Hong Kong OGCIO Deploys SOA Solution from Actional for Government Web Services Exchange.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Actional Provides Critical Management and Security Infrastructure for Strategic e-Government Initiative

Actional Corporation, the leading provider of service-oriented architecture (SOA) enablement solutions, today announced that the Hong Kong Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) has selected and successfully deployed Actional SOA management software in support of the Hong Kong Web services exchange, part of a broad e-government initiative. The solution -- a joint effort by Actional, Getronics and HP Services -- is now in production and ensures the security and availability of the XML infrastructure that drives the exchange.

Since 1998, Hong Kong SAR has been implementing an aggressive e-government initiative to reduce costs and improve the experience of doing business with the government. The initiative targets all forms of government-related electronic communications, encompassing cross-agency interchanges as well as interactions with the private sector and individual citizens.

As a part of this overarching initiative, Hong Kong OGCIO -- the information technology arm of the Hong Kong government -- launched a comprehensive project to establish a Web services-based integration community. Implemented as a Web services exchange, the community facilitates the seamless flow of information between participants through open standards. Actional Looking Glass and Actional SOAPstation lie at the heart of the exchange and help to ensure the security, performance, availability and visibility of the services that drive the system. The system has been in operation since December 2004.

"Hong Kong OGCIO is leading the way in developing loosely coupled systems that enable governments to be more agile, efficient and responsive," said Actional CEO Tom Ryan. "Together with our partners Getronics and HP Services, we have delivered a solution that will prove to be a benchmark for SOA effectiveness and business value, enabling the reduction of integration costs while increasing the pace of change."

Key Project Requirements

Given the nature of the Web services exchange, and its mission criticality, Hong Kong OGCIO created rigorous requirements for the underlying software solutions including:

--Web services security

--Performance

--Self-service visibility

--Rapid problem resolution through root-cause analysis

--Extensibility and openness

The breadth and depth of Actional's solution has enabled Hong Kong OGCIO to move through these various requirements smoothly, providing security, visibility and rapid problem resolution through a comprehensive, yet modular, suite of products. With Actional, organizations can deploy the specific solution they need today, retaining the ability to seamlessly incorporate more functionality and technical capabilities as needs mature and requirements evolve from tactical to strategic.

"The government's objectives were aggressive, especially with regard to their adoption of standards and their stringent performance requirements," said Edvan Chan, Business Solution Director of Getronics. "During the evaluation, Actional proved its ability to meet or exceed expectations for enterprise-caliber performance and scalability, while providing the visibility, security and flexibility required."

With Web service implementations in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore, Actional has been doing business in Asia Pacific since 2002, and supports the Hong Kong government and other customers in the region with local support hours.

About Hong Kong OGCIO

The Hong Kong Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) is the government's advisor on information technology (IT) matters whose vision is to lead the government and facilitate the community in the development and the exemplary usage of IT. Their mission is to promote and enable the extensive adoption and use of IT in the government and the wider community, and to enable individuals, businesses and the government to interact easily and securely through the use of IT. The OGCIO, as part of the CITB under the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, is positioned to provide a visible and proactive leadership role for the Government and enhanced accountabilities for the Government's investment, strategies and performance in IT.

About Getronics

With approximately 22,000 employees in over 30 countries and ongoing revenues of EUR 2.4 billion, Getronics is one of the world's leading providers of vendor independent Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions and services. Getronics today combines the capabilities of the original Dutch company with those of Wang Global, acquired in 1999, and of the systems and services division of Olivetti. Getronics designs, integrates and manages ICT infrastructures and business solutions for many of the world's largest global and local companies and organizations, helping them maximize the value of their information technology investments. Getronics' headquarters are in Amsterdam, with regional offices in Boston and Singapore. Getronics' shares are traded on Euronext Amsterdam ('GTN').

About Actional

As a leading provider of SOA enablement solutions, Actional Corporation addresses the specific challenges of securing, deploying and managing service-oriented environments, from early Web services projects to enterprisewide SOA initiatives. Actional is the choice of leading organizations around the world including Boeing, Danish Immigration Service, Partners Healthcare, Thomson Prometric, MCI, Telstra, Travelers, University of Phoenix, the U.S. government and others, providing the SOA visibility and performance customers need to capitalize on the business value of their SOA. Actional is a privately held company based in Mountain View, Calif. www.actional.com

About Actional Products

Actional Looking Glass Server and Console enables IT to quickly visualize, understand, monitor and manage complex service networks. It provides a unified control point for global distribution of management and security policy, and gathers critical information about service activity from enforcement points (Actional's and others) throughout the service network.

Actional SOAPstation is an active Web services broker that insulates the interactions between applications the provide services and those that consume them. It also serves as an enforcement point for management and security policy.