Corporate Profile for Ziatech Corp., dated Sept. 17, 1999.

--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The following Corporate Profile is available for inclusion in your files. News releases for this client are distributed by Business Wire and also become part of the leading databases and online services, including all of the leading Internet-based services. -0-

Published Date:   Sept. 17, 1999

Company Name:     Ziatech Corp.

Address:          1050 Southwood Drive
                  San Luis Obispo, Calif. 93449

Main Telephone
 Number:          805/541-0488

Internet Home
 Page Address
  (URL)           www.ziatech.com

Chief Executive
 Officer:         Bert Forbes

Chief Financial
 Officer:         Jim Jurgens

Investor Relations
 Business number: 805/541-0488
 E-mail address:  [e-mail]

Public Relations
 Contact:         Phil Nash
 Business number: 805/782-4500 ext. 6044
 E-mail address:  [e-mail]

Industry:         Computers

Company description: Ziatech Corp. at a Glance:

-- Leading supplier of CompactPCI applied computing solutions for telecom, Internet and industrial automation applications.

-- Wide range of solutions for OEMs, from low-cost single-board computers to completely integrated systems for mission-critical applications.

-- Innovative technologies, including CompactNET multiprocessing and the Redundant Processor Architecture for high-availability systems, bring integrated solutions to system designers.

-- Creator and champion of two open computer architectures, STD 32, and CompactPCI, both of which received Innovation of the Year nominations from EDN Magazine.

-- CompactPCI computers named Product of the Year in Computer Telephony and CTI magazines.

-- Products meet international certification requirements; company is ISO 9001-certified.

-- Privately held company, established in 1976.

Company Overview

Ziatech (www.ziatech.com) is the leading innovator of applied computing solutions for companies designing high-performance systems for the telecommunications, Internet and industrial control industries. The company supplies Original Equipment Manufacturers with solutions ranging from low-cost, single-board computers to fully integrated systems designed for mission-critical applications.

Ziatech's products are based on two computer standards the company created, including CompactPCI, the architecture of choice for high-performance applications. An ISO 9001-certified company, Ziatech partners with premier contract manufacturers to build products that meet international certification requirements and the highest standards of quality.

With headquarters in San Luis Obispo, Ziatech operates a worldwide network of sales representatives and distributors, with offices throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. Ziatech is a privately held company established in 1976.

Applied Computing Products for Telecom and Internet Applications

Ziatech's applied computing products include the industry's best selection of CompactPCI CPU boards with Intel processors, peripheral components, platforms and development platforms. A wide selection of development tools, operating systems and real-time software streamlines the integration and application of this comprehensive product line.

Ziatech's development system platforms enable customers to quickly design reliable computing solutions. Ziatech leadership technologies include integrated multiprocessing systems, and the industry's first Redundant Processor Architecture to facilitate CompactPCI high-availability computing.

Design Experience and Key Industry Partnerships

Ziatech supplements its extensive product offerings with superior design expertise fine-tuned through the creation of two embedded computing standards and more than two decades serving OEM computing requirements. Ziatech's Value Added Business program crafts partnerships with leading suppliers of high-performance network, communications and other specialty interfaces, bringing complete solutions to the company's customers.

Software Support, Choices and Expertise

Ziatech applied computing solutions include support for several standard operating systems and real time operating systems, including but not limited to Microsoft's Windows NT, MontaVista Software's Hard Hat Linux, Wind River Systems' VxWorks and QNX Software's QNX. Ziatech's software expertise also extends to leadership technologies such as multiprocessing and high availability, where Ziatech's software contribution helps to provide completely integrated solutions.

Quality Design and Manufacturing

Ziatech's commitment to quality begins with the careful design practices computer users expect of an ISO 9001-certified company that has authored two computer standards. State-of-the-art facilities produce Ziatech computer products that are designed to ISO 9000 standards and are managed by Ziatech's SAP R/3 enterprisewide information system. Ziatech tests its products using stringent criteria that monitor both hardware performance and compliance with major operating systems. Ziatech offers a five-year warranty on standard products it manufactures (see the warranty statement on the company's Web site for complete information).

Customer Support

Ranked No. 1 in a survey of computer suppliers by a major industry publication, Ziatech's technical support department provides comprehensive assistance to its customers. Technical training, real-world experience and powerful knowledge-based software allow factory support engineers and field application engineers to help customers quickly diagnose and resolve product issues. Staffed solely by engineers with technical degrees, Ziatech support services include online support, onsite visits, onsite training and a series of technical seminars designed to share the company's applied computing expertise with customers.

Applied Computing Customers and Markets

Ziatech customers include the established leaders in the telecommunications and computer telephony industries and innovative start-up companies hastening the convergence of voice and data communications. Ziatech CompactPCI computers automate high-performance ATM switches, traditional PBX systems, DSL platforms, Web servers and countless other communications applications.

