---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Florida SunFlash SMCC AND XEROX TEAM UP TO OFFER DOCUMENT AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SOLUTION SunFLASH Vol 43 #20 July 1992 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Products Designed for Manufacturers, Utilities MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- July 28, 1992 -- Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation (SMCC) and Xerox Corporation announced today that they have signed a joint marketing and sales agreement to develop document and information management solutions and integration services targeted at the manufacturing and utilities industries. These solutions will combine SMCC's industry-leading SPARC-based workstations and servers with integration expertise and document/information management software applications from Xerox. Offerings will range from systems that help companies manage engineering documentation to materials resource planning (MRP) systems and facilities management systems. Xerox and SMCC expect at least $20 million in combined worldwide business by jointly selling their products into the manufacturing and utilities industries over the next 12 months. The agreement will leverage the respective strengths of SMCC and Xerox to help manufacturers and utilities move from proprietary host-based (minicomputer- or mainframe-based) computing environments to open, client-server schemes offering much greater productivity and lower cost. For example, manufacturers can use networked UNIX systems to decrease the time it takes to design products, build them and get them to market. For utilities, greater maintenance, safety and regulatory demands are creating a need for a more accurate, quick document management solution than exists today. Power companies are making significant investments in image and text retrieval technology for managing land records, converting and editing engineering drawings, handling the storage and retrieval of maintenance work orders and security logs and other functions. "With client-server computing, companies can process documents cheaper, faster and with fewer errors," said Scott McCready, principal with International Data Corp./Avante Technology, Inc. "The savings are tremendous, with an across-the-board 25 percent productivity improvement, and in some cases, up to 90 percent." Dataquest estimates that the worldwide market for open document management systems will reach $4 billion in 1992. Solutions from the SMCC/Xerox partnership can be integrated with existing networks, giving companies an affordable way to migrate to a more effective computing paradigm that can be employed throughout the enterprise while preserving their investments in equipment. Included in the integration services and collaborative document management applications from Xerox that will run on SMCC's SPARC/Solaris platform are: * Chess, an advanced MRP system that is migrating to a client- server architecture from a host-based environment; * Distributed document printing and plotting products; * DocuPlex, a flexible and powerful engineering document management system that stores engineering documents along with their interrelationships; * GlobalView, a family of powerful, easy-to-use software products for improving individual and work group productivity; * High-quality digital reproduction and "intelligent" scanning systems; * UIS (Utility Information System), a new automated facilities management system that integrates scanned raster, vector and database technology into a single document; * Xerox Data Services, a program that offers industry-standard conversion services, powerful raster and vector technologies, comprehensive raster services, document and map scanning and aperture card scanning services. The SMCC/Xerox Strategic Relationship Today's agreement is the latest of many collaborations between SMCC and Xerox. Since 1987, the two companies have teamed up to engineer, market and distribute a range of products, including GlobalView and DocuPlex. In 1990, Xerox signed a contract to purchase $200 million worth of Sun SPARC systems for resale and for use in Xerox's manufacturing operations through the mid 1990s. Xerox is an international company generating $14 billion in revenues from the document processing systems market. Document processing activities encompass developing, manufacturing, marketing, and servicing a complete range of document processing products designed to make offices more productive. For Press Information --------------------- Robert Manetta (415) 336-0979 Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation David Galante (716) 423-1158 Xerox Corporation ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ For information send mail to info-sunflash@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. Subscription requests should be sent to sunflash-request@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. Archives are on solar.nova.edu, paris.cs.miami.edu, uunet.uu.net, src.doc.ic.ac.uk and ftp.adelaide.edu.au All prices, availability, and other statements relating to Sun or third party products are valid in the U.S. only. Please contact your local Sales Representative for details of pricing and product availability in your region. Descriptions of, or references to products or publications within SunFlash does not imply an endorsement of that product or publication by Sun Microsystems. John McLaughlin, SunFlash editor, flash@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. (305) 776-7770.