ABOUT CYNTHIA ERDMAN

Cynthia Erdman is currently Director of Strategy, Business Development and Global Operations for IBM's unit responsible for Developer Relations. This community includes over 10 million individual developers worldwide and more than 50,000 developer firms who are IBM Partners. Ms. Erdman's role includes developing mind share and market share growth strategies with the developer community and building implementation plans to bring these strategies to life; recent examples -- IBM.com/developerWorks and strategic alliances with key marketmaking developers such as Siebel, Ariba, I2 and Geac. Ms. Erdman is also responsible for the unit's global field and central operations. Ms. Erdman's prior experience includes extensive software product development management, global sales and marketing management with a six year posting in Asia, and positions building and managing business partner programs for IBM. On return from Asia in 1998 Ms. Erdman was posted as a Strategist for IBM and was named to her current position in March 1999.

Ms. Erdman holds an MBA in international management from Macquarrie University in Australia and a B.A. in business from California State University at San Luis Obispo.

ABOUT IBM DEVELOPER RELATIONS

Software developer IBM Business Partners receive support through PartnerWorld for Developers (http://www.developer.ibm.com) - a worldwide program designed to help them reach broader markets, lower their costs of doing business, and take their products to market faster. It focuses on leading-edge technologies that enable developers to deliver complete e-business solutions to their customers.

IBM developerWorks (http://www.ibm.com/developerWorks) is a gateway to free tools, tips, tutorials and other resources on open industry standards from inside and outside of IBM. Individual developers will find the latest technology news and industry trends at developerWorks, an industry-leading developer portal for resources on Java, XML, Linux and much more.