Advanced Modular Solutions unveils ModWorld, highlighting products, customers and partners; Participants include IBM, Motorola and others, all demonstrating collaboration with Modular resulted in success.

BOXBOROUGH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 17, 1996-- Advanced Modular Solutions today officially opened its headquarters, highlighting the breadth of its technology, customers and partnerships through ModWorld, a miniature trade show.

In its inaugural session, ModWorld featured presentations by Ken Olsen, chairman of Advanced Modular Solutions (Modular) and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., as well as Modular's President Lyn Benton and senior representatives of IBM, Motorola, Eastern Bank, based in Lynn, Mass., and Information Technology Co. (ITC).

"As a young company, we deliberately chose to feature not only our products, but also our customers and partners because Modular has proven it provides a unique added value," Benton said. "As a consultative company, Modular creates product for the sake of solution; advanced technology is the by-product of that commitment."

Olsen, who was instrumental in the founding of the company nearly four years ago, adds, "When I was at Digital it was often joked that my marketing focus was `If we build it, they will buy it.' At Modular I preach, `If we build it to solve their problems, they will buy it'."

Benton also told the more than 300 registered participants, "While Modular is dedicated to providing cost-effective solutions, our real expertise has proven to he helping customers continue to receive the benefits of their existing technology. Our systems allow customers to seamlessly use different and newer technologies. The result is platform independence -- the ability to run the application of choice on the platform of choice."

The hallmark of the Modular approach to computing has been the creation of computer platform-independent products that address the dilemmas of the majority of companies worldwide that find themselves with a clash of products from competing computer firms. Additionally, the company has focused on creation of product to help companies that have embraced the client/server computing model restore security and introduce interoperability to proprietary environments.

In its ModWorld presentation, IBM demonstrated the 7596 Cross Platform Server, which allows users of certain proprietary Digital computing systems to integrate applications with other servers. The 7596 was designed and developed by Modular in conjunction with IBM and its ongoing development is maintained today at the jointly staffed IBM-Modular Competency Center at Modular. The 7596 on display at ModWorld showed shared RAID storage between a Digital VAX, a Pentium and an IBM RS6000.

The Modular PowerPC Server was the focus of Motorola's ModWorld presentation, with Jack Brown of Motorola describing how the PowerPC-based server -- in an actual application -- provided a rackmounted solution to a customer's multiple server configuration while also reducing maintenance costs, improving performance and integrating 36 gigabytes of RAID storage and adding backup capabilities.

"While we sought to show how we have created specific products that have benefited partners such as IBM and Motorola, we also brought in customers to demonstrate how we created their custom solutions, providing a sound return on investment and protection for future computing needs," Benton said.

Lloyd Hamm, CIO of Eastern Bank in Lynn, Mass., the state's fourth-largest bank, described the strain of integrating disparate computing systems as his bank rapidly grew from $600 million to $2 billion in assets through mergers with other banks.

"Not only were we drowning in data, we were choking on our ability to make the systems run together in a coherent fashion," Hamm explained. "We turned to Modular and the result was a simplified, manageable, distributed client/server environment that proved to be extraordinarily cost-effective and easy to grow."

Other demonstrations included:

--Modular's ISV Porting Center's ability to assist software developers with porting native 32-bit of Windows 16-bit applications to Modular's PowerPC-based platforms. The Center also provides porting services for custom applications to major organizations.

--NASA's demo showed how it turned to Modular for design and implementation of a media-less computing system that takes full advantage of centralized storage to increase security in an environment where mission-critical derives its true meaning.

--A leading hospital demonstrated how it partnered with Modular for creation of a customized Intel-based scaleable server to manage patient records in a highly competitive, cost-centered project.

--Information Technology Company discussed its partnership with Modular in creation of its ReS/6000 Re-Engineering Server and in development of re-engineering techniques for applications using the OS/390 platform.

--Wingra Technologies showed its Missive/AIX E-Mail Switch, which solves the problems of integrating disparate E-Mail systems through use of the IBM 7596 Cross-platform Messaging Integration Server, developed in conjunction with Modular at the IBM-Modular Competency Center.

--Modular's Fault-Tolerant Servers were demonstrated in conjunction with Marathon. Modular's product is based on Pentium servers with single storage volume with Marathon's MIAL 1 and running Windows NT.

Other Modular products on display included:

--The Scaleable ServerArray, showing its ability to provide simplified maintenance and systems management for businesses experiencing rapid application growth.

--The Secura line of diskless clients was shown, illustrating the advantages of compact, versatile and powerful desktop clients to provide exceptional performance and security in the client/server environment.

--Modular's "MAX" ServerArray System, which provides a high-performance alternative to Digital's VAX processor, was shown providing its better CPU and I/O throughput (compared to most standard VAX systems) and its seamless integration capability with existing VAX Open VAS clusters -- all in a rackmounted configuration that also provides room for RAID storage.

--The Modular "Cluster in a Box" system showed how up to three VAX CPUs per rack may be combined with highly scaleable RAID storage and seamlessly integrated with an existing VAX cluster, providing lower maintenance costs and improved price/performance per square foot.

Headquartered in Boxborough, Mass., Modular is a computer systems and consulting company that offers platform-independent solutions which combine the best attributes of mainframe, client-server and open-environment technologies. The Modular logo is a trademark of The Modular Group Inc. All other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.

CONTACT: Advanced Modular Solutions

Jeanne Marquis, 508/266-9700 ext. 178