Tech Firm ICS Advantage Acquires Computer Application Solutions, Inc.

AURORA, IL February 3, 2005:

Jeff Rudolph, President of ICS Advantage, LLC, and Michael Peterson, founder and President of Computer Application Solutions, Inc. (CASI), announced the two technology firms will operate as ICS Advantage and be able to provide greater service offerings to their clients. The new firm will continue to offer clients the leading mid-market business software from Microsoft Business Solutions, namely Navision, Great Plains, Solomon, and Microsoft CRM. In addition to these and other packaged software, ICS Advantage will offer a complete suite of services including infrastructure, eBusiness, marketing, and custom development services for Navision, Windows and AS400. The firm will have a combined staff of 60 located in two offices, Aurora and Springfield, Illinois.

ICS Advantage ranks among the top 25 software firms in the Greater Chicagoland area and one of the few in the state that can offer the complete suite of Microsoft ERP solutions. ICS Advantage currently is the tenth largest Microsoft Navision Solution Center in the country and a leading firm in networking and Internet services. It offers mid-market companies ERP solutions for financial and customer relationship management (CRM) software. CASI has been a Navision Solution Center since 1999 and has a strong experience base in IBM AS400 application development.

Peterson said, “Becoming a part of ICS Advantage will greatly expand the service offerings we can provide all of our clients ranging from front office applications such as Microsoft Customer Relationship Management to back office applications such as the suite of offerings from the Microsoft Business Solutions division. It will also help us leverage cost efficiencies and compete more effectively in the technology solutions market.”

Rudolph stated, “We are very excited about the opportunities this acquisition will open for us. Our staff has very complimentary technical skills. Both firms develop on similar platforms, which will give us a very efficient software development group. And with our networking capabilities, we will be able to provide clients end-to-end solutions. This will be a win-win situation, especially for clients.”

Background

ICS Advantage, LLC, a member firm of Sikich Group, LLC, is one of the area’s leading technology consulting firms. The firm was founded in 1990 as a computer consulting firm specializing in custom software design. It has been a Microsoft Certified Partner since 1996, and in 1998, the firm completed the strenuous requirements to become a Solution Center for Navision software. This designation further expands the company’s ability to provide end-to-end solutions that tie into the Internet and desktop applications. Today, ICS Advantage provides a comprehensive array of computer infrastructure services, including planning, procurement, implementation, software development, and network management. The firm applies and supports leading technologies for business as well as creates solutions and upgrades the systems that keep large and small companies competitive. The firm’s web site is www.icsadvantage.com.

Computer Application Solutions, Inc., was founded in 1995 by Michael Peterson with the firm’s roots in application development on the IBM AS400 platform. In 1999, CASI became a Navision Solution Center. The firm provides services in four primary areas: midrange systems offering application development, modification, and implementation; business solutions, such as Navision; visual development including client/server and web application development, database applications and e-commerce solutions; and network engineering for Microsoft and Novell network systems.

Through its members, Sikich Group, LLC, offers a full range of multidisciplinary consulting services in the fields of accounting, taxation, operations and management consulting, entrepreneurial services, information technology, corporate finance, insurance, human resources, marketing, and asset management to individuals, middle market corporations, and government/non-profit organizations throughout the Midwest. Member firms of the Group employ more than 225 people with offices located in Aurora, Barrington, Springfield, and Westmont, IL. Visit Sikich Group at www.sikich.com

Press Contact: Paula J. Bidlake
630-566-8530
paulab@sikich.com
www.sikich.com