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Blue Pumpkin Names Ken Forbes As Chief Technology Officer

Industry veteran to extend workforce optimization leadership with new innovations


Sunnyvale, CA – October 8, 2002 – Blue Pumpkin, an industry leader in enterprise workforce optimization solutions, today announced it has appointed Ken Forbes to the position of chief technology officer, a key leadership role for the technology and services company.

Joining Blue Pumpkin in 2001, Forbes will continue the company’s technology leadership established through the last year which saw the release of the Blue Pumpkin Workforce Optimization Suite – the industry’s first comprehensive system to accelerate employee performance.  Forbes was a primary architect of Blue Pumpkin Advisor, the performance management component of the Blue Pumpkin Workforce Optimization Suite.  

"Managing people is very difficult given the complex processes, sheer number of employees and countless other variables involved," said Forbes. "Blue Pumpkin’s technology goal is to simplify that difficult job – to continue leading innovations that streamline those processes, making your people more effective and efficient.  Our close relationships with customers guide us in developing technologies that solve their real day-to-day problems."

As part of its technology vision, Blue Pumpkin provides an enterprise-wide platform to integrate workforce optimization solutions with CRM, HR and other business systems, leveraging the most data available.  But beyond simple data, Blue Pumpkin technology delivers intelligent insights and recommendations so managers can make smarter and better informed decisions.  User-friendly interfaces promote greater usability at all levels of the enterprise for broader and more rapid results.  

With this vision in mind, Forbes brings more than 20 years of experience in designing and implementing solutions to address complex business problems as well as directing leading-edge technology teams.  Previously, he founded Hiho Technologies, a workforce management solutions provider closely related in business to Blue Pumpkin.  Forbes was also the company’s executive vice-president and chief technology officer.

Forbes has also held top business positions that include: vice president of worldwide engineering at NetManage (Nasdaq: NETME), chief executive officer and board member at TouchStone Software (OTCBB: TSSW), and president and chief executive officer of MobileDigital Corporation.  Forbes earned his BS in Management Science and his MBA from the University of West Florida.

"Our customers are looking for solutions, driven by innovative technology and services, to optimize the complex processes of increasing employee and business performance across the enterprise," state Doron Aspitz, chief executive officer and co-founder of Blue Pumpkin. "Ken has the perfect blend of experience to help drive Blue Pumpkin’s technology team and vision forward.  His leadership in workforce optimization and deep understanding of business priorities, processes, software and information solutions positions him to deliver inventive technology that solves pressing enterprise needs for our customers."

Blue Pumpkin solutions optimize and align workforce-related processes, including strategic planning, training, time tracking, performance evaluation, budgeting, scheduling, forecasting and more – ensuring that people are performing at their highest levels and helping the customer at the right place and right time.

About Blue Pumpkin
Blue Pumpkin is a leader in workforce optimization, a market quickly gaining momentum and enabling businesses to leverage their most critical resource: their people.  Blue Pumpkin solves the urgent needs of more efficiently deploying resources and effectively managing employee performance – significantly impacting customer service, loyalty and profitability.

The Blue Pumpkin Workforce Optimization Suite applications form a closed-loop system and include Planner, Director-Enterprise, Activity Manager, Advisor and other products.  Professional services implement best practices and manage change to build the right processes and fully leverage technology solutions.  As the first to offer extensive services in addition to applications and customer support, Blue Pumpkin helps people and businesses successfully execute on their goals.

Blue Pumpkin has more than 900 customers in a wide range of industries, including many Global 2000 companies such as ADP, Apple Computer, Airborne Express, AOL/CompuServe Europe, AT&T, Borders Group, Compaq Canada, FedEx, General Mills, JetBlue Airways, Kaiser Permanente, KitchenAid, TimeWarner Cable, and Verizon.  An advanced ecosystem of over 150 partners supports Blue Pumpkin customers with other products and services.  For more information about Blue Pumpkin and its products, please visit http://www.bluepumpkin.com.

© 2002 Blue Pumpkin Software, Inc.  All rights reserved. Blue Pumpkin and Blue Pumpkin Software are registered trademarks of Blue Pumpkin Software, Inc. The Blue Pumpkin logo is a trademark of Blue Pumpkin Software, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.  

 
Editorial Contact:
Renee Maler
Blue Pumpkin Software
925 968 9495
rmaler@bluepumpkin.com
 
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