Blackboard and Xythos Announce Building Blocks Partnership.

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 17, 2002

Blackboard Inc., the leading Internet infrastructure company for e-Education, and Xythos Software, Inc., the premier provider of Internet-enabled file management software announced a partnership under which Xythos will join the Blackboard Building Blocks (B2) program.

Additionally, Blackboard will resell a specialized version of Xythos WebFile Server (WFS) to the higher education market.

Through the partnership with Xythos, Blackboard is addressing a recurring customer request for improved file management. Using the Blackboard Building Blocks architecture, Blackboard and Xythos have developed interoperability between the Blackboard Learning System(TM) and the Xythos WFS.

Now Blackboard users may choose an enhanced user interface for managing documents and multimedia within the Blackboard system. Additionally, the Xythos WFS brings the power and flexibility of WebDAV enabling one-click publishing and drag & drop file management to the Blackboard platform.

"Xythos is simply the best web based file management system out there. Their commitment to open standards such as WebDAV enable Blackboard clients and other partners to take advantage of its powerful functionality," said Daniel Cane, SVP of Research and Development of Blackboard Inc. "The Xythos product enables simplified content publishing to Blackboard, content reuse, and more effective sharing of content within Blackboard. These new features greatly enhance the ease-of-use and pedagogical effectiveness of the Blackboard platform."

Now instructors can maintain links to a single copy of each of their course documents in the Xythos WFS system, rather than uploading the documents separately to each of their Blackboard course web sites. This vastly simplifies the creation of institution-wide Blackboard-specific content libraries, to enable content reuse among multiple course web sites and content sharing between instructors.

In addition, WFS will improve instructor-student and student-student collaboration through improved drop-box functionality and content collaboration within course and group collaboration areas.

"Our customers in higher education need a safer and simpler way to work together," said Ed Miller, CEO of Xythos. "Our common goal with Blackboard to make this possible is one of the many reasons - both technically and strategically - why our WebFile Server is a tremendous fit with the Blackboard Learning System."

Using Xythos WFS, Blackboard users can control file access and versions as well as replace network-hungry file attachments with secure URLs. Xythos WFS also makes sharing files easier with file versioning, check in/out, and the automatic embedding of file links (URLs) in email, substantially reducing the burden upon university messaging systems.

WFS addresses growing security concerns related to file sharing with features including LDAP-based user authentication and SSL encrypted file transmission protection. To further ease security concerns, Xythos user authentication will be integrated with the Blackboard authentication system.

Blackboard's Building Blocks Program

Blackboard Building Blocks enables the extension of Blackboard's enterprise course management, community portal, and commerce and access systems. The Blackboard Building Blocks program enables any client, vendor, or partner to integrate external applications, tools, content, and services into the Blackboard e-Education suite.

About Blackboard Inc.

Blackboard Inc. was founded to transform the Internet into a powerful environment for the educational experience. The company offers a complete suite of enterprise software products and services that power a total "e-Education Infrastructure" for schools, colleges, universities and other education providers.

Blackboard solutions deliver the promise of the Internet for online teaching and learning, campus communities, auxiliary services and integration of Web-enabled student services and back office systems.

Blackboard's Learning, Community Portal and Transaction Systems are consistently ranked by industry analysts as the market share and customer satisfaction leaders for thousands of academic institutions and a leading number of the Internet's most popular consumer education sites. The company is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices and staff across North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia.

Please visit www.blackboard.com for more information.

About Xythos WebFile Server

Xythos WFS software delivers advanced file sharing and management functionality without changing the way users access and store unstructured file information and without costly content and workflow re-engineering.

Based on industry standards such as HTTP, SSL and WebDAV, users gain easy file access and sharing functionality from within the applications they already know and use, while network management achieves greater control, security, and cost efficiencies related to managing and storing user files.

Xythos Software, Inc.

Xythos Software is the leading developer of Internet file management software for secure file access and sharing. Xythos' WebDAV compliant WebFile Server(TM) and the WebFile Client(TM) help business, education and government customers easily find and share information from any Internet location while improving file system security and reducing the load on email and messaging systems.

Founded in 1999, Xythos is a privately held San Francisco company with funding from Mobius Venture Capital (formerly Softbank Venture Capital) and IDG Ventures.