Telecomputing Announces Agreement With UUNET To Expand ASP Model; ASP Pioneer to Colocate At UUNET Data Center; Offer Hosted Applications to Reseller Sales Channel

Business Wire, July 12, 1999

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 12, 1999--

Telecomputing, Inc., the world's first provider of comprehensive computing and application services deployed from remote, secure data centers, today announced an agreement with UUNET, an MCI WorldCom company and a global leader in Internet communications solutions, as part of Telecomputing's launch of its services offering in the North American market (see accompanying release).

Under the terms of the agreement, Telecomputing's application hosting server-farm will be housed in UUNET's Vienna, Virginia data center, which is directly connected to UUNET's global IP network. Telecomputing will distribute a broad range of application hosting and computer service offerings, including UUNET's Internet access and Web hosting services, via a nationwide channel of resellers and systems integrators.

"UUNET's global Internet network will be a great benefit to our customers in North America," said Jostein Eikeland, founder of Telecomputing. "This agreement will allow us to provide U.S. businesses with high-quality, reliable computing and communications services."

In 1997, Telecomputing pioneered what has become known as the application service provider (ASP) model in Norway. As well as providing application hosting services - which allow the functionality required by users to be deployed over existing networks to any type of desktop device (PC, thin-client, etc.) - Telecomputing also manages the entire IT infrastructure for a fixed monthly cost. This lowers the overall cost of ownership when compared to traditional buy-and-maintain IT models.

UUNET will host more than 60 servers in its Vienna data center which Telecomputing will use to deploy application services to its North American customers. The facility includes over 500 Mbps of redundant connectivity to the UUNET network, while continuity of electrical power is ensured by uninterruptable power supply (U.P.S.), backed by a diesel generator. The data center is supported on a 24x7 basis by a centralized hosting operations center, on-site engineering resources, and security guard protection.

Telecomputing will provide service-level agreements to its customers in North America that guarantee 99.7% availability for accessing the applications hosted at the Vienna site. A team of local Telecomputing operations personnel operating a help desk facility near the Vienna data center will use Telecomputing's Code of Practice (COP), a 900-step operational guideline that has been independently audited by the company's security auditors, to ensure a consistent and high level of uptime and reliability. UUNET's Vienna site will be the main hosting center in North America for Telecomputing, and will be linked to its other data centers in Sweden and Norway.

A national network of resellers and systems integrators will serve as a front-line distribution and support channel for service offering packages from Telecomputing and UUNET. The channel partners will maintain the day-to-day account management of such customers, and provide first-line support for on-site technical issues.

"The application hosting model makes a great deal of sense from an economic and scalability standpoint," said Paul Fiore, director, channel development, UUNET. "It is consistent with the benefits we deliver to business customers through our value-added Internet communications services."

Telecomputing is the world's first and leading supplier of application hosting and computing services that extend from server to the desktop. As a pioneering application service provider (ASP) it has been successfully managing organization's IT operations since 1997, helping reduce IT costs and complexity while improving reliability, security and accessibility. The company's unique blend of technology infrastructure, proven methodologies, and full-service approach leverages the growing use of centralized server-based computing and sets it apart in this emerging industry. Founded in 1997 in Billingstad, Norway, Telecomputing now supports more than 50 customers at 180 locations throughout Europe. In 1999, it moved its worldwide headquarters to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where it also opened its first data center dedicated to North American customers. For more information on Telecomputing go to www.telecomputing.net.

Telecomputing is a trademark and TECOS is a registered trademark of Telecomputing, Inc. All other trademarks referenced belong to their respective owners.