Connected Corporation Acquires Email Archiving Company, Announces New Product Lines and Unveils Roadmap for Protection of All Distributed Data.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 10, 2003

Connected to offer highly secure email archiving solution, adds

Windows server backup capability; enhances ease of use, scalability

and integration across product lines

Connected(R) Corporation, the leading provider of automated data protection, archiving and recovery solutions for distributed data, today announced that it has acquired Archive-it (Rchive-it.com Limited), a UK-based provider of tamper-proof email archiving solutions built on open standards. The company also announced its plans to add Windows server backup capabilities along with other enhancements to its Connected DataProtector(TM) PC backup and recovery solution, and its intent to provide integrated archiving capabilities for multiple types and sources of distributed data.

The email archiving market, which according to industry analysts has a projected addressable market size of $1.5 billion by 2007, has emerged recently due to the rapid proliferation of email as one of the primary forms of communication among employees, customers and partners. Since corporate email servers can't handle such vast amounts of data over long periods, companies not only face storage issues but also compliance issues as regulatory agencies are placing higher scrutiny on email messages. Many companies are required to retain messages in their original form and make them available on-demand either internally, or by the courts. However, companies are struggling with how to meet these legal requirements, without placing greater strain on storage budgets.

Archive-it's email archiving solution, MailStore v2.1, is unique in the industry as it was designed to meet the rigors of legal discovery and regulatory compliance. Unlike competing products -- which have added-on email archiving features -- the ability to provide secure, auditable, message archiving has been the driving force behind MailStore's technical leadership. This is the primary reason customers such as DataBax (UK), The London Underground, MacFarlanes Solicitors (UK), and Northants Police Dept. (UK) have purchased and deployed the solution. When combined with Connected's patented data reduction technology, MailStore will be able to help meet the compliance demands of corporations, while satisfying the IT department's need for storage efficiency.

"We see many corporations simply ignoring vast amounts of their information because they think it's too difficult or costly to protect and store highly distributed data," said Bob Brennan, chairman and CEO of Connected Corporation. "Connected is the natural choice to solve this problem, since we've been 100 percent focused on distributed data since day one. With today's announcement, Connected extends its ability to automatically and affordably protect, archive and recover distributed data -- basically, any corporate data that's currently stored on PCs, Windows servers in remote offices, and in email. The next 12 months will be an exciting time for our customers as we deliver more value and provide integrated solutions for protecting and archiving all the data stored at the network's edge."

"We are delighted to be joining the Connected team and see it as a fantastic opportunity to bring our secure, standards-based email archiving technology to Connected's growing customer base and channel partners," said John Iball, co-founder and CTO of Archive-it. "Connected already has strong business and product platforms that are highly leverageable. Adding email archiving solutions, and eventually broad archiving capabilities across Connected's product line, will provide us with several strong differentiators as we look to protect and manage all sources of distributed data."

Industry Support

"Connected's move to acquire Archive-it and capture more sources of distributed data is a solid decision," said Peter Gerr, Enterprise Storage Group analyst. "Archive-it's standards-based architecture makes its technology flexible and extensible which will allow Connected to expand the archiving capabilities of their entire product line. Email archiving is a still-emerging, white hot opportunity and Connected appears to have yet again, realized this need. It looks like the acquisition of Archive-it provides Connected with another strong differentiator with their vision to provide this functionality across multiple sources of distributed data and do so underneath a single, integrated console. Distributed data is one of the often overlooked components of a complete ILM (Information Lifecycle Management) strategy and email archiving for regulatory or compliance-related activities couldn't be more relevant today. With this acquisition, Connected improves its ability to protect more of an organization's most valuable information assets -- good move."

"We've benefited greatly by using Connected's PC data protection technology for several years and we think Connected has made an intelligent move by adding to its product line with email archiving and Windows server backup and recovery technologies," said Dave Johnson, Director of Technology for Grant Thornton International, the world's sixth largest accounting firm. "These are logical extensions to Connected's vision for protecting and archiving all forms of distributed data and we look forward to evaluating the technologies as we develop the Grant Thornton/Connected relationship."

Solution Roadmap: Achieving High Scalability with Ease of Use and Reduced Storage Costs

Over the next 12 months, Connected will deliver individual and fully integrated solutions for automatically and reliably capturing, archiving and recovering unstructured or semi-structured data that's distributed at the edge of corporate networks.

