OPINION: SPSS Products Are Widely Used

SPSS was pleased to see a profile of our public-sector division in the Jan. 22 issue. There were, however, a few inaccuracies in the article, and I would like to set the record straight.

The article stated: "A driving force behind the changes at SPSS was a disappointing third quarter performance by its public-sector division ..." The company did not, in fact, meet analyst's expectations for the third quarter 2000. This was mostly because of changes in foreign currency exchange rates. In addition, the public sector did not perform well that quarter.

However, in reality, SPSS made personnel additions, not because of third quarter financial performance. SPSS focused on hiring experienced people in all vertical markets, including the public sector, throughout 2000. The driving force behind the changes and additions were to meet the needs of government and higher education as they face new challenges, such as e-government and service delivery.

Another inaccuracy was the statement that SPSS statistical products are "primarily used by the scientific community." While we do have a scientific research customer base, the largest use of SPSS products is within corporations and governments that employ our products to form stronger and more profitable customer and citizen relationships. With hundreds of thousands of organizations using the SPSS statistical analysis product, it is, by far, the most widely known and used SPSS product on the market.

Lastly, Steve Greenberg was hired as vice president of strategic planning for SPSS, and he came to SPSS from e-Biz Strategies.

Sincerely,

Mark Battaglia

Division President

SPSS BI