AGISS Launces Aggressive Year 2000 Marketing and Solutions Delivery.OTTAWA, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 23, 1998--Today AGISS Corporation (OTC OTC See: Over-the-counter. OTC See over-the-counter market (OTC). BB:AGCR AGCR Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor AGCR Alabama and Gulf Coast Railway AGCR Asymptotic Global Confidence Region ) and its wholly-owned subsidiary, AGISS Software Corporation announce a brand-new, comprehensive global Year 2000 solutions marketing program: "Destination 2000." This aggressive new program will be unveiled at the national Government Technology Exhibition in Ottawa tomorrow. However, it is a truly international initiative, and will include the new U.S. subsidiary: AGISS Software Corporation-USA, L.L.C., which is to be headed by respected Year 2000 conversion guru, Dr. Melvin Scott. (The new U.S. subsidiary and Dr. Scott's appointment were announced earlier today.) New marketing program matches AGISS talents to emerging global information technology needs The new AGISS marketing program includes enhanced corporate logo and identity materials, dramatic new glossy brochures, an advertising campaign and several co-operative marketing activities to be coordinated with selected AGISS alliance partners. It also reflects a careful investment in strategic marketing. Although AGISS will continue to develop software and perform computer system integration, the new marketing program focuses on key niche market A niche market also known as a target market is a focused, targetable portion (subset) of a market sector. By definition, then, a business that focuses on a niche market is addressing a need for a product or service that is not being addressed by mainstream providers. needs for specific, high-leverage computer systems upgrades and conversions. First among these is Year 2000 conversion. Globally, many governments and Fortune 1000 companies are behind schedule in preparing for the new millennium. Accordingly, the new AGISS "Destination 2000" solution suite features a significantly enhanced toolbox See toolkit and toolbar. of the latest automated computer systems conversion tools, and a co-operative international conversion services team assembled from some of the world's largest IT professional services (job) professional services - A department of a supplier providing consultancy and programming manpower for the supplier's products. firms. But there is also a growing, urgent need for Euro-commerce readiness and Enterprise Resource Planning See ERP. (application, business) Enterprise Resource Planning - (ERP) Any software system designed to support and automate the business processes of medium and large businesses. (ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) An integrated information system that serves all departments within an enterprise. Evolving out of the manufacturing industry, ERP implies the use of packaged software rather than proprietary software written by or for one customer. ), (adapting today's computer systems to facilitate the advent of the European common currency and global electronic commerce). In addition, there is a backlog of legacy systems (running on large mainframe computers) which are obsolete and need to be converted to newer, client-server networks of micro-computers and mini-computers. All of these conversions have many common characteristics in terms of software tools and skills required, and techniques and approaches to be considered. Conversions: A priority business focus The new AGISS marketing program extends beyond the "Destination 2000" group of solutions. The first marketing wave emphasizes Year 2000 conversion, but AGISS already has strong capabilities in all these types of conversions. The company's current plans call for additional marketing waves in future months to focus on Euro-commerce, E-commerce, ERP and legacy system conversions, although AGISS CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. Robert Sowah stressed that the firm's marketing plans are "fluid, flexible and market responsive." Extensive international market research and competitive analysis This new marketing program has been strategically planned and developed based on sound market research. AGISS hired a leading strategic marketing team to analyze other Year 2000 conversion service providers worldwide in the context of the latest Year 2000 trends and market needs. The marketing advisors found important, hot market opportunity niches that perfectly matched AGISS's core competencies A core competency is something that a firm can do well and that meets the following three conditions specified by Hamel and Prahalad (1990):
AGISS also found that its philosophy of treating Year 2000 conversions as just one element of a broader business challenge is exactly what the market wants. "There's so much more to Year 2000 conversion than merely patching your systems for survival. Temporary solutions may often be required, but these must be delivered with a longer-term vision," noted Mr. Sowah. "AGISS has mobilized the tools and the expertise to treat Year 2000 conversions not as a stand alone task, but as a step toward the new millennium, toward a future systems environment and infrastructure which delivers different, but related conversions and capabilities in a fully integrated fashion" The AGISS team: international and multi-dimensional expansion and growth AGISS has assembled a super-team of partnerships and alliances worldwide, rather than building a "lonely" independent organization from scratch. "The AGISS of today is a much more powerful, much more complete, and much more skilled team than just a few months ago. In forming these additional strategic alliances we've augmented our own considerable technical and management capabilities," noted AGISS President Anicet Blais. These strategic partnerships include hardware and software tools, methodologies, and software and conversion factories in addition to all kinds of professional services, from management consultants through to technical specialists and programmers. AGISS's co-operative relationships feature companies such as: AGRA Systems Limited, DMR (Digital Media Receiver) See digital media hub. Consulting Group Inc. (an Amdhal Company), IDS Intelligent Detection Systems Inc., CCD CCD in full charge-coupled device Semiconductor device in which the individual semiconductor components are connected so that the electrical charge at the output of one device provides the input to the next device. Online Systems Inc., PRC Inc. (a subsidiary of Litton Industries Named