NEWS BRIEFS

Philadelphia, PA — Bluestone Software, Inc., a leader in business-to-Web and wireless technologies, announced that SGI, provider of high-performance computing and advanced graphics solutions, has selected Bluestone Total-e-Server, the Application Server edition of Bluestone’s comprehensive, J2EE- and XML-based Total-e-Business platform, as the e-business infrastructure to power its mission-critical manufacturing systems.

Selected from a group of nearly a dozen candidates, Bluestone’s Total-e-Server will replace an aging legacy shop floor management system that facilitates manufacturing of mid-range to high-performance computer systems in two locations and supports more than $2 billion in annual revenue. The Bluestone platform will tie together various desktops, database servers and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. This is the first of several SGI manufacturing applications to be converted to a three-tier, Web-based architecture using Total-e-Server.

The Bluestone system provides complete compliance with industry standards, ensuring platform independence for SGI and avoiding the technological obsolescence associated with proprietary solutions. Total-e-Server also meets SGI’s demanding performance requirement, which at peak times, requires SGI’s existing shop floor application to handle hundreds of thousands of transactions per day. To sustain maximum manufacturing productivity, each transaction must occur in less than a second. Total-e-Server also enables SGI to interchange data in real-time over the Internet with other business partners – a more timely and cost-effective means of data exchange than using traditional Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).

“Bluestone’s flexibility, `can do’ attitude, and high level of commitment to demonstrating the extensive capabilities of its software led us to trust them with the conversion of our mission-critical manufacturing applications to a Web-based architecture,” said David Fairbanks, information systems director for SGI. “In addition to Bluestone offering an exceptional product, the company’s pricing model is easy to comprehend and very fair. This combination gives us a solid foundation for re-deploying our manufacturing systems to a more cost-effective, scalable computing model.”

Added John H. Capobianco, executive vice president of strategic planning for Bluestone Software, “Like SGI, many leading manufacturers today are faced with replacing mission-critical legacy applications with those based on a flexible, scalable, Web-based architecture. At the same time, they must meet exacting standards for performance and high availability. Bluestone offers a proven, standards-based infrastructure, optimized for performance and fault tolerance. In a mission-critical environment like manufacturing, that’s key.”

Faced with re-deploying its legacy shop floor application based on a thick-client architecture, SGI began their search with nearly a dozen vendors, including Bluestone. The primary objective was to tie together a heterogeneous desktop environment with various database servers and the company’s ERP system, while meeting the peak performance needs of SGI’s manufacturing environment. To succeed, SGI needed a high-performance foundation offering total platform independence.

“Java promises freedom from legacy dependence on any one application, operating system or hardware platform. That’s why we asked vendors to demonstrate their complete compliance with J2EE standards,” said Fairbanks. “We found that while most vendors follow Java standards to one degree or another, Bluestone is the only vendor that allows us to realize the full promise of Java through total adherence with J2EE standards.”

After narrowing the field, three vendors were selected to demonstrate the capabilities of their systems to SGI management. Bluestone was selected for the open, robust, 100% Pure Java architecture of Total-e-Server, as well as its high performance under heavy transaction loads, proven scalability, fault tolerance, and track record for stability. As a Java-based, Web Application Server framework, Total-e-Server runs on all Java Virtual Machines and natively supports all SGI platforms and systems, including SGI IRIX, without the need for porting. Bluestone also demonstrated comprehensive support for XML (eXtensible Markup Language), enabling SGI to interchange data with its manufacturing partners in real-time, which is believed to be more efficient and cost-effective than using EDI.

Once SGI’s shop floor application is successfully deployed, the company plans to convert other manufacturing applications using the Bluestone foundation. These include discrepant material tracking and Engineering Change Order (ECO) routing and approvals.

Bluestone Software, Inc., provider of Enterprise Interaction Management software, is a leader in business-to-Web and wireless technologies. For more information, visit http://www.bluestone.com .

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