Nation’s Largest Privately Owned Department Store Company

McLEAN, Va., (March 24, 2003) –

MicroStrategy® Incorporated (NASDAQ: MSTR), a leading worldwide provider of business intelligence software, today announced that Belk, Inc. has deployed MicroStrategy’s Business Intelligence Platform(TM) to reduce inventory and costs and improve business performance company-wide. A MicroStrategy customer since 1997, Belk is the nation’s largest privately owned department store organization, with 214 stores serving customers in 13 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states.

“MicroStrategy has provided us with strategic access to sales, inventory, receipts, markdowns and on-order information, helping us make more proactive, smarter decisions that enhance our overall business performance,” said Roddy Kerr, Belk executive vice president and chief information officer. “MicroStrategy’s advanced architecture, superior scalability and the company’s leadership in the business intelligence industry were the primary reasons we selected MicroStrategy. The MicroStrategy platform continues to provide us with high standards of performance, scalability and security. It enables approximately 600 Belk employees to easily access and analyze product and customer data contained in our IBM® DB2 data warehouse and allows Belk to take advantage of cost-saving and revenue generating opportunities.”

“Our longtime customers continue to realize significant benefits from their MicroStrategy-based applications,” said Sanju K. Bansal, vice chairman and chief operating officer of MicroStrategy Incorporated. “As an early adopter of business intelligence software, Belk Stores has demonstrated its leadership in the retail industry by leveraging our leading-edge business intelligence technology to improve business operations and ensure success.”

About Belk, Inc.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Belk, Inc. is the largest privately owned department store company in the nation. It operates 214 stores in 13 Southeastern states and reported total revenues of approximately $2.24 billion for the fiscal year that ended Feb. 2, 2002. Founded in 1888, Belk has become one of the dominant department stores in each of its markets by delivering superior service and consistently providing merchandise that meets customers’ needs for fashion, value and quality.
About MicroStrategy Incorporated

Leadership in a Critical Market: Founded in 1989, MicroStrategy is a worldwide leader in the increasingly critical business intelligence software market. Large and small companies alike are harnessing MicroStrategy’s business intelligence software to gain vital insights from their data to help them proactively enhance cost-efficiency, productivity and customer relations and optimize revenue-generating strategies. MicroStrategy’s business intelligence platform offers exceptional capabilities that provide organizations — in virtually all facets of their operations — with user- friendly solutions to their data query, reporting, and advanced analytical needs, and distributes valuable insight on this data to users via Web, wireless, and voice. PC Magazine selected MicroStrategy 7(TM) as the 2001 “Editors’ Choice” for business intelligence software.

Enterprise-Class Business Intelligence: MicroStrategy 7i(TM) is a truly integrated, enterprise-class, Web-based business intelligence platform. With MicroStrategy 7i, enterprises can now standardize on one business intelligence platform and deploy high-value business intelligence enterprise-wide. MicroStrategy 7i’s configurable query, reporting, and OLAP Web interface is designed to support all users, from casual report viewers to power analysts.

Diverse Customer Base: MicroStrategy’s customer base cuts across industry and sector lines, with over 1,900 enterprise-class customers, including Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse, AT&T Wireless Group, Wachovia and GlaxoSmithKline. MicroStrategy also has relationships with over 400 systems integrators and application development and platform partners, including IBM, PeopleSoft, Hewlett-Packard, and JD Edwards.

MicroStrategy is listed on Nasdaq under the symbol MSTR. For more information on the Company, or to purchase or demo MicroStrategy’s software, please visit MicroStrategy’s Web site at http://www.microstrategy.com.

This press release may include statements that may constitute “forward- looking statements,” including its estimates of future business prospects or financial results and statements containing the words “believe,” “estimate,” “project,” “expect” or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results of MicroStrategy Incorporated and its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”) to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors that could contribute to such differences include: the Company’s ability to secure financing for its current operations and long-term plans on acceptable terms; the ability of the Company to implement and achieve widespread customer acceptance of its MicroStrategy 7i software on a timely basis; the Company’s ability to recognize deferred revenue through delivery of products or satisfactory performance of services; continued acceptance of the Company’s products in the marketplace; the timing of significant orders; delays in the Company’s ability to develop or ship new products; market acceptance of new products; competitive factors; general economic conditions; currency fluctuations; and other risks detailed in the Company’s registration statements and periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. By making these forward-looking statements, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release.

MicroStrategy, MicroStrategy Business Intelligence Platform, MicroStrategy 7i, Scalable Business Intelligence Platform Built for the Internet are either trademarks or registered trademarks of MicroStrategy Incorporated in the United States and certain other countries. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Marc Brailov
MicroStrategy Incorporated
(703) 770-1670
mbrailov@microstrategy.com

Source: MicroStrategy