Symphony Services Completes Stonehouse Acquisition and Names Dan Afrasiabi President of Its Cost Management Group

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 15, 2004--

Integration of Stonehouse's and Symphony Services' Capabilities Create the Only Full Suite of Telecommunications and IT Expense Management Solutions

“Enterprises have been looking for a service provider with spend analytics capabilities flexible enough to meet the ever-changing needs of their businesses”

Symphony Service Corporation (Symphony Services), the global business services outsourcing partner that assures results and time-to-market for its clients, today announced that it has closed on its previously announced agreement to acquire Stonehouse Technologies, Inc. (STI), a subsidiary of nStor Technologies, Inc. (AMEX: NSO). In addition, Symphony Services announced that Dan Afrasiabi, former president and COO of STI, has been named president of Symphony Services' Cost Management Group (CMG).

As president and COO of STI, a Dallas, TX-based provider of telecommunications expense management outsourcing and software solutions, Dan was responsible for all aspects of the company's business operations, helping to grow the company and guide its success in managing telecommunication expenses for large corporate and government clients.

"The combination of Symphony Services' call accounting expertise with STI's expense management capabilities enables us to offer a full spectrum of solutions, from high-volume call accounting to full expense management--and everything in between," said Afrasiabi. "Along with our flexible delivery methods, which range from full outsourcing to in-house software licensing, we give clients a single view of global telecommunications and IT spending, while empowering changes to be made where needed--ultimately creating management and financial efficiencies."

Prior to STI, Dan was president of Tickets.com's Ticketing Services Group (TSG), which provided some of the nation's largest sports and live entertainment organizations with outsourcing solutions for the sale and distribution of their tickets. He also served in numerous other executive positions while at Tickets.com, including EVP of business development and strategic planning, and head of Tickets.com's Central Services Group, which managed the company's telecommunications and data infrastructure. In addition, Dan served as vice president of venture capital firm Ventana Global Ltd. and had founded two companies serving the printed circuit board manufacturing industry early in his career.

"Enterprises have been looking for a service provider with spend analytics capabilities flexible enough to meet the ever-changing needs of their businesses," added Gordon Brooks, president and CEO of Symphony Services. "The expertise and experience that Dan brings to Symphony Services will insure that we fill the void and give clients the total expense management outsourcing and software solutions they're asking for."

Symphony Services' CMG monitors, manages and minimizes its clients' indirect costs through proprietary software and technology-enabled outsourcing services. The company's full suite of flexible telecommunications and IT expense management outsourcing and software solutions provide clients with a global view of all expenses, including costs generated by assets, work orders, usage and service provider invoices--as well as all key business processes associated with such expenses, such as vendor invoice management, provisioning, and billing/chargeback. Serving as a true extension of its client's internal team, CMG also offers associated services to help control and reduce overall costs, including strategic sourcing, optimization, spend analysis, invoice reconciliation, and contract renegotiation.

About Symphony Service Corporation

Symphony Service Corporation (Symphony Services) is a global business services outsourcing partner that assures results and time-to-market for its clients. By combining its intellectual property, such as proprietary software and content, with unmatched expertise in commercial software development, large volume data management and advanced analytics, Symphony Services drives success for high-impact outsourcing initiatives.

Symphony Services is made up of three business groups: the Commercial Software Group (CSG), which delivers increased productivity and faster time-to-market for commercial-grade software products and solutions; the Cost Management Group (CMG), which provides a full suite of telecommunications and IT expense management solutions to help companies minimize indirect spend; and the Demand Analytics Group (DAG), which enables clients to better understand market trends, creating new revenue opportunities and reducing customer churn. Symphony Services is headquartered in Palo Alto, CA, with locations in Dallas, TX; Nashville, TN; Waltham, MA; Bangalore, India; and Pune, India. For more information on Symphony Services, please visit its Web site at www.symphonysv.com, or call (650) 935-9500.