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BEND, OR., August 17, 2000 - Orcom Solutions, the leading Application Service Provider (ASP) of customer care and billing solutions for the utility industry, Tuesday night (August 15) was awarded the 2000 CIO-100 Award from CIO magazine -- an international publication targeted toward IT and business executives. In addition toOrcom, other 2000 CIO-100 recipients include Cisco Systems, Dell Computer Corp., Lucent Technologies Inc., and WorldCom.

Every year CIO magazine identifies and honors 100 organizations from around the world that have distinguished themselves in a particular area. This year's CIO 100 Awards Program focused on companies that excel in customer service and customer relationship management. Recipients demonstrated an innovative and sophisticated customer service approach -- an approach that makes the customer central todoing business and sets a benchmark for others tofollow.

"Not only is this award a tremendous honor, it further validates Orcom's commitment tousing technology as a tool for enhanced customer service," said Darren Brady, Orcom Executive Vice President. "Our ASP approach is one of focus," added Brady. "Orcom is focused on delivering great customer care and billing services to the utility and energy services industry. This award is a direct reflection of that focus and represents the hard work of Orcom's employees and the high caliber of the clients we represent."

Orcom's customer service philosophy focuses on its people, processes, and technology. "As the utility industry continues to evolve, Orcom remains focused on delivering exceptional customer service," said Len Tanner, Orcom Director of Client Operations. "We have worked hard to develop and implement business practices that reflect our clients' importance in our operation. And we are continuously tracking our progress and evolving to meet the needs of our clients. Having our name among such a distinguished list of companies providing top quality customer service and customer relationship management confirms our efforts and establishes a benchmark from which we will continue to improve our service level goals."

The recipients of this year's CIO-100 Award were selected through a three-step process. First, companies concisely answered questions about their customer service approach on an online application form. A judging panel of nine industry experts then reviewed the applications and nominated 100 companies who they felt were best distinguished in the area of customer service and customer relationship management. Lastly, a team of ten CIO magazine editors and writers reviewed both the applications and the expert recommendations and voted on the final 100.

About Orcom Solutions
Orcom Solutions, Inc. is the premier Application Service Provider (ASP) of billing and customer care solutions, systems integration and outsourcing services to the utility and energy industry. With over 1.4 million outsourced bills, Orcom is the largest ASP for utility and energy bills in the industry. Headquartered in bend, Oregon, with an office in Denver, Colorado, and a service delivery facility in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, Orcom currently has more than 530 employees. Orcom is a LiveWire Utilities company. LiveWire is a diversified software and Internet company focused on business-to-business and mission critical software and products and services for media, telecom, utility, and Internet companies.

About CXO Media, Inc.
CXO Media, Inc. (formerly CIO Communications, Inc.), publishes CIO magazine. CXO Media is an executive reach company, serving CIOs, CEOs, CFOs, COOs and other corporate officers who use technology to thrive and prosper in this new era of business. The company strives to Enhance partnerships between CIOs and CXOs, as well as create opportunities for IT and consumer marketers toreach them.

CXO Media, Inc. is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading IT media, research and exposition company. IDG publishes more than 300 computer magazines and newspapers and 4,000 book titles and offers online users the largest network of technology-specific sites around the world through IDG.net, which comprises more than 270 targeted websites in 70 countries. IDG is also a leading producer of 168 computer-related expositions worldwide, and provides IT market analysis through 50 offices in 43 countries worldwide.

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