Keane Enters Business Process Outsourcing Market through Majority Ownership in Worldzen Company Poised to Leverage its Core Competencies and Customer Base in Fast Growing Segment

Boston, MA -- Keane, Inc., a leading business and information technology (IT) consulting firm today announced its entry into the rapidly growing Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) market by acquiring a majority interest in Worldzen, a privately held BPO firm. Worldzen has proven capabilities in outsourcing back-office processes for Global 2000 companies in the insurance, financial services, collections and recovery, and healthcare markets.

Keane's BPO focus will be on delivering services to clients to improve their customer service and reduce their operating costs through Worldzen's unique business model which combines business process outsourcing with process redesign and technology improvements.

Keane's initial investment will result in an equity position of approximately 60 percent in Worldzen with the right to increase this ownership position over time. Under the terms of the agreement, Keane will also contribute a majority of the assets of the Keane Consulting Group (KCG) business. Worldzen will integrate the KCG management consulting and process redesign practices with Worldzen's BPO services.

Leading IT advisory firm Gartner predicts compounded annual growth in the BPO market of 9.6% percent through 2007, to bring the overall market to $173 billion. Within that market, offshore delivery of BPO is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 80 percent, increasing this market segment from $1.3 billion in 2003 to $24.3 billion in 2007(1).

"Keane's strategy is to capitalize on this rapidly growing sector and to establish a leadership position where the Applications Outsourcing and BPO markets converge as many customers begin to bundle applications and process outsourcing procurement to achieve near-term business improvement and cost synergies," stated Keane president and CEO Brian Keane. "Worldzen shares Keane's industry and customer focus, management approach and infrastructure requirements, making it an ideal partner for Keane. The synergy between Worldzen and Keane Consulting Group, which has an enviable record of delivering business improvements through its process redesign and optimization services, will help to ensure the rapid delivery of performance improvements and cost efficiencies to customers."

"The real and sustainable business benefit of BPO is realized through economies of scale, economies of scope and economies of specialization," explained Rebecca Scholl, a leading BPO analyst with Gartner. "In order to achieve meaningful benefits from BPO, enterprises should seek partners with proven business process expertise and specific vertical knowledge as well as offshore delivery of BPO services from lower-cost, high-quality regions."

"Keane and Worldzen together offer a unique, compelling model with business consulting and process optimization services delivered locally at the front end and significant, recurring cost savings achieved through outsourcing in India," said William E. Conway, Jr., founding partner and managing director of The Carlyle Group, a $16 billion global private equity firm which provided initial funding to Worldzen.

Worldzen will continue to operate as a separate company focused on the BPO market with sales, marketing, business consulting and process optimization services in the U.S. and BPO delivery in India. Keane will remain focused on the application outsourcing market with its global delivery model that includes on site, near-shore and offshore delivery.

"Our BPO solution will leverage Keane Consulting Group's core competencies in business process redesign, process improvement, and benchmark metrics, along with Worldzen's core competency in BPO delivery," stated Sandeep Bhargava, co-founder and CEO of Worldzen. "KCG will also provide additional scale and business consulting capabilities needed to position us in the marketplace."

Due to the long-term experience and strong working relationships that exist between KCG and Keane as well as with the principals of Worldzen, the integration learning curve is expected to be minimal. Keane and Worldzen will jointly market and sell to both Keane's customer base and other targeted Global 2000 organizations. The firms are already jointly bidding on several significant outsourcing opportunities.

Keane will consolidate Worldzen's financial results in Keane's financial statements as a result of this transaction. The deal is expected to be slightly dilutive to Keane's earnings in 2004 due to plans to scale Worldzen's operation to gain market share in its early stage, and as a result of investments in Worldzen's infrastructure and business development.

About Worldzen

Worldzen is an Operations Consulting and Business Process Outsourcing company focused on reducing operating costs through process optimization and outsourcing. Worldzen and Keane have extensive vertical expertise in financial services, healthcare, and insurance. The integration of KCG's U.S.- based business consulting, process redesign and optimization experience with Worldzen is designed to create a powerful high value BPO capability to deliver sustainable performance improvements and cost efficiencies to customers. Worldzen maintains sales, marketing, business consulting and process optimization services in the U.S. and provides BPO delivery in India.

About Keane

Keane, Inc., helps clients to improve their business operations and IT effectiveness by delivering a broad range of business consulting and outsourcing services designed to achieve near-term and sustainable business benefit. Specifically, Keane focuses on three highly synergistic service offerings: Applications Outsourcing, Application Development & Integration, and Business Process Optimization and Outsourcing. Keane believes that business and IT improvements are best realized by streamlining and optimizing business and IT processes, implementing rigorous management disciplines, and fostering a culture of accountability through meaningful performance metrics. Keane delivers its services through an integrated network of branch offices in North America and the United Kingdom, and via SEI CMM Level 5 evaluated Advanced Development Centers (ADCs) in Canada, and India. Information on Keane is available on the Internet at www.keane.com.

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