STI Knowledge Acquires HPS Paradigm, Inc.

ATLANTA -- March 22, 2004 -- STI Knowledge, Inc. (STI or the Company) one of Atlanta's fastest growing technology companies announced today that it has completed its acquisition of HPS Paradigm, Inc. (HPS), a Georgia-based HealthCare Administrative Services Company. The HPS acquisition reaffirms STI's execution of its vision to become one of the premiere providers of back-office Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services to the Healthcare and Insurance sectors. STI is focused on redefining and becoming a leader in a new market niche of BPO services, which integrate voice, technology and back-office processing services.

"I view HPS as a critical factor in positioning STI for success within the BPO marketplace, and it allows us to expand our existing service offerings within the Healthcare and Insurance industries," said Satish Sanan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of STI. "HPS is truly a diamond in the rough, and an extremely synergistic business to our own, having many of the same core values we embrace everyday at STI. The first of which is an unyielding commitment to our customers and consistently providing the highest quality of service possible to them."

Mike Dendy, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of HPS, will continue working at STI, and run its Healthcare division. Dendy said, "I am pleased and excited to announce our merger with STI. This merger provides significant benefits to our clients, our employees, and our company in general, by expanding our resources, and opening new avenues of service offerings to our customers. STI's focus on cutting edge technology and customer service acumen will propel us to the next level of proficiency within our industry."

This acquisition comes shortly after Sanan led two rounds of financing into STI, with other world-class investors, including Mellon Ventures and BV-Cornerstone Ventures. The first investment was completed in March 2003, and the same group of investors has raised a total of $21 million in funding to date. STI has been named as an industry leader and visionary in Gartner Group's renowned Magic Quadrant and STI is committed to continuing its position as a leader and visionary as it forays into new market segments and expands its capabilities within its industries of focus. HPS will become a platform for STI's future growth and subsequent acquisitions within the Healthcare industry.

About STI Knowledge, Inc.
STI provides Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) solutions and services for the healthcare and insurance industries. STI helps companies and government agencies to reduce costs, increase productivity, and improve service quality through business process re-engineering, technology enabled automation, and global delivery centers.

STI was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and employs approximately 300 professionals throughout the United States. STI Knowledge focuses on providing BPO solutions and services for large enterprise customers from the public and private sectors, some of which include: Harley Davidson, Polo Ralph Lauren, United Healthcare Group, Yahoo, DHL Worldwide, First American Financial, Deutsche Bank, State of Florida, Fannie Mae and Chick-fil-A. More information is available at www.stiknowledge.com.

About HPS Paradigm
HPS Paradigm, Inc. was established in 1976, and currently has approximately 80 employees, within its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, and other offices throughout Georgia in Tifton, Savannah, and Macon. HPS specializes in the custom design and management of employee benefit programs and Healthcare BPO services, serving both the private sector and government agencies, in aggregate representing over 75 mid-sized and large companies in forty states.

With over 25 years of experience working with employers, insurers and re-insurers, HPS has built a reputation for managing cost effective, high value programs for its clients. To find out more about HPS please visit its website at www.hpspa.com.

About Mellon Ventures
Mellon Ventures, Inc., an affiliate of Mellon Financial Corporation (NYSE: MEL), makes equity-related investments of between $3 million and $25 million. With offices in Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, and Pittsburgh, Mellon Ventures, Inc. invests at all stages of a company's growth cycle, from early stage venture capital to later stage growth financings and buyouts. Mellon Ventures, since its inception in 1996, has invested and/or committed over $1.4 billion in capital. Additional information is available at www.mellonventures.com.

About BV-Cornerstone Ventures, LP
BV-Cornerstone Ventures, LP is a venture capital fund with offices in McLean, VA and Broomfield, CO focused on investing in mid to later stage companies with a minimum of $10M in revenue. We value investment sectors with fundamental growth and strong customer value propositions. The fund seeks to invest in exceptional management teams, highly differentiated technologies and/or business models. The core strategy of the fund is to partner and co-invest with proven entrepreneurs with a successful track record of building scalable companies. BV-CV is an active investor that leverages its experience and resources to provide strategic assistance to portfolio companies with the goal of increasing stakeholder value. Additional information is available at www.bvcv.com.

Contact:
Stuart Smith
Red Nine PR
404.261.0707
ssmith@redninePR.com

www.redninePR.com