Thursday, 18 March 2004 22:46 EST

18 March 2004: UK company Citicus Limited has entered into an exclusive partnership agreement with EPI USE Systems (Pty) Limited to help businesses in South Africa to drive information risk down using its award-winning Citicus ONE risk management software.

Marco Kapp, co-founder of Citicus Limited says “We’re delighted to have teamed up with EPI-USE in South Africa. They recognise that businesses all over the world are coming under increasing pressure to get risk under control and that information risk is a key part of the equation.”

“EPI-USE is the right partner for us because they have a wealth of experience in implementing enterprise-scale software which changes the way business is done. They also have the energy, drive and commitment needed to make things happen. These qualities are essential in the risk arena - since companies need to start ‘doing IT differently’ in order to manage information risk down. This is as necessary in South Africa as it is in the rest of the world”

Announcing the partnership at a breakfast seminar in Johannesburg, Group Chief Executive, Jonathan Tager of EPI-USE Group said “Mis-managing risk can be very costly. We are determined to help our clients understand the risks they face and deal with them in an efficient and business-oriented manner.”

“We believe that Citicus ONE is the world's best solution for managing information risk and are proud to offer this important software as part of our portfolio of solutions in South Africa, along with a full range of supporting services to help South African enterprises deploy it effectively.”

Jan van Rensburg, practice leader at EPI-USE Systems commented “The importance and profile of risk management has been emphasized in the last couple of years, however the tools for automating the risk management process in a consistent and structured manner have been lacking. Companies that want to drive down their information risk need more effective weapons than spreadsheets and gut-feel intuitions about risk. EPI-USE Risk consultants armed with Citicus ONE will take the guesswork out of information risk management and provide practical guidance on how to systematically reduce risk.”

Commenting on the deal, Sian Alcock, Citicus’s Development Director said “Citicus ONE’s development was stimulated and supported by South African institutions and we are, therefore, particularly pleased to have a strong partner like EPI-USE now supporting its deployment in South Africa.”

WHAT IS CITICUS ONE?

Citicus ONE is a web-based, risk management system. It deals with information risk not as a series of one-off evaluations but via a coherent, continuing managed process.

The process enables companies to measure the risk posed by their critical systems efficiently, in a business-oriented manner; and helps them manage risk down to a level that is acceptable to top management.

THE POWER OF CITICUS ONE

The power of Citicus ONE stems from its rigorous statistical base and from the formal methodology it employs for measuring and managing information risk. This methodology is called FIRM. It was developed by the co-founders of Citicus Limited for, and in conjunction with, the Information Security Forum (ISF). The ISF is an international association of over 250 leading organisations who come together to fund and co-operate in the development of practical research about information risk and security. Over the past thirteen years it has invested more than US $40 million in providing authoritative research for its members in this area.

The FIRM methodology is one of the ground-breaking outcomes of this effort and Citicus Limited has the exclusive right to automate FIRM for sale, which is manifested in Citicus ONE.

About Citicus (www.citicus.com)
Citicus Limited was formed in 2000 by Simon Oxley, Sian Alcock and Marco Kapp - the chief architect of the FIRM methodology. The company develops and markets world-class automated risk management tools that emerge from Citicus' collaborative development programmes and provides education and training to help customers implement them successfully. Citicus ONE is the first result of this process.

About EPI-USE Systems (www.epiuse.co.za)
EPI-USE Systems (Pty) Ltd is one of the world's premier providers of information technology solutions. It implements and integrates sophisticated enterprise-scale applications (eg SAP), or creates its own solutions where none exists. Its solutions optimise technology, people and processes to the benefit of the business in a harmonised approach.

Ends

For more information, please contact:

Marco Kapp or Sian Alcock
Citicus Limited
Tel: +44 (0)20 7203 8405
Email:

Jan van Rensburg
EPI-USE (Pty) Limited
Tel: +27 (0)21 914 0281
Email:

Peter Rennison or Alison Andrews
PRPR Limited
Tel: +44 (0)
Email: