SoftArc Showcases New FirstClass Intranet Server 5.5; Affordable Crossplatform Groupware Strong on Performance

Business Wire, Oct 26, 1998

MARKHAM, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 26, 1998--SoftArc., Inc., a leading provider of e-mail systems in education, is now shipping its new FirstClass Intranet Server (FCIS) 5.5, a cross-platform Intranet groupware product based upon SoftArc's FirstClass Intranet Server.

FCIS 5.5 uses state-of-the-art groupware for both LAN and Internet connections. FCIS 5.5 will be demonstrated during Cause '98 at Booth 1015 at the Washington State Convention & Trade center in Seattle.

FCIS 5.5 is the most practical, powerful multi-platform application with e-mail and intranet services in one package. It includes conferencing and collaboration areas, message history tracking, and real-time chat for online collaboration.

Emory University

Emory University is the largest FCIS 5.5 beta site in North America (http://learnlink.emory.edu). Emory's Atlanta campus is the hub for its LearnLink educational network. More than 750 classes, about 35% of all classes, are taught using FCIS 5.5, many in collaboration with other universities over the FCIS network.

A network of 16,200 users and 250 user groups generates 122,000 messages daily, including 22,000 e-mail messages. Web hits total 100 megabytes hourly, with 300 sessions held simultaneously during peak usage. The server handles eight gigabytes of traffic daily.

"Growth has been phenomenal, the system has doubled every year for the past six years," says Sean Murphy, Program Director for Emory's LearnLink. "The FCIS upgrades have taken care of growth and systems problems." He adds that 5.5 ranks as the most stable software he has ever run -- "it's a rock, even the server has been fantastically stable." Murphy has been beta testing FirstClass software since 1992.

In a performance/cost comparison, Murphy found that a LotusNotes server was only about 20% as efficient as the FCIS server. FCIS was three times as fast compared to Netscape on DGI or LotusNotes on AIX. Competitors' hardware/software packages often cost $500,000-$600,000, compared to FCIS 5.5's $5,000 price tag.

Emory has found FCIS to be the best way to combine low cost multiple-platform support, linking of multiple sites and desktop support. It's just about the most accepted server solution at the university." Murphy said. "Usability and ease of management put it at the top of our list -- it has few serious competitors. FCIS 5.5 is a complete cross-platform solution."

University of Maine-Orono

FCIS-based distance learning is growing rapidly throughout the state of Maine. The University of Maine's Orono campus (www.umit.maine.edu) is adding course-based material using FCIS. An early adopter of FCIS, Maine-Orono now totals 9,000 users and offers 300 classes online per semester. "We cover everything -- students' social life, faculty conferences, academic classes, student organizations, and administrative duties," said Michael Scott, the systems administrator. The TCP/IP based system includes 100 lines for remote access. "During the school year, we have 400-500 online simultaneous sessions going on, which would bog down other systems," Scott said. He doubts that other schools could replicate the system for the same expenditure without use of FCIS 5.5.

FCIS 5.5 requires less network investment and ongoing support than other groupware. The University of Maine at Orono found that its total cost over eight years, including hardware, software and the latest upgrade to FCIS 5.5, cost less that $100,000. "That's phenomenal for a system as widely used as critical as this one," Scott said.

Scott cites FCIS 5.5's ease of administration, efficiency, integration with the Web and support for Distance Learning. He says the groupware is unsurpassed in creating many environments that can be quickly tailored for any group and opinion at the university. He investigated other systems but says FCIS 5.5 "meets our needs and provides the level of system we need on one server. It just isn't possible with other systems."

Montana Educational Communications Network (METNET)

In Montana, FCIS 5.5 is deployed statewide in the Montana Educational Communications Network (METNET). More than 5,000 teachers, government employees and non-profit groups are linked over the state's 145,000 square miles. "FCIS 5.5 gives us one point to deposit data for both Web users and dialup users," says Steve Meredith, METNET's administrator. "It's incredibly easy to maintain and very fast over both the Internet and the Web. I see no delays." Meredith says that administration is virtually nonexistent, other than monitoring conferences.

The 15-node system includes an 800 number for those without Internet access. Using the FirstClass Client, teachers at all levels, from universities to elementary schools, develop message forms for scheduling, monthly calendaring and room booking, as well as lesson planning, inter-library loans, and course registration. Both Mac and Windows users easily post files to the Web without extensive knowledge of HTML. Teachers can create their own Web pages.

The site (www.metnet.mt.gov) recently won the Governor's Award for Excellence in performance, given for leadership and creativity in electronic communications technology. Meredith attributes the recognition to FCIS 5.5's ease of administration and the ability to create pages on the fly -- "agencies ask for a new directory of service, and its theirs in seconds."