Lyris Acquired Piper Software

Berkeley, CA - October 28, 2004 - Lyris Technologies announced today its acquisition of email deliverability expert Piper Software, based in California and Colorado. The transaction provides Lyris with a distinct competitive advantage through Piper's unique technology, which helps marketers ensure that their messages are delivered to recipients' email inboxes. "The most significant challenge that legitimate email marketers face these days is delivering their opt-in mail to the inbox," said Steven Brown, vice president of marketing at Lyris. "Piper's services provide the transparency and intelligence necessary to meet that goal."

In today's tough anti-spam environment, even companies that send email with permission may have difficulty delivering their messages. Internet Service Providers (ISP's) and other email providers protect their clients by blocking messages that appears to be unsolicited or otherwise unwanted, such that desirable mail may be inadvertently blocked or quarantined.

Piper Software's Delivery Monitor service, part of its "QuickProofs" system, tells marketers if and why their mail is blocked outright or automatically filtered to "spam" folders. Users can then apply this intelligence to their message content and mailing schedule, thereby increasing actual delivery rates to the inbox and the revenue associated with their marketing campaigns.

Piper's solution also includes Inbox Capture, Content Analyzer, and Blacklist Monitor, services that increase email readability and deliverability. The QuickProofs system complements Lyris ListManager software and its ListHosting (ASP) alternative, which are used by more than 4,000 businesses worldwide. ListManager, now in version 8.0, has the largest installed base of any commercial email marketing software.

"Piper is thrilled to join Lyris, given its reputation for scalable, stable technology," commented Ron Kewish, Piper Software's co-founder and chief technology officer. "Lyris provides the backing we need to accelerate Piper's growth and bring to market all of the new email services we have in the works."

Acquiring Piper enhances Lyris' position as a top Email Service Provider, and both Lyris and Piper will enjoy new sales opportunities by combining forces. Jupiter Research, an authority on the business impact of the Internet and emerging technologies, recently named Lyris as the number one mid-market provider of email marketing services.

"In Jupiter Research's August 2004 report, David Daniels indicated that Lyris customers should consider using Piper Software as a complement to our technology," said Brown. "We took David's recommendation seriously, and went a step further by purchasing Piper's entire operation. Piper makes the best reporting tools in the industry, and we expect that most email marketers will demand them in the coming year, given the financial risks of not monitoring delivery."

"With every ISP and corporation adopting various and multiple spam filtering methodologies, deliverability will continue to challenge marketers," said David Daniels, Research Director at Jupiter Research. "Jupiter Research forecasts the cost of blocked emails (i.e., sent but not delivered) will balloon from $230 million in 2003 to $419 million in 2008."

As a division of Lyris Technologies, Piper Software will maintain its existing data center and sales and development offices. Lyris will offer the QuickProofs system to its software customers and hosting clients, and plans to integrate QuickProofs into its ListManager email marketing application.

About Lyris Technologies
Lyris develops Lyris ListManager, the world's best-selling email marketing software. More than 4,000 businesses-from Fortune 500 corporations to fast-growing startups-rely on ListManager and its ASP alternative, ListHosting, for high-performance email campaign management and analytics. Lyris also makes the MailShield software suite for spam protection, and MailEngine for reliable email delivery. In October 2004, Lyris celebrated its tenth, very successful year in business and was named one of the fastest growing private companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. More information is available at http://www.lyris.com/products/emailadvisor/.

About Piper Software
Piper is the email deliverability and compatibility expert that enables marketers and Email Service Providers to maintain positive ISP relations and increase campaign ROI. Piper's QuickProofs system provides critical information about email delivery and compatibility, to ensure that marketing and transactional messages are delivered as intended to recipients' inboxes. Piper has serviced the ESP market since 2003. Learn more about Piper's QuickProof services at http://www.pipersoftware.com.