Banyan Systems announces BeyondWare architecture for extending functionality of enterprise messaging.

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 29, 1994--At the EMail World Conference being held here, Banyan Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:BNYN) Tuesday announced BeyondWare, an architecture that makes available an open, extensible environment to create new combinations of messaging and application solutions.

Based on Banyan's enterprise messaging and desktop electronic mail services, BeyondWare's modular approach delivers customers a range of tightly integrated, easy-to-use "best-of-breed" desktop solutions -- including conferencing, calendaring/scheduling, database access, collaboration, document imaging, forms routing and workflow, and document management -- that maximize the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of internal business processes across the organization.

With today's announcement, Banyan also announced the availability of a new ODBC Add-in to access corporate databases, and a new release of BeyondMail CaLANdar.

"Using electronic mail, corporations have dramatically enhanced personal and workgroup productivity," said Mary Patterson, vice president of Banyan's messaging business unit. "They now realize the potential and benefits of extending the messaging network to encompass a wide variety of business and communications tasks, such as database access and collaboration.

"Through BeyondMail, customers can incrementally add integrated desktop applications. And because these solutions utilize the existing enterprise messaging infrastructure as well as being tightly integrated into the extensible e-mail desktop -- they are simple to deploy, use and manage across the enterprise. In addition, as users work with the growing range of applications from their e-mail desktop, training and administration costs are reduced."

Integration at Email Desktop and Messaging Infrastructure

The modular BeyondWare architecture features strategic solution categories that extend the functionality of the existing messaging system while leveraging it on two levels. On the desktop level, these solutions take advantage of the BeyondMail core rules and forms technology. Through a combination of custom forms, rules and BeyondRules Add-Ins, the BeyondWare Applications Extension Layer enables applications to be tightly integrated with BeyondMail.

The degree of integration can range anywhere from user interface coupling to direct connections with the proprietary database formats of third-party applications.

At the infrastructure level, BeyondWare solutions take advantage of the underlying message transport, message store and directory services of Banyan Intelligent Messaging or Novell's NetWare Message Handling Service (MHS), simplifying use and administration, minimizing overhead and increasing the return on investment of the messaging network.

BeyondWare Partners

Through BeyondWare, Banyan has identified seven strategic categories of applications whose integration with messaging delivers unique solutions. These categories are calendaring/scheduling, collaboration, database access, document imaging, forms routing and workflow, and document management.

To provide customers with the best solutions in each of these categories, Banyan has established partnerships with strategic third-party vendors, VARs and systems integrators whose products represent leading-edge technology or whose services and integration expertise enables them to take full advantage of BeyondMail rules and forms functionality.

"The uniqueness of the BeyondMail rules and forms technology has been the key enabler for integration of various desktop messaging applications in a construction project for a new hospital center in the County of San Bernardino," said David Horwatt, vice president of sales for General Networks, a Banyan/BeyondMail reseller.

"BeyondMail has been the key vehicle for adding workflow to document management solutions, as well integrating CaLANdar to manage the scheduling of people and tasks."

A selection of the BeyondWare categories includes:

Database Access: In this BeyondWare category, Banyan has delivered a solution through BeyondMail. BeyondMail can be used as an email-based database front end, allowing administrators to provide their users with direct and efficient access to corporate databases.

Users simply interact with custom BeyondMail forms to query or update the database, giving them the ability to manage all of their information from within a robust electronic mail environment. Administrators also benefit from the reduced number of simultaneous connections to the database server, reduced desktop networking complexity, and the ability to implement database access without training users.

Additionally, a new native ODBC extension to the Beyond rules technology is now available, free of charge, as a BeyondMail Add-in for BeyondMail Professional Edition users. The ODBC Add-in will allow access to corporate databases that support the ODBC standard. The BeyondMail Add-in will allow access to databases that can be extended to the entire enterprise without requiring a live connection between every user's desktop and the database engine.

Calendaring & Scheduling: Banyan has partnered with Microsystems Software Inc. to bring the sophisticated group scheduling capabilities of CaLANdar to the enterprise messaging system. BeyondMail CaLANdar features the integration of BeyondMail's rules and forms with the CaLANdar database to facilitate enterprise-wide group scheduling.

When a person using CaLANdar to schedule a meeting selects a time and place of the meeting, he or she can invite others to the meeting via electronic mail. If those recipients use BeyondMail, they will receive a custom BeyondMail RSVP form. Recipients can respond to those RSVP forms, which contain all of the relevant meeting information, by pressing "Accept" or "Reject" buttons directly on the BeyondMail form.

Available later this quarter, CaLANdar Version 3.0 has improved connectivity for remote users as well as additional people and resource management functionality. Some additional features in the new version include: Timed Program Launch, Drag-and-Drop Capability to Move Appointments, One-Button Reply, View Remote Schedule, User Migration, Private Button, and Guest Count Display.

Collaboration: Banyan has partnered with Collabra Software to integrate Collabra Share, the premier group information sharing and conferencing product, with BeyondMail in Intelligent Messaging and MHS environments. Collabra Share for Intelligent Messaging and BeyondMail/MHS lets groups of users organize, discuss and disseminate information easily by leveraging the messaging infrastructure.

Collabra Share for Intelligent Messaging allows participants to notify other individuals of new forums or send discussion documents to selected users via Intelligent Messaging and StreetTalk Directory Assistance. It also uses the messaging infrastructure to replicate database forums across the enterprise, facilitating administration. On the desktop level, BeyondMail users will be able to participate in Collabra discussions using special forms for query and submissions.

