Ventera Wins Five-Year USDA Contract to Enhance and Support Systems

McLean, VA - November 7, 2006 - Ventera, an information technology professional services company, has been awarded a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) contract by the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). The contract has a base period of one year, and four one-year contract options, extending Ventera's six-year relationship with USDA/FNS through 2011. If all five years are exercised, the contract value is nearly $25 million.

Ventera has worked closely with FNS on projects in support of the Food Stamp Program (FSP) and the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program since 2000. During that time, Ventera completed the full lifecycle development of STARS for the FSP and The Integrity Profile (TIP) for the WIC Program. Following release of each system, Ventera has continued to provide system enhancements and maintenance for each application, as well as daily system performance monitoring, on-site database administration, response to user questions, and support to the government's help desk personnel. In addition to continuing to support the STARS and TIP systems, Ventera will develop a Universal Product Code system for WIC.

Jeff Smith, who directs all of Ventera's work for the government, said "Ventera's support to FNS epitomizes Ventera's high level of service to customers. We began our work in 2000 by helping FNS re-engineer key business operations, and then developing the new version of STARS that brings greater flexibility and efficiency in support of achieving the FNS mission. Also, it demonstrates that a small business can deliver in a big way. We're very pleased to have the opportunity to extend our relationship with FNS."

During the development of STARS and TIP, Ventera built what has become known as the FNS "Framework". The Framework is a set of reusable code modules that help build new applications quickly while reducing project risk. It helps implement common functions including user security, secure e-mail and data transmission, data encryption and decryption, report writing, and user interface development. As software systems become increasingly complex, application frameworks such as this are helping agencies such as FNS minimize their total cost of ownership. Ventera anticipates making future enhancements to the Framework to make it even more flexible and more valuable to USDA.

About Ventera

Ventera is an information technology professional services firm providing IT services that span the technology lifecycle and include IT strategy and technology consulting, web-based application development, systems integration, independent verification and validation, and program and project management. Ventera helps clients realize the full business potential of technology by improving and simplifying business operations before automating them. For more information contact Jeff Smith at Ventera: (703) 760-4600 or visit www.ventera.com.