Atreus Systems Enables Service Providers and Enterprise Customers to Deploy Microsoft Exchange Simply and Profitably.

Business Editors

CUPERTINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 2, 2002

Aliant Telecom Reduces Costs by Using Atreus' Service

Modules for xAuthority Service Fulfillment Solution to Automate

the Delivery of its Messaging and Collaboration Service

Atreus Systems(TM), a service fulfillment leader for IP services and applications, today introduced Service Descriptions: Volume 2 Messaging Services. This suite of Service Description and Service Driver Modules provides configurable, XML-based templates that incorporate best practices in business logic, provisioning processes, and configuration attributes for Microsoft(R) Exchange(R) 2000 services. These modules help service providers and enterprise customers using the Atreus xAuthority(TM) Service Fulfillment Solution to automate the provisioning of Microsoft Exchange 2000 services and to integrate with existing operational support systems (OSS), delivering services to end users more effectively and profitably.

Aliant Telecom has deployed Atreus xAuthority and Atreus' Microsoft Exchange Service Modules to support its Messaging and Collaboration Service and WebMail offerings through its business portal aliantzinc.ca.

"Thanks to the efficiencies instilled across our operational environment by the Atreus xAuthority, we are able to profitably offer a competitively-priced and securely hosted ASP Microsoft Exchange solution to our small and medium-sized business customers, customers who would normally not be able to afford this solution from both a financial or IT support perspective", said Dave Grebenc, director of advanced business solutions with Aliant Telecom. "Furthermore, the ability to extend simplified self-provisioning and ongoing self-administration functionality to our customers through a web interface eliminates the loss-of-control objection that many of our larger enterprise customers have with hosted or outsourced offerings."

Atreus' library of messaging services empowers providers to quickly launch demand-driven services by creating unique service offerings tailored to meet the needs of businesses and consumers. Services include:

-- WebMail, which enables providers to offer a cost-effective hosted email solution for businesses and consumers;

-- Messaging and Collaboration, which enables providers to offer a hosted, feature-rich service that includes email, calendar, contact management and shared folders;

-- Unified Messaging, which enables providers to unify their specialized offerings by merging services such as fax-to-email.

"In today's current and expected market for IP services, additional features will be necessary to increase the value of a service provider's offerings," said William A. Flanagan, principal at Flanagan Consulting. "Atreus is targeting a clear market need with this release of Service Modules for Atreus xAuthority."

Brenda Toonders, director of product marketing at Atreus Systems, added, " With limited IT budgets and resources, enterprises typically struggle to implement and support an advanced Exchange infrastructure for their messaging and collaboration needs. Alternatively, Atreus xAuthority and the second volume of Messaging Services gives providers the opportunity to profitably offer a hosted Microsoft Exchange service by automating and streamlining service definition and deployment."

Rapidly Deliver Profitable Services

The company's flagship product, Atreus xAuthority, is built on an open, adaptable architecture that enables service providers to profitably define and deploy new services within their existing network and OSS infrastructures.

Providers use Atreus' Service Modules to define and act upon configuration attributes, business rules and provisioning processes for single or bundled offerings. Atreus xAuthority, gives enterprise IT departments or providers of hosted collaborative messaging services, a Web-based interface for subscribing to and modifying Microsoft Exchange settings. This cuts an organization's operational costs because the service provisioning process is streamlined and automated. Atreus xAuthority's self-administration interface enables providers to empower their customers with control over adding/removing accounts, changing storage capacity, resetting mailbox "lockouts" and creating distribution lists. End users can activate, consume and manage services using a wide range of access methods and computing devices.

Atreus xAuthority makes it easy for providers to bundle Microsoft Exchange with other services, such as virtual private networks, tiered access bandwidth and firewalls. This gives providers the capability to more creatively market to particular high-value customers and high-growth customer niches.

About Atreus Systems

Atreus Systems(TM) is a service fulfillment leader for IP services and applications. Atreus' flagship product, the xAuthority(TM) Service Fulfillment Solution, is a service creation and activation software platform that helps carriers, service providers, enterprise customers, and wireless and cable operators to provision and deliver advanced IP services while reducing operational expenses and leveraging existing network CAPEX investments. Atreus Systems, headquartered in Cupertino, California, is a privately held company financed by leading telecom venture capital firms Mobius Venture Capital, Blueprint Ventures, Skypoint Capital Corporation, BDC Venture Capital and Aliant, Inc. For more information, visit the company's web site at www.atreus-systems.com or call [phone] (North America).

Atreus Systems, the Atreus Systems logo, fill YOUR pipes, Atreus xAuthority and all Atreus Systems products are trademarks of Atreus Systems, Inc. or its subsidiaries and are used under license. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Copyright (C) 2001 Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, Washington 98052-6399 U.S.A. All rights reserved. Microsoft and Microsoft Exchange are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.