Autodesk Signs OEM Agreement With eRoom Technology To Build Collaborative Product Development Service.

Business/Technology Editors

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 21, 2001

Small- to Mid-Sized Manufacturers Gain a Cost-Effective Solution for

Sharing Design Data Across the Extended Enterprise

eRoom Technology, Inc., a leading provider of digital workplaces for professional services organizations and manufacturing companies, announced today a technology sharing and hosting agreement with Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK) in which the eRoom(R) digital workplace solution will collaboration-enable the Autodesk Streamline(TM) product development service for small- to mid-sized manufacturers. By using the eRoom solution, Autodesk(R) gains a proven platform for providing extended enterprise manufacturing services that lead the market in their ability to bring together teams of people across the design chain to accomplish mission-critical business tasks. From design and engineering to manufacturing and distribution, the eRoom solution is helping Autodesk pave the way to more efficient manufacturing activities and processes, resulting in shorter project turnaround times and reduced manufacturing costs.

"Manufacturers desperately need a unifying environment that brings together all of the people involved in moving a product through the manufacturing pipeline, with the desktop tools that support their daily work efforts," said Robert Kross, vice president of the manufacturing division at Autodesk. "eRoom is helping us deliver on this need by providing the collaborative `command center' required to deploy manufacturing-specific systems for small- to mid-sized companies. With Autodesk Streamline, users can work together on everything from information and ideas to documents and schedules, across organizational, geographic, and time zone boundaries."

With Autodesk Streamline and its eRoom digital workplace capabilities, the entire manufacturing process becomes much more efficient. Designers and engineers can more easily share information, collaborate on new ideas and design changes, publish critical data and specifications, and make more-informed decisions. The same repository of information is then automatically tailored to provide task-specific information to other team members, such as procurement specialists, shop floor analysts, and sales personnel. In this way, the entire manufacturing design chain is empowered to help drive the success of a project through the collaborative sharing of mission-critical project information and data.

"We believe a tremendous opportunity exists for the use of collaborative technologies within the manufacturing space," said Barry Ruditsky, vice president of business development for eRoom Technology. "By its very nature, manufacturing is all about the sharing and management of knowledge to design better products, to build them more efficiently, and to get to market faster with higher quality and lower costs. We are very excited to be working with Autodesk as it introduces innovative uses for collaborative technologies for small- to mid-sized manufacturing companies."

The eRoom digital workplace solution provides a secure, proven environment that allows application developers to quickly and easily deploy Web-based collaborative capabilities within their vertical market applications. Requiring only an industry-standard browser and access to the Internet, the eRoom solution enables cross-organizational teams to share information and ideas, make and document decisions, as well as capture and archive knowledge, resulting in faster, smarter, and more competitive business practices and decisions.

About Autodesk

Autodesk is the world's leading design software and digital content company for architectural design and land development, manufacturing, utilities, telecommunications, and media and entertainment. Founded in 1982, Autodesk provides design software, Internet portal services, wireless development platforms and point-of-location applications that empower more than four million customers in over 150 countries to drive business and remain competitive. For more information, contact any Authorized Autodesk Reseller, call Autodesk at 800-964-6432, or visit www.autodesk.com. Discreet(TM) product information is available at 800-869-3504 or via the Web at www.discreet.com.

About eRoom Technology

eRoom Technology is a leading provider of Internet-based software and services for collaboration among an organization's extended enterprise of employees, customers, suppliers, and other partners. The company's eRoom product provides a digital workplace for electronic business, allowing organizations to quickly assemble a project team wherever people are located and manage the collaborative activities that support their complex and rapidly-changing business projects and processes. Customers use eRoom digital workplaces to help get products to market faster, drive down production costs, enhance customer relationships, and improve the work products that drive their businesses. The eRoom solution is used by more than 475 companies such as A.T. Kearney, Bausch & Lomb, Compaq, Deloitte Consulting, EDS, Ford Motor Company, Hewlett-Packard, Ketchum, KPMG, Pfizer, Siemens, Solectron, Towers Perrin, and Verizon. More information about eRoom Technology and its product offerings can be found at www.eroom.com.

Editors Note: eRoom is a registered trademark of eRoom Technology, Inc. Autodesk and the Autodesk logo are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the United States and/or other countries. All other product and company names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.