Abatis Launches the Expedite! Technology Lab to Showcase On-Demand, Pay-As-You-Go IP Services; Through the Technology Lab, Expedite! Partners Accelerate IP Service Rollouts.

Business Editors

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 3, 2000

Abatis Systems Corporation today announced the launch of the Expedite! Technology Lab, a network environment designed to test and showcase Consumable IP, the company's vision for on-demand pay-as-you-go, advanced IP services.

The Expedite! Technology Lab is already home to the Abatis Business Services Architecture (BSA) -- the foundation for enabling Consumable IP -- as well as technology solutions from software, business and operations support system vendors. With Abatis, these partners are successfully demonstrating that advanced IP services, such as Enterprise Resource Planning, Customer Relationship Management applications and on-demand video conferencing, can be designed, marketed, sold and deployed, in a matter of days, instead of months. The lab trials conducted by Abatis and its partners have proven that mission-critical and delay-sensitive business applications can be delivered across a shared IP network with guaranteed service quality and security.

This multi-network, multi-service lab is a key element of a broader partnership initiative -- the Abatis Expedite! Initiative -- formed by Abatis to accelerate the delivery of advanced IP services to enterprise customers by leveraging the business and technology strengths of network service providers as well as other vendors in the Consumable IP value chain.

"The Abatis Expedite! Technology Lab experience proves that the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts," said Michael Howard, Principal Analyst and Founder, Infonetics Research. "Network Service Providers (NSPs) are a big part of the solution, but it's not prudent, easy, possible, or even desirable for them to try to deliver the entire range of advanced IP services solutions. The Abatis technology, tools, and partner program enable NSP's to leverage their existing network operations to quickly deploy new value-added services that enterprises want."

"This is not your traditional partner program," said John Seminerio, President Abatis Systems. "Abatis is moving beyond the telecommunications industry to include partners who bring broad-based and industry specific computing and back office solutions. This multi-business approach presents service providers with a wealth of advanced IP service possibilities and the capability to meet real business needs of enterprise customers, sooner. Plus, it's not a superficial paper-based partnership. It's work -- once they're all in the live lab, it's just like an incubator. The results are exciting and bound to please the partners and their customers."

The Expedite! program brings together five key elements of the Consumable IP value chain: Application Service Providers (ASPs), Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), Network Service Providers (NSPs), Value-Added Resellers (VARs)/Systems Integrators and Technology Partners who offer systems that complete the solution, such as billing, customer care and SLA reporting.

XACCT Technologies, a leading provider of business infrastructure solutions for IP networks is one of the first to join the Expedite! Technology Lab. "We all know that the market for value-added business services such as IP telephony, video and virtual private networking is exploding. To realize this burgeoning market, NSPs need an intelligent software platform that allows them to build their business support infrastructure, quickly and cost effectively" said Anil Uberoi, Vice President of Marketing for XACCT. "Through our partnership with Abatis and our joint initiatives in the Expedite! Technology Lab, XACCT will assist service providers in reaching the exploding market for value-added services."

The Abatis Expedite! Initiative is an excellent opportunity for independent software vendors to make their solutions affordable to customers for whom it was previously out of reach. They can use a network service provider's network as a distribution channel to reach their customers, so they are concentrating solely on the value-add of the product, not how it gets in the hands of the customer.

"The Expedite! Initiative is off to a great start," continued Seminerio. "We believe that these effective partnerships, the Expedite! Technology Lab and, of course, our Business Services Architecture, will accelerate the advanced IP services market by three to four years. The demand is there and all vendors in the Consumable IP chain, including Abatis, are eager to meet it head on. The revenue opportunities are staggering, especially for those who get on board fast."

Business consumers are ready now to experience the benefits of high-quality IP solutions. The Abatis Expedite! Technology Lab proves that these true business class IP solutions are real. Business customers can now realize security and performance guarantees, variety, easy access, and flexible billing.

About the Business Services Architecture

The Abatis Business Services Architecture (BSA) is the foundation for selling advanced IP services on demand. The first product to implement this revolutionary architecture is the Abatis Enterprise Service Point (ESP) 6000, unveiled in May, 1999. Designed specifically for service providers, the Abatis ESP is an intelligent access device, designed to unify service demarcation functions such as voice/data integration, routing, bandwidth management, security, and statistics collection for service level agreement reporting and billing. Designed with a powerful packet-processing engine, the Abatis ESP solves today's access and VPN problems while providing a platform for the delivery of next-generation advanced IP services with SLA guarantees.

In September, Abatis introduced the Abatis Network Services Contractor (NSC), the industry's first service activation system to automatically configure Internet Protocol (IP)-based network services. Utilizing XML/Services, a new, open and extensible computing language developed by Abatis, the NSC software solution lets service providers move beyond selling bandwidth. The Abatis NSC enables service providers to offer enterprise users a broad portfolio of IP services -- such as IP Virtual Private Networks, e-commerce and software application rental -- on-demand and in a pay-as-you-go fashion.

About Abatis

Abatis Systems Corporation is a leading supplier of Consumable IP solutions. Abatis develops and manufactures IP networking solutions that enable service providers to market and distribute advanced services with performance, quality and security guarantees on-demand and in a pay-as-you-go manner. These solutions are based on the Business Services Architecture, designed to let carriers leverage their existing core networks and deploy high-value IP services. The Abatis solution eliminates cost, complexity and time obstacles from the deployment and management of carrier-scale IP services. Abatis, founded in 1998, is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. Visit www.abatis-sys.com for more information.

Abatis Systems, Abatis Network Services Contractor, Abatis Enterprise Service Point, Consumable IP, XML/Services, Abatis Expedite! and the Abatis logo are trademarks of Abatis Systems Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.