/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - DemandTec, Inc. (Nasdaq: DMAN), a global leading provider of predictive merchandising, marketing, trade, and shopper analytics solutions for the retail value chain, today announced that Netezza (NYSE: NZ), the global leader in data warehouse, analytic, and monitoring appliances, and a DemandTec partner, has committed as Grand Championship sponsor of the fifth annual DemandTec Retail Challenge scholarship competition. Netezza's Grand Championship round sponsorship is in addition to the company's previously announced commitment to sponsoring a Regional Contest in the Boston, Massachusetts area.

As Grand Championship sponsor, Netezza's contribution will support travel to New York City for the top ten finalist teams to participate in the competition's final round to be held at the NASDAQ OMX Stock Market. Netezza will also fund an additional $10,000 for the Grand Championship scholarship prize.

"Inspiring young minds to solve real-world problems through competition and teamwork is a worthwhile cause," said Jim Baum, President and CEO at Netezza. "We are proud to sponsor the DemandTec Retail Challenge and help motivate high school students to embrace applied mathematics, nationwide."

In addition to the generous backing from Netezza and previously announced regional sponsors, including Giant Eagle, Target Corporation, and Tops Friendly Markets, the DemandTec Retail Challenge has also secured new regional sponsorship commitments from Deloitte, General Mills, Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, Numerical Algorithms Group (NAG), RAM Communications, and RetailWire.

The goal of the DemandTec Retail Challenge is to raise awareness of applied math, science, and business concepts among high school students. The competition is conducted through an online business simulation where high school seniors compete for scholarship awards toward the college of their choice. Presented with the sales, pricing, merchandising, and inventory history of a hypothetical assortment of retail products for a fictional retailer, teams are responsible for maximizing that retailer's profits by making daily pricing and inventory decisions. Using a modified version of DemandTec retail analytic software, students use historical data to create statistical models of consumer behavior and then make decisions each day as they are given additional information. Inventory lead times vary by product, like those in the real world of retail, requiring students to plan accordingly.

At the end of a two-week simulation, each team's pricing and purchase decisions are evaluated, and the three teams in each region with the highest profits advance to the Regional Finals, where they present their analysis to a panel of judges.

"The DemandTec Retail Challenge is our flagship corporate citizenship program and we are thrilled to have Netezza sponsor the Grand Championship round, making it possible for students across the country to learn more about math and statistics," said Dan Fishback, President and CEO at DemandTec.

Originating in 2005, the DemandTec Retail Challenge began as a local competition in the San Francisco Bay Area and has flourished to a nationwide event. Since its inception, more than $100,000 in scholarship money has been awarded. The regional rounds are supported by corporate and individual sponsors. The deadline for participating as a sponsor is August 30, 2010 and becoming a sponsor requires only a minimal financial and time investment.

Learn more about the DemandTec Retail Challenge and how to become a sponsor:

Twitter: twitter.com/RetailChallenge

Facebook: facebook.com/DTRetailChallenge

About Netezza Corporation

Netezza Corporation (NYSE: NZ) is the global leader in data warehouse, analytic and monitoring appliances that dramatically simplify high-performance analytics across an extended enterprise. Netezza's technology enables organizations to process enormous amounts of captured data at exceptional speed, providing a significant competitive and operational advantage in today's data-intensive industries, including digital media, energy, financial services, government, health and life sciences, retail and telecommunications. Netezza is headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts and has offices in Northern Virginia, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Poland, Japan, Korea, Australia and Singapore. For more information about Netezza, please visit www.netezza.com.

About DemandTec

DemandTec (NASDAQ: DMAN) enables retailers and consumer products companies to optimize merchandising and marketing decisions, individually or collaboratively, to achieve their sales volume, revenue, shopper loyalty, and profitability objectives. DemandTec software services utilize DemandTec's science-based software platform to model and understand consumer behavior. DemandTec customers include more than 230 leading retailers and consumer products manufacturers such as Ahold USA, Best Buy, ConAgra Foods, Delhaize America, General Mills, H-E-B Grocery Co., The Home Depot, Hormel Foods, Monoprix, PETCO, Safeway, Sara Lee, Target, Walmart, and WH Smith. Connected via the DemandTec TradePoint Network™, DemandTec customers have collaborated on more than 3.5 million trade deals. For more information, please visit www.demandtec.com.

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