels, the E-CIS provided rapid screen refresh and consumed a minimal amount of available AS/400 processing capacity. The benchmarking effort demonstrated that the Orcom solution offers the performance and scalability required to Support the growth strategies of larger utilities and energy service providers.

"The results of this benchmarking project confirm that Orcom's E-CIS, running on IBM AS/400e servers, is fully scalable to three million active customers," said Orcom president Drew Child. "More utilities and energy providers with larger customer databases can now take advantage of the flexibility of our solution with the assurance that Orcom offers the capacity they need to serve their customers, even as their customer bases grow in the deregulating marketplace."

"We are excited to see Orcom's solution verify the additional performance we have built into the AS/400e series. The AS/400 has always been a strong, reliable solution for large database applications," said Tom Jarosh, general manager, AS/400, IBM. "Orcom's test results prove there are no real-world practical limitations for AS/400 applications running on the new generation of hardware."

The simulated utility user environment used a "live" in-production database supplied by an Orcom customer. The benchmark was conducted on an AS/400e 12-way processor using the new IBM PowerPC (Northstar) chip, with a 229 drive subsystem and IBM's new operating system, OS/400 Version 4 Release 3.

Orcom president Child said, "Orcom will continue to analyze the benchmarking results and enhance its products to optimize performance while maintaining the ease of use features our products are known to provide."

About Orcom Solutions:
Orcom Solutions, headquartered in Bend, Oregon provides solutions for nearly 200 utilities and energy providers around the world. Over the past two decades, Orcom has experienced steady growth and continued innovation and currently has more than 450 employees. Orcom has received the IBM Mark of Quality Award for four consecutive years. In 1998, Orcom received IBM's highest level of recognition with a Gold Level award, a distinction held by only a few of IBM's Business Partners. Orcom Solutions is a wholly owned subsidiary of en.able, LLC, headquartered in Lakewood, Colorado. Visit Orcom Solutions' web site at www.orcom.com for additional information or call 1-800-338-8233, ext.1336.

About en.able:
en.able is the leading provider of customer acquisition and retention solutions. As the Energy Parts Superstore, en.able offers utilities a bundled package of home-oriented, communications and entertainment products and services under the SimpleChoiceTM brand available in one convenient package, invoiced on one bill and serviced through one customer service number.

en.able, is a limited liability partnership between KN Energy and PacifiCorp. Visit www.en.able.simplechoice.com for more information.

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