Applied Computing Products: Continuing a Tradition of Innovation

Driven by the needs of OEMs serving dynamic growth markets, Ziatech fosters a tradition of innovation that began with the company's first product in 1976. Nowhere is this innovation more evident than in the company's development and continued enhancement of the CompactPCI architecture. Ziatech offers the industry's most comprehensive product line of CompactPCI computers, a bus architecture it created in 1994 and submitted to the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers' Group (PICMG) to expedite its acceptance as an open standard. CompactPCI combines the performance of PCI bus-based systems, the reliability of the Eurocard packaging standard, and the flexibility of PC operating system solutions. This combination of features has made CompactPCI the leading open architecture solution for telecommunications applications.

Products Tuned for Telecom, Telephony, Internet

The open CompactPCI architecture supports key communications industry requirements such as the computer telephony bus, high availability, NEBS-compliance, and hot swap, making this Ziatech innovation a popular choice of companies developing the new telecommunications and Internet infrastructures. The creation of this technology earned Ziatech an "Innovation of the Year" nomination from EDN Magazine, and special recognition from PICMG, the association that governs the CompactPCI specification.

Recent Product "Firsts" from Ziatech

The company continues to enhance the CompactPCI architecture by being the first to bring the fastest Intel processors to market, and through innovations such as hot swap, multiprocessing and high availability. Recent Ziatech CompactPCI innovations are listed below.

-- Ziatech introduced the first Intel Pentium III processor on the CompactPCI bus, further expanding the company's industry-leading supply of CompactPCI CPU boards exclusively featuring the Intel Architecture.

-- Ziatech helped to develop bridge chip technology to facilitate a standard hot swap solution for the removal of peripheral cards from "live" systems, a technology it was the first to demonstrate.

-- Ziatech has followed its announcement of CompactNET, the first complete multiprocessing solution for CompactPCI, by taking a leadership role in the PICMG committee standardizing a CompactPCI multiprocessing approach. The company released the source code of its Linux drivers for CompactNET, available via download on http://www.compactnet.com. CompactNET was recently awarded Product of the Year by Computer Telephony Magazine, a key technical publication covering the converging computer and communications markets.

-- Ziatech introduced the first high availability (HA) system based on redundant Intel processor technology, an innovation also honored by Computer Telephony Magazine. Ziatech is working with PICMG to help establish HA standards.

STD 32 Product Line: Serving the Industrial Automation Market

Ziatech serves a wide variety of industrial control applications through another computer standard it created, the STD 32 Bus. Developed by Ziatech in 1989 as a superset of the original STD Bus, STD 32 is a 32-bit computer standard with a small format and enormous flexibility.

STD 32 computers are found in a wide range of applications, including telecommunications, transportation, industrial automation, semiconductor manufacturing, and medical instrumentation. STD 32 is based primarily on Intel-type processors, ranging from the 8088 CPU to the latest Pentium processor with MMX technology.

STD 32 runs PC operating systems and software, and offers a wide variety of product choices, including CPUs, peripherals, industrial I/O, enclosures, and complete systems. Ziatech has continued to enhance the STD 32 standard through the development of multiprocessing, hot swap, and other technologies. STD 32 is an open standard, administered jointly by a group of companies through the STD 32 Manufacturers' Group (805/786-4103).

Ziatech History

Bert and Candace Forbes founded Ziatech in Cupertino, Calif., in 1976. The privately held company's initial product was the first IEEE 488 interface for microcomputers, a product that established Ziatech's tradition of innovation. In the late 1970s, the company expanded its product line beyond IEEE 488 interfaces to include a number of board-level computer products based on the STD Bus. The company headquarters moved to San Luis Obispo in 1979, where the company has enjoyed steady growth, and expanded to include more than 165 employees throughout the world.

During this period of growth the company has expanded its product line, while creating and championing two popular embedding computing standards, STD 32 and CompactPCI. Ziatech's history includes a tradition of practical innovations designed to meet the needs of its customers. This philosophy has led to the introduction of several industry firsts, including:

-- The first Pentium III processor on the CompactPCI platform -- The first complete multiprocessing system on CompactPCI -- The first redundant processor architecture on CompactPCI -- The first demonstration of hot swap on CompactPCI -- The first specifications and complete products for CompactPCI

and STD 32 -- The first implementation of hot swap and multiprocessing on

the STD 32 Bus -- The first implementation of PC DOS on an industrial computer -- The first IEEE 488 interfaces for MULTIBUS, STD Bus and PC

Computers

Contact Information

For more information concerning Ziatech, contact Phil Nash, Manager, Public Relations, (805/782-4500 ext. 6044; [e-mail]), or visit Ziatech's Web site at www.ziatech.com.