SCO and Mardon Healthcare Information Systems Form Strategic Alliance to Service the Rural HealthCare Market

LINDON, Utah, Feb 23, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- The SCO Group, Inc. ("SCO") (Nasdaq: SCOX), the owner of the UNIX(R) operating system and a leading provider of UNIX-based solutions, and Mardon Healthcare Information Systems, a leading provider of turnkey software solutions for the management of rural healthcare facilities, today announced the formation of a strategic alliance between 12 companies. The alliance focuses on providing Mardon clients' a complete selection of options and enhanced world-class solutions; such as nationwide placement of medical staff, medical forms acquisition, document imaging, financial management and leasing, targeted marketing and e-communications, and total system engineering and integration.

The strategic partners in the alliance are: The SCO(R) Group, DTR Business Systems, Blue Crown Funding, JNC Consultants, ICM, Poiema Systems, Communiform, Anderson & Bates Medical Search, MDE, Thornberry Ltd, and Pharmtrak. Representatives from each organization recently met in Phoenix to discuss the needs of the Rural Healthcare market, and how the Mardon led alliance would address problems and deliver comprehensive solutions.

"The goal of this alliance is to organize world class companies, like the SCO Group and others with whom we've been doing business for nearly 20 years, and focus our collective energies squarely on the unique issues facing rural American health care," said President & CEO of Mardon, Don McKeny. "I am elated by the commitment and quality of solutions our partners have brought to this alliance."

"The rural healthcare market is optimal for many of our products and services," said Alan Raymond, SCO VP of UNIX Sales, Americas. "The dependability of SCO UNIX, which is the OS foundation for the Mardon system, cannot be stressed enough. For instance, Mardon has a system installed in a hospital in Barrow, Alaska, which is 400 miles north of the Arctic Circle, and the last section of land before reaching the North Pole. The Barrow hospital serves around 4,500 people spread out over an 88,000 square mile radius, and the only way to travel in or out is by plane or dogsled. The remote nature of this location requires the highest degree of dependability, and SCO is proud that SCO UNIX can provide that level of dependability for these types of healthcare facilities."

"We looked at a variety of companies in our selection process. Ease of use, efficiency and increased productivity were all reasons we selected Mardon," said Raymond Hino, CEO of Mardon's most recent client, Tehachapi Valley Healthcare District, in Tehachapi, California. "In addition, the system is 100 percent HIPAA compliant, and is designed so bills to Medicare and Medi- Cal have accurate, dependable data. This, of course, significantly improves both the speed and the amount of claim re-imbursement our hospital receives."

About Mardon Healthcare Information Systems

For nearly a quarter century, Mardon Healthcare Information Systems has provided sole-source turnkey health care information management system solutions. Mardon's HIPAA compliant integrated solutions cover all critical applications in rural and mid-size medical environments. Mardon also provides crucial EDI claims processing. Through the alliance, services such as nationwide medical search, medical forms acquisition, document imaging, financial management and leasing, targeted marketing and e-communications, and total system engineering and integration are available.

About SCO

The SCO Group (Nasdaq: SCOX) helps millions of customers in more than 82 countries to grow their businesses everyday. Headquartered in Lindon, Utah, SCO has a worldwide network of more than 11,000 resellers and 4,000 developers. SCO Global Services provides reliable localized support and services to partners and customers. For more information on SCO products and services, visit http://www.thescogroup.com .

SCO and the associated SCO logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of The SCO Group, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group. All other brand or product names are or may be trademarks of, and are used to identify products or services of, their respective owners.

SOURCE The SCO Group

Blake Stowell, bstowell@sco.com, +1-801-932-5703, or James