BeyondWare Demonstrations at EMail World

In Banyan's BeyondWare Solutions Pavilion at EMail World (Booth No. 1214), BeyondWare partners will demonstrate how their desktop applications integrate with BeyondMail rules and forms, and with the messaging infrastructure, to provide customers with leading-edge business solutions.

The following vendors will participate: Biscom Inc., Incognito Software, JetForm, Microsystems Software, Simplify Development Corp., The Network Technology Group, and Trellis.

Solutions to be demonstrated include group calendaring, automated forms, document communication, fax routing and time accounting management. In addition, Banyan will demonstrate Collabra Share for Intelligent Messaging, Beyond Notes Connection and BeyondMail for database access.

-0-

Sidebar:

BeyondWare Partners Express Enthusiasm for BeyondWare Architecture

Biscom Inc.

"With BeyondMail and Intelligent Messaging, Banyan provides an enterprise-wide messaging platform that complements our strategy with FAXCOM," said Steve Pytka, president of Biscom. "Within the BeyondWare architecture -- making the two technologies behave as one in the eyes of the end-user will promote acceptance of both corporate desktop messaging and computer/fax.

"By leveraging on FAXCOM's tight integration with Intelligent Messaging and BeyondMail, customers will be able to integrate fax capabilities into BeyondWare applications such as workflow, scheduling, and imaging using BeyondWare rules and forms technology."

Collabra Software Inc.

"We are very pleased that Collabra Share was chosen as the first information sharing & conferencing solution within the BeyondWare architecture," said Eric Hahn, president and CEO of Collabra Software.

"This solidifies Collabra's market leadership in this important emerging category. Our strategic alliance with Banyan is extremely important to customers as it provides seamless integration within the BeyondWare architecture. The BeyondWare architecture allows users of Collabra Share to be tightly integrated with their choice of applications, and leverages their StreetTalk and Intelligent Messaging, or MHS investments," Hahn added.

Incognito Software Inc.

"Our current Intelligent SMTP Gateway for VINES already allows BeyondMail users to share Beyond applications across different mail systems. The creation of BeyondWare will allow us to migrate our current mail gateway products to other open platforms," said Stephane Bourque, president of Incognito Software Inc.

JetForm Corp.

"The enterprise network architecture and powerful rules capabilities of BeyondWare are a natural complement to JetForm's RealWorld Workflow products," said Langley Steinert, JetForm's director of marketing.

"We already have a number of corporate customers who are looking to use JetForm's forms based workflow with BeyondWare to automate existing paper based processes like Time Sheets, Purchase Orders, and Expense Reports. With BeyondWare and JetForm's easy to use workflow solution, a customer can quickly and easily fill-in, route, and receive electronic forms all within BeyondMail."

Microsystems Software

"Microsystems Software's CaLANdar is the leading enterprise-wide group scheduler, and currently the only modular group scheduling system to offer unilateral support for all three operating system platforms -- Windows, Macintosh, and DOS," said Nigel Spicer, president of Microsystems Software Inc. "We are pleased that it was selected as the calendaring/scheduling solution for Banyan's BeyondWare architecture."

"CaLANdar schedules appointments and tasks, both personal and group, for people and resources. Support for Banyan's StreetTalk (STDA) and BeyondMail/MHS makes it easy for system managers to plug CaLANdar into their existing e-mail backbone and messaging directories."

The Network Technology Group Inc.

"As a BeyondWare pioneer, The Network Technology Group Inc. has integrated BeyondMail with desktop applications and database backends for more than three years," said Kurt A.F. Kiesow III, president of The Network Technology Group Inc.

"We have employed the BeyondWare strategy in numerous applications which benefit from the workflow and custom forms capabilities available to the developer. Our applications have provided automation of systems such as Time Billing, Expense Reporting, Project Management and Remote Systems Administration."

Simplify Development Corp.

"Utilizing the breadth of the BeyondWare Architecture, MailRoom enables organizations to include paper based information and faxes as a standard document type that can be distributed by electronic mail saved to document management systems and included in automatic workflows.

"By combining the rules capability of BeyondMail with MailRoom's functionality, users can more effectively process the flow of paper documents and faxes that they receive daily," said Edward Schmid, president, Simplify Development Corp.

Trellis

According to Dennis LeClair, manager of Workgroup Computing at Trellis: "A major aspect of Banyan's BeyondWare architecture is that it sits on top of the existing messaging infrastructure, and as such, can be coupled with Banyan's Beyond Notes Connection (BNC) product to extend the reach of customer's existing Lotus Notes applications. Trellis has implemented a BeyondWare front-end to its Lotus Notes based Corporate HelpDesk product.

"This solution minimizes the need for organizations to implement a complete Lotus Notes environment, instead utilizing Banyan's BeyondForms, BeyondRules and BNC's Access Agent to route Notes documents to/from BeyondMail mailboxes."

-0-

About Banyan Systems Inc.

Banyan Systems (NASDAQ:BNYN) is a pioneer and leader in enterprise networking software and messaging products. These products enable customers to integrate heterogeneous computer platforms into a unified global network that is easy to use and manage. Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Westboro, Mass., the company markets products worldwide through authorized network integrators, resellers and international distributors.

-0-

Note to Editors: Banyan and StreetTalk are registered trademarks, and Intelligent Messaging is a trademark of Banyan Systems Inc. StreetTalk is a product of Banyan Systems Inc. and not a product of McCarthy, Crisanti & Maffei Inc. Beyond, BeyondMail, and BeyondRules are registered trademarks, and BeyondWare is a trademark of Beyond Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Banyan Systems Inc.

All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

CONTACT: Banyan Systems Inc.

              Lucia Graziano, 508/898-1000
              Copithorne & Bellows
              Peggy Stabler, 617/252-0606