GraphOn Signs Licensing Deal with ASP Conglomerate Formed by Top Technology Leaders in Japan - GOJO

Business Wire, Feb 16, 2001

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

MORGAN HILL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 15, 2001

GraphOn (GOJO) Signs ASP and Reseller

Agreement to Web-Enable and Deliver

Mainstream Applications Throughout Japan

GraphOn Corporation, (Nasdaq:GOJO) (www.graphon.com), today announced is has signed a multimillion dollar licensing and distribution agreement with KitASP, an application service provider founded by Japan's electronics, infrastructure and industry leaders, NTTDATA, Omron, RICS, Toyo Engineering, and several other companies. KitASP will distribute GraphOn's web-enabling technology bundled with its ASP services in Japan and subsequently in other countries, and has also signed a multi-year agreement to resell GraphOn web-enabling software in Japan. KitASP offers a complete end-to-end package of hardware, software, and bandwidth to deliver popular business and productivity applications over the Internet securely and cost-effectively throughout Japan to the small to medium size enterprise and SOHO markets.

"Our relationship with KitASP and its prestigious members is the successful result of many months of negotiation," said GraphOn CEO and president, Walt Keller. "We are extremely pleased that KitASP has selected GraphOn as the provider of web-enabling technologies that will empower the company to position itself as a leader in Japan's migration to ASP-delivered applications."

Initially, KitASP plans to deliver productivity and management applications bundled with server hardware and network connectivity to Japan's enormous SME/SOHO market using GraphOn's Bridges software. Toyo Engineering, one of Japan's leading plant engineering and construction companies, with 39 offices worldwide, and 4,200 employees (consolidated basis), has formed an ASP, EPSource.com and plans to web-enable and deploy its project management, plant engineering and maintenance applications over the Internet using GraphOn software. In addition to EPSource, TEC is actively engaged in a wide variety of energy-related plant projects.

According to TEC Business Development Manager, Yoichi Nishi, "TEC and other industrial leaders are concerned about maintaining sustainable development, placing maximum emphasis on environmental preservation and human co-existence. GraphOn Bridges allows us to web-enable superior applications, such as complex simulations, analysis, and design/engineering CAD systems and others specially selected for ourselves and our customers, to ensure that TEC, as one of the members of the global community, shall contribute to environmental preservation by providing engineering services that are in harmony with the global environment."

KitASP partners have been seeking an alternative web-enabling technology that provides a flexible architecture, and could accommodate ASP needs for bundling with a wide variety of ASP services along with Windows, UNIX and Linux applications.

NTT DATA, Toyo Engineering, and other KitASP founding companies expect to become customers themselves of the ASP services using GraphOn web-enabling software, as well as providers of applications and technology used in the comprehensive KitASP hardware/software/bandwidth ASP package. Trend Micro will offer its network anti-virus and Internet content security solutions through the KitASP service.

"Our mission is to extend software deployment beyond the walls of the enterprise to users around the world," said president and CEO of the Research Institute for Computer Science (RICS), and vice president of the ASP Industry Consortium of Japan, Dr. Mr. Toshio Matsuda. "KitASP is offering an unparalleled system of servers, infrastructure, desktop appliances and applications to create what we believe to be the world's most versatile system for delivering business-critical and mainstream productivity applications that have been pre-enabled for the ASP model by GraphOn Bridges software."

"Japan is perfect for accelerated adoption of the ASP model without delay because of our advanced telecommunications infrastructure and focus on technology," said Dr. Matsuda. "GraphOn gives us the maximum flexibility and independence to deliver applications to a wide variety of network architectures, PCs and Internet-connected appliances."

"Having a system whereby various application software can be used as easily as turning on a tap of water without any special installation is significant as a social infrastructure system. This kind of mechanism is especially important for existing small medium enterprise and educational institutions where there is a large digital divide," said Mr. Katsuhito Okuno, Community ISS Division, NTT DATA, the systems integration arm of NTT Group, and the secretary general for the ASP Industry Consortium Japan. "GraphOn's web-enabling software allows us to use bandwidth efficiently and deploy applications to large numbers of workers in the most cost-effective and efficient way possible."

About GraphOn Corporation

GraphOn's award-winning Bridges software allows any display device to run any application over any type of connection, including low bandwidth, dial-up and wireless. GraphOn's products instantly web-enable any type of application, including Windows, Linux, and UNIX applications without any software modification. GraphOn's Bridges software provides organizations of all types complete freedom of choice today and in the future -- freedom in the choice of applications, operating systems, and connectivity framework, while achieving high performance and lower cost. GraphOn, which markets its solutions through OEM licenses to independent software vendors (ISVs), application service providers (ASPs), and system integrators, is headquartered in Silicon Valley and is traded on the Nasdaq under the ticker GOJO (Nasdaq:GOJO). For more information, please visit the company's web site at http://www.graphon.com.