Attachmate Selected by Los Angeles Times to Support Online Subscriber Self-Service Website; 24/7 Access for Customers Saves Time and Resources

Business Wire, July 12, 2004

BELLEVUE, Wash. -- Attachmate Corporation, 20-year experts in legacy integration, announced that the Los Angeles Times has selected Attachmate(R) myEXTRA!(TM) Smart Connectors for 3270 to support its 24/7 online subscriber self-service website, www.myaccount.latimes.com.

The website, which was launched in November 2003, gives subscribers the convenience of an Internet-based account management system and enables them to schedule vacation stops, update billing and delivery addresses, request replacement copies, and review billing and payment history. The site can process up to 24 transactions per second.

In addition, the online service reduces the call volume into The Times' customer service center and helps lower call center operating costs.

In developing the website, The Times faced the challenge of how to make mainframe data "self-service" while keeping the host secure, and creating reusable services to meet future development goals -- without changing host code or reinventing the wheel.

Attachmate Smart Connectors were used to integrate legacy applications residing on The Times' IBM(R) OS/390 mainframe, thereby providing an easy-to-use tool for capturing transactions as callable services for reuse in application development on the BEA(R) WebLogic(R) platform. This allowed The Times to develop a Service-Oriented Architecture.

Anne Turner, senior project manager for circulation systems, said, "Online 24/7 self-service is essential for our subscribers. Our Web application handles subscriber requests in real-time and scales to accommodate high traffic levels -- without sacrificing security."

"Smart Connectors are ideal for enterprises with diverse hardware and software environments, such as the Los Angeles Times," explained Markus Nitschke, Attachmate VP of corporate marketing. "Organizations can easily extend their investments in valuable legacy systems to the Web, which ultimately benefits the customer."

The Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Times, a Tribune Publishing company, is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country and the winner of 35 Pulitzer Prizes, including five this year -- the second-largest yearly total in the history of the awards. The Times publishes five daily regional editions, including the Los Angeles metropolitan area, Orange and Ventura counties, the San Fernando Valley, and an Inland Empire edition covering Riverside and San Bernardino counties, as well as a National edition.

Attachmate

Attachmate is the only all-mainframe connectivity expert in the industry, with technology and services for worldwide enterprises to leverage valuable mainframe investments. A Microsoft(R) Gold Certified, BEA, Unisys(R), and Sun(TM) iForce(SM) partner, Attachmate delivers productivity-focused innovation to customers. Information: www.attachmate.com, or call 425-644-4010.

(C) 2004 Attachmate Corporation