Axeda Enhances Its Device Relationship Management System For Large Scale Deployment; New Scalability, Reliability, Security and Customization Features.

Business/Technology Editors

MANSFIELD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 14, 2002

Axeda Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: RVST), a provider of Device Relationship Management (DRM) software and services formed from the union of eMation and RAVISENT Technologies, today announced the latest release of its Axeda Device Relationship Management System, a distributed software solution that lets businesses remotely monitor, manage and service intelligent devices. This new version of Axeda DRM(TM), release 2.5 offers a range of enhancements to support large scale deployments, including scalable, distributed information management; high availability; and advanced device and user administration for secure deployment with large populations of mission-critical devices. Release 2.5 also integrates with Siebel 7 Field Service applications and provides new tools for the development of custom DRM applications that can tap the value of real-time device information.

"This newest release of the Axeda DRM System addresses our needs for gathering important information from our medical instruments in hospitals and reference labs," said Denny Kershner, Director of Marketing for Beckman Coulter, Inc., a leading provider of biomedical instrument systems and complementary products. "We continue to increase the number of our instruments operating in laboratories. The Axeda DRM System's clustered server architecture delivers a high availability environment, enabling our instruments to provide operational feedback to our service department 24 hours a day. In addition, the enhanced ability to securely manage access to instrument information via individual user and group profiles is critical to widespread adoption of many of our e-service offerings".

The Axeda Device Relationship Management System is a distributed software solution that bridges the gap between intelligent devices and the enterprise. It is composed of multiple software products including Axeda Applications(TM), Axeda Enterprise servers, Axeda Agents and Axeda Integrator(TM) software that work together to leverage the global reach of the Internet and provide the real-time, continuous exchange of information between remote devices, business systems and people.

Axeda Applications provide Web-based information access from anywhere in the world for remote device administration, desktop sharing, diagnostics and data visualization. In a large global enterprise, devices are distributed across many geographies and responsibility for those devices is controlled by multiple organizations. The latest Axeda Administration(TM) application has been designed to let these companies create and manage device groups - e.g. particular device models, or devices with specified locations or owners - with unique profiles that ensure that only authorized personnel have access to sensitive device information or controls. For compatibility with enterprise-class user management systems, Axeda DRM user information is maintained using the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP).

Axeda Enterprise(TM) servers interact securely through firewalls with Axeda Agent(TM) software at the remote device to collect and manage information and supply it to Axeda Applications and other business systems. The new Axeda Enterprise(TM) cluster capability builds on proven Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) technology to offer new levels of scalability and reliability through redundancy and fail-over features. "We have built a clustered architecture that lets multiple servers work together to deliver fault tolerant operation that is sufficient to support hundreds of thousands or even millions of devices continuously interacting with thousands of users," said Rich MacKeen, Vice President of Research and Development for Axeda.

The new Axeda Application Development Toolkit(TM) lets companies extend and customize Axeda Applications, or create entirely new applications that leverage the power of real-time device information. Axeda DRM also features open interfaces to enable tight integration with existing information technology (IT) systems. For example, the new Axeda Integrator for Siebel provides seamless integration with Siebel 7 Field Service applications, from Siebel Systems Inc., the world's leading provider of eBusiness applications software. Integration with Siebel Field Service extends the customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities of Siebel with the device monitoring and diagnostic capabilities of Axeda DRM.

Availability

The Axeda DRM System, including the new Axeda Enterprise server and Axeda Application software version 2.5, is available today worldwide directly from Axeda. Contact Axeda at [phone] or [e-mail] for further product and sales office information.

About Axeda

Axeda Systems Inc. is an enterprise software and services company that helps businesses become more competitive by using the Internet to tap the value of real-time information to optimize their service, development, sales and manufacturing operations. The company's flagship Axeda Device Relationship Management System is a distributed software solution that lets businesses monitor, manage and service intelligent devices deployed at remote sites. Axeda serves Global 2000 companies in multiple markets including Industrial and Building Automation, Technology, Medical Instrumentation, Office and Semiconductor Equipment industries through sales and service offices in the US, Europe, Israel and Japan, and distribution partners worldwide. More information about Axeda is available at www.axeda.com.

About Beckman Coulter

Beckman Coulter, headquartered in Fullerton, Calif., is a leading provider of instrument systems and complementary products that simplify and automate processes in life science and clinical laboratories. The company's products are used throughout the world in all phases of the battle against disease, from pioneering medical research and drug discovery to diagnostic testing that aids in patient treatment. Annual sales for the company totaled $1.89 billion in 2000, with approximately half of this amount generated outside the United States. More information on the company is available at www.beckmancoulter.com.

About Device Relationship Management

The intelligent devices that we see and interact with everyday such as copiers, elevators, vending machines, building control units, medical devices, and even automobiles represent an important new source of business information. To date most enterprises have not been able to tap this information. Device Relationship Management addresses this significant information blind spot by providing a distributed information management system that leverages the Internet to allow timely, accurate, and unbiased information to be communicated automatically between devices deployed at customer facilities and external service personnel or enterprise business systems. Device Relationship Management helps turn reactive businesses into proactive businesses providing new sources of revenue and increased operational efficiency at lower costs.

(c)2002 Axeda Systems. All rights reserved.

Axeda, Axeda Systems, Axeda DRM, Axeda Integrator, Axeda Enterprise, Axeda Agent, Axeda Administration, Axeda Applications, and Firewall-Friendly are trademarks of Axeda Systems Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements that relate to Axeda's future business and financial performance. Such statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual events of future results to differ from those discussed herein. Such factors include, among others: the potential for growth in the pervasive computing market; uncertainties regarding Axeda's stock repurchase program; Axeda's limited operating history, fluctuating quarterly operating results, expectation of future losses, dependence on current product lines, dependence on a small number of customers, lack of long-term commitments with customers, dependence on manufacturers and strategic relationships, and product delays; uncertainties in the market for DRM products; the long sales cycle for DRM products; limited distribution channels; the difficulty of protecting proprietary rights, the ability to manage growth and attract and retain additional personnel; the potential for defects in products; risks from international operations; Axeda's ability to raise capital in the future; competition; Axeda's ability to manage technological change and respond to evolving industry standards; and government regulation. Investors are advised to read Axeda's (formerly Ravisent Technologies Inc.'s) Annual Report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and Forms 8-K and the company's proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly those sections entitled "Factors Affecting Operating Results" and "Risk Factors" for a more complete discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties.