iXmatch Names Prakash Puram as President and Chief Executive Officer

Web-Based Consultant Matching Service Taps Former Net Perceptions General Manager to Lead Company

MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 29 - iXmatch.com today announced that it has named Internet startup veteran Prakash Puram as its new president and chief executive officer. Puram comes to company from Net Perceptions, the leading developer of personalization software.

iXmatch.com is a Web-based service that matches information technology (IT) projects at leading corporations with qualified independent IT consultants via its Web site www.ixmatch.com . "Prakash brings great insight to iXmatch.com," said Gopal Sadagopal, iXmatch.com co-founder. "He has more than 20 years experience with some of the leading technology companies in the world, including several startups. His expertise in identifying opportunities, formulating and implementing business strategy and leveraging core competencies will help us continue our growth, focus our resources and position us for the future."

Puram most recently served as general manager of consumer and retail markets for Minnesota-based Net Perceptions. Prior to that, he was director of worldwide business development for the Home and Building Controls division of Honeywell. Puram has a bachelor’s degree from Loyola College, Madras, India, an MBA from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and an MPA in competitive strategy and international trade from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

With more than 1,000 independent IT consultants in its database, iXmatch.com enables IT managers to compress the IT consultant hiring process by leveraging a powerful Internet-based software engine to locate, validate and present the right person for a project. Independent IT consultants are able to earn more money and rely more on iXmatch.com for the traditional marketing, billing and other administrative tasks.

"Our Web site is a wonderful resource for both IT managers and independent IT consultants," Prakash said. "As our database continues to grow, we will attract IT managers at companies in need of qualified IT consultants. Our end goal is to create efficiencies in the hiring process and be the resource of choice for both independent consultants and IT managers."

About iXmatch
iXmatch.com - via its Web site www.ixmatch.com - enables corporations to locate and engage independent information technology consultants efficiently in real-time from the company’s validated consultant database using a proprietary validation, matching and ranking software engine. The software dynamically matches consultants’ skills with available IT projects and ranks the consultants according to their skills and experience. Consultants in iXmatch.com’s database have their skills independently verified and validated to ensure a right match every time.