after inventor Charles Litton Sr., Litton Industries was a large defense contractor in the United States, bought by the Northrop Grumman Corporation in 2001. , Inc.), Optical Systems, Inc., Veronex Technologies, Inc., McCabe & Associates, Inc., Network Telemetrics, Inc., ConSyGen, Inc., Piercom, Inc., Compaq Computer Corporation (company) Compaq Computer Corporation - The largest US manufacturer and vendor of IBM PC compatible personal computers and servers. Compaq was started in 1982 by three ex-Texas Instruments employees. Quarterly sales $2499M, profits $210M (Aug 1994). http://compaq.com/. (and Digital Equipment Corporation), Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA[3]) is an American vendor of computers, computer components, computer software, and information-technology services, founded on 24 February 1982. Inc., Hewlett-Packard Company, Sequent (Sequent Computer Systems, Inc., Beaverton, OR, www.sequent.com) A computer company founded in 1983 by 17 ex-employees of Intel that specialized in multiprocessing systems for the client/server environment. Computer Systems, Inc., and Newbridge Networks Newbridge Networks was an Ottawa, Ontario, Canada company founded by Canadian/Welsh entrepreneur Terry Matthews. It was founded in 1986 to create data and voice networking products after Matthews was forced out of his original company Mitel. Corporation. AGISS's new "Destination 2000" program has unique features A key difference in AGISS's strategy for the Year 2000 is a focus not just on urgent conversion work between now and December 31, 1999, but also on preventing and solving the problems and performing the less mission-critical conversions that will extend into the Year 2000. AGISS's methodology, conversion products and approaches are in tune with the latest market needs and are flexibly structured to give clients the choice of outsourcing their conversion project to the full-service AGISS conversion team, or handling the process internally with AGISS tools and/or help. "We've developed one of the most thorough approaches to manage and minimize the risks associated with Year 2000 conversion," said Dr. Scott, referring to AGISS's advanced capabilities in critically important niche conversion aspects. "Our optional, multi-tool Independent Verification and Validation (testing) Independent Verification and Validation - (IV&V) The verification and validation of a software product by an organisation that is both technically and managerially separate from the organisation responsible for developing the product. (IV&V) auditing service is an objective, thorough safety check, ensuring applications are compliant and that conversions have not altered functionality or performance. It provides a level of quality assurance simply unachievable with a single conversion tool. And our exceptional ability to evaluate the role of each system in a client's enterprise, assess risk, and develop and execute a Business Continuity and Contingency Assurance plan, should failures occur, positions AGISS ideally, not only for the immediate business opportunities but also to capture the market potential of the opening months and years of the new millennium." Mr. Sowah acknowledged that the scope of Year 2000 business opportunities and the work to be done is immense. "With the confidence and enthusiasm of our super-team, supporting the best and most comprehensive package of tools and capabilities, AGISS is prepared to meet the evolving needs of institutional and commercial clients worldwide." Who is AGISS? AGISS Software Corporation is a leading application software development, software conversion and systems integration specialist, noted for innovation in Year 2000, Euro-commerce and Electronic Commerce conversions and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). Through its affiliation with several of the world's prominent software, hardware and service providers and software factories, AGISS has assembled a truly global team. With operations in Canada, Europe, South America South America, fourth largest continent (1991 est. pop. 299,150,000), c.6,880,000 sq mi (17,819,000 sq km), the southern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. and the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , AGISS serves government, international business and Fortune 1000 companies worldwide. AGISS Software Corporation and AGISS Software Corporation-USA, L.L.C. are wholly owned subsidiaries Wholly Owned Subsidiary A subsidiary whose parent company owns 100% of its common stock. Notes: In other words, the parent company owns the company outright and there are no minority owners. of AGISS Corporation, a publicly traded company publicly traded company A company whose shares of common stock are held by the public and are available for purchase by investors. The shares of publicly traded firms are bought and sold on the organized exchanges or in the over-the-counter market. . Investors please note: This release may contain forward-looking statements forward-looking statement A projected financial statement based on management expectations. A forward-looking statement involves risks with regard to the accuracy of assumptions underlying the projections. that involve risks and uncertainties which might cause the actual results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements. Factors, which could affect actual results, include the development and introduction of competitive technologies, the overall market demand for conversion services, the presence of technologically-inferior products and services which are priced or promoted to compete with AGISS. Media Professionals please note: -- AGISS executives are available for media interviews. Please call an ASH Technology Marketing information contact. -- Complete media kits are available, including glossy collaterals describing the new "Destination 2000" program, AGISS conversion methodology posters etc. Call an ASH Technology Marketing information contact. -- Formal and candid/action photos of AGISS executives, individually and in groups are available, as well as electronic artwork for AGISS logos and other imagery. Call an ASH Technology Marketing information contact. -- We invite you to visit the AGISS Web site at www.agiss.com. -- AGISS company names, and product and marketing program names such as "Destination 2000" and "Remedy2000," are trademarks or registered trademarks of AGISS Corporation or AGISS Software Corporation. All other company names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. |
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