Connected's data reduction capabilities contribute to each of the product's high scalability as well as reduced storage management costs through vast improvements in operational efficiency. This is accomplished with patented technologies that allow only changed portions of files to be stored, instead of whole files; preventing extra copies of common files from being stored in multiple user archives; and expiring data based on pre-set rules. Solutions will include:

Connected ArchiveStore/EM(TM) (Currently known as Archive-it MailStore 2.1) -- A highly secure "tamper-proof" email archiving and mail storage management solution designed specifically to help companies achieve legal compliance with electronic communications regulations.

-- Based on open standards for long-term retrieval of archived

data (not tied to proprietary systems or software vendors)

-- Stores all archived email and accompanying journaling data

(audit trails) in an encrypted format (256 bit AES) for

tamper-proof security and legal admissibility 

-- Powerful, efficient email search/recovery capability

-- No client-side software installation (fast deployment and

easier management)

-- Enables better mail storage efficiency and manageability

through Connected's patented data reduction process

-- Automatically applies retention policies to every email that

meets definable criteria

-- Supports MS Exchange/Outlook, Lotus Notes and GroupWise

-- Solution to be offered as a subscription service or licensed

software

-- Archive-it MailStore 2.1 available now (Connected

ArchiveStore/EM to be available in Q1 2004)

Connected DataProtector/PC(TM) -- The market's leading solution for automated capture and recovery of data stored on desktop and laptop PCs.

-- The industry's highest scalability allows more data to be

protected at a lower cost (Up to 20,000 PCs protected per

Connected DataCenter server pair)

-- Deployed at more than 600 of the world's largest corporations,

including Boeing, Deloitte & Touche, Deutsche Telekom, EDS,

Hewlett-Packard and Toyota

-- Integration with Connected DataProtector/SV enables customers

to leverage highly-scalable, easy-to-use PC backup

infrastructure for Windows file and print server backup

-- Solution is offered as a subscription service or licensed

software

-- Version 7.1 available now; enhanced version 7.5 available

first half 2004

Connected DataProtector/SV(TM) - Designed to easily and automatically protect data stored on Windows file and print servers in departments, workgroups and remote offices.

-- Easy to deploy and manage automated Windows server backup and

recovery

-- Ideal for file and print servers in remote, departmental and

workgroup settings; small and mid-size businesses

-- Integration with Connected DataProtector/PC allows Windows

servers to be automatically backed-up with same infrastructure

used to capture and recover PC data

-- Connected's patented data reduction technology makes Connected

DataProtector/SV much more scalable than competing products

(Windows servers can be efficiently backed-up to a single

Connected DataCenter server pair)

-- Solution to be offered as a subscription service or licensed

software

-- General availability first half 2004

Cross-Solution Integration -- Connected's "total control" will provide the easiest way to integrate, view and manage the protection, archiving and recovery processes across multiple sources and classes of distributed data. Connected's vision is to provide:

-- Integrated, modular platform for data protection, recovery and

archiving

-- Common management console 

-- Automated "stealthy" backup and archiving across platform and

data types

-- Powerful data reduction capabilities

-- Advanced compliance and security properties

For additional information and technical details on Connected's automated data protection, archiving and recovery solutions for distributed data, please visit: www.connected.com

Availability and Pricing

Connected DataProtector/PC 7.1 and MailStore 2.1, are available now. Connected DataProtector/SV will be available in the first half of 2004. The next major version of MailStore will become Connected ArchiveStore/EM. For more information and pricing please contact Connected Sales (1-800-934-0956) or [e-mail].

About Connected Corporation

Connected Corporation is the leading provider of storage software for automated protection, archiving and recovery of distributed data. The company's powerful, yet easy-to-use solutions help customers protect and centrally manage data from PCs, Windows servers and email systems, while eliminating costs and burdens associated with capturing and recovering highly distributed data. Customers range from mid-size businesses to more than 600 of the world's largest corporations, including Boeing, Deloitte & Touche, Deutsche Telekom, EDS, Hewlett-Packard, SAP, Schlumberger and Toyota. The company's solutions are offered as a subscription service or as licensed software. Connected is based in Framingham, Massachusetts, with multiple U.S. and international offices. For more information, visit http://www.connected.com or call 1-800-353-3078.

Connected, Connected DataProtector/PC, Connected DataProtector/SV, Connected ArchiveStore/EM, Delta Block and SendOnce are trademarks or registered trademarks of Connected Corporation. All other names and trademarks are the property of their respective holders.