ARC Advisory Group Ranks Datastream #1 in EAM Hosting

Study Cites "Excellent Market Acceptance" of Datastream 7i, The Industry's Most Widely Deployed Web-Architected EAM Solution

GREENVILLE, S.C. - July 16, 2002 — Datastream Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: DSTM), today announced that ARC Advisory Group has ranked the company as the top supplier of hosted enterprise asset management (EAM) and computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) in its EAM/CMMS Solutions Worldwide Outlook, a market analysis and forecast of the industry through 2006.

According to the report, Datastream owns more than 28 percent of total revenue in the hosted EAM market. Because the hosting market is a "leading indicator" for adoption rates of Web-architected EAM products, this report confirms that Datastream's Web-architected EAM solution, Datastream 7i, continues to enjoy significantly greater success in the marketplace than the Web-based offerings of its chief competitors. The ARC report states, "Datastream continues to be a strong EAM supplier with its newest Web architected solution 7i. The latest release has received excellent market acceptance, making Datastream a top supplier for ASP hosted solutions."

"As client/server products are replaced by Web-architected ones in the marketplace, the hosted model will become the primary form of application deployment for EAM systems," said Houghton LeRoy, director of consulting for ARC Advisory Group and one of the lead analysts on the study. "ARC Advisory Group is paying close attention to this sector of the EAM market, because it is one of the leading indicators for how the industry will develop over the next decade. Datastream's ability to successfully deploy hosted EAM solutions bodes well for the company's prospects in the future."

The Datastream 7i Web architecture lets companies deploy the product on a single Web server, and lets end-users access the application using a standard Web browser over Internet connections. The new Web services capability of Datastream 7i further extends the value of the product, by providing transparent integration into other systems and delivering critical information to end-users that is not available using traditional "siloed" EAM products.

Datastream gives its customers the choice of deploying the application themselves, in the traditional enterprise license software model, or having Datastream host their licensed application for them. By choosing the hosted model of deployment, Datastream's customers can enjoy the lowest possible total cost of application ownership by radically reducing the costs and manpower required to maintain EAM systems in-house. The ARC study cites fast implementation, transparent upgrades, simple support, rapid response and knowledge sharing as other key benefits of hosted EAM services.

"The ARC study confirms that Datastream continues to lead the pack with Web-architected EAM solutions," said Larry Blackwell, president and CEO of Datastream. "Virtually all industry experts agree that the hosted model of application deployment will become at least as common as the self-hosted model in the near future. The ARC report shows that Datastream is strongly positioned on both forms of application deployment, and we are clearly the leader in the fastest growing category: hosted deployment. We look forward to solidifying our position in the future by building on our already impressive track record of Datastream 7i customer successes."

About ARC Advisory Group
ARC Advisory Group is the #1 leader in strategic planning and technology assessment services for the manufacturing and industrial markets. Since 1986, ARC has been advising manufacturing companies, utilities, and global logistics providers, as well as software and solution suppliers worldwide. For more information, please visit http://www.arcweb.com/.

About Datastream Systems, Inc.
Datastream Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: DSTM) provides enterprise asset management (EAM) software, automated procurement supporting services to organizations worldwide, including more than 60 percent of the Fortune 500. Customers rely on Datastream's products and services to drive down operating costs and improve productivity through better management of capital assets.

Datastream's flagship product, Datastream 7i, was the first product in its class to combine an Internet architecture with broad EAM functionality. Datastream 7i integrates with the company's iProcure industrial procurement network to provide customers with a complete EAM solution that maximizes return on investment in capital assets, while minimizing the total cost of application ownership. Datastream was founded in 1986 and has customers in more than 140 countries.