Press release

Headstrong Forms Strategic Alliance with Valista to Promote Open ‘Value Chain’ Business Model in Japan

Partnership to share technology and knowledge and drive development of new services over Next Generation IP Networks

DUBLIN, IRELAND and TOKYO, JAPAN– July 10^th 2007 – Valista (www.valista.com), the leading provider of merchandizing, payments and settlement solutions accelerating and automating digital commerce, and Headstrong (Japan) Ltd., a leading consulting and IT services company, have announced the formation of a strategic alliance to jointly target new business development opportunities in Japan. The companies will merge their respective technologies and industry expertise to promote an advanced ‘value chain’ business model for cross industry players in the Japanese marketplace.

To date, telecommunication services in Japan have developed around the established, closed business model where operators support their network, operations and services. In Europe however, a more open model has been adopted where the network infrastructure has been utilized by various players co-operating with each other to provide a single service. With the onset of open and broadband IP-based services and a move towards digital convergence, the opportunities around telecommunication services in Japan are exploding, leading to a ‘Paradigm Shift’ which will see the development of a value chain model in an open environment, built on the secure network base provided by the operators. The new services enabled on next generation networks provide enormous opportunities for many companies in various types of businesses.

With a 25-year track record and an operating footprint across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, Headstrong is a global consultancy providing clients with results-based IT solutions (IT strategy, large scale project management) based on organizational and business innovation and management perspectives. Headstrong’s expertise is proven in projects in a diverse range of businesses in ICT and the services industries, including financial services, the public sector, manufacturing and distribution industries.

Headstrong and Valista will join forces to establish a new business model, sharing their technology and expertise in planning and developing an enterprise architectural model and new business strategy. Headstrong will bring their wealth of proven experience in business innovation support based on strategic consultation and IT, to design the entire strategic information architecture for new services on next generation networks (NGN) or Service Delivery Platforms (SDP). Valista brings its suite of merchandizing, payments and settlement solutions which have been widely deployed with leading innovators including NTT DoCoMo, Taito Corporation, America Online, Cricket Communications, Vodafone UK, France Telecom’s w-HA, Orange, 3 etc.

Valista’s products and managed services are in use worldwide with leading service providers and aggregators across Europe and the USA, helping them to accelerate digital commerce with comprehensive payments, settlements and merchandizing solutions. Valista’s management team has decided to further invest in the Japanese market as a key growth opportunity for the company. As a result, Valista recently appointed Yutaka Nozawa as Country Manager Japan with responsibility for growing Valista’s presence in the region.

“The key players in the digital commerce value chain are exploring advanced services with relevant partnerships across NGN and IMS (IP Multi-media Subsystem) networks.” said Yutaka Nozawa, Country Manager, Valista Japan. “The combination of Headstrong’s ability to provide strategic consultation and Valista’s experience in European and US markets will proactively help to establish a new type of value chain service model in the Japanese market.”

Headstrong and Valista will be participating in an upcoming Seminar in Japan on Communication and IT Fusion on 31 July 2007 (an Enterprise Ireland event, supported by MCPC, the Mobile Computing Promotion Consortium). The event which will celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Ireland and Japan and will focus on the following theme; ‘Beyond NGN: What Irish Next Generation Software Companies can do to support new Communication Services’. Valista’s presentation is entitled: 'Billing, Payment and Customer-Care Solutions as part of the Next Generation Service, enabling the Value Chain business model'.

Notes to editors:
For more information, please contact:

Valista®
Valista Japan,
Ebisu Garden Place Tower 18F
4-20-3 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
150-6018 Japan
Tel: +81 3-5789-5580
Fax +81 3-5789-5581
Email: japan@valista.com

Valista®
Jennifer Cakir
Marketing Manager
Tel: +353-1-276-4511
Fax: +353-1-276-4533
Email: marketing@valista.com

Headstrong Japan KK
Shiroyama Trust Tower 30F
4-3-1 Toranomon, Minatoku, Tokyo
Tel:+81 3-5470-0555
Fax:+81 3-5470-0599
Email: information.japan@headstrong.com

About Headstrong
Headstrong Corporation is a global consultancy that delivers expertise across business processes, management consulting and technology within financial services, manufacturing, public sector and services sectors. Headstrong helps clients align technology initiatives with business goals while leveraging a steadfast heritage (as James Martin + Co) of strong methodologies and standards for delivery. With Global Delivery Centers (GDC) in two of the leading outsourcing destinations – India and the Philippines – and a global resource pool of qualified advisors, Headstrong can deliver a full range of integration services, including strategic assessment, design and implementation, and application development and maintenance, both onshore and offshore. With 25 years track record of proven results, Headstrong’s client base includes many of the world’s most respected companies. Headstrong is headquartered near Washington, DC, with a global presence across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. For more information please visit www.headstrong.com (and www.headstrong.co.jp for Japanese language) or email to information.japan@headstrong.com. Headstrong (Japan) is a fully owned subsidiary of Headstrong Corporation.

About Valista® Ltd.
Valista is a global leader in the provision of multi-channel merchandizing, payments and settlement solutions, accelerating and automating digital commerce. It provides a unique suite of solutions accelerating the adoption of digital content and enables the digital lifestyle by ensuring that consumers can purchase and pay for content over any channel, using any payment instrument.

Valista understands the requirements of the evolving digital content marketplace enabling increased brand awareness, customer satisfaction and incremental revenue streams for its customers. The company enables mobile, broadband and cable operators, ISPs, aggregators, media and entertainment companies to support the entire commerce ecosystem including end-to-end transaction management, multiple payment options; advanced settlement; subscriptions, bundling, discounting, promotions and loyalty programs. Valista offers a wide range of implementation options, deploying best of breed application software, assisting with analysis, design and integration or delivering a complete managed service.

Valista’s commerce solutions and managed services have been proven across the globe in real world implementations by leading innovators such as America Online, Cricket, Vodafone UK, NTT DoCoMo, France Telecom's w-HA, Orange, 3, mBlox, Hong Kong CSL and GTECH. For more information, please visit: www.valista.com/japanese

Valista, ‘accelerating commerce’, ‘new ways to purchase with multiple ways to pay’, ‘payments software enabling the purchase of premium services’, ‘Valista Plus’, PaymentsPlus’, ‘OffersPlus’, ‘SettlementPlus’ are registered trademarks and trademarks of Valista Limited. All other trademarks and registered trademarks referenced in this document are the property of their respective owners.

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