Hollinger Chicago Newspaper Groups to Benefit from Unisys Publishing Solution and Server Consolidation

Business Wire, Nov 18, 2004

BLUE BELL, Pa. -- Unisys Media Ensemble's Hermes 10.1 and Adobe(R) Creative Suite to Help 21 Newspapers by Providing Central Production System and More Creative Capabilities

Unisys Corporation (NYSE:UIS) today said that two Hollinger Chicago Group divisions, Fox Valley Publications (FVP) and Midwest Suburban Publishing (MSP) will implement the Unisys Media Ensemble editorial solution, Hermes 10.1 with Adobe(R) Creative Suite, to increase content sharing and flexibility across its publishing operations. The Unisys system will also centralize publishing for the organization's 21 newspapers. FVP and MSP are leading publishers in metropolitan and suburban Chicago and both are affiliates of the Sun Times Company.

Under the contract, the newspapers will benefit from workflow and productivity tools offered by News Content Manager, an integrated component of Media Ensemble that supports editorial creation and layout. This will enable significant production savings by improving the publishers' ability to share and distribute information, while reducing costs and helping them meet shorter deadlines to market in highly competitive areas. In addition, the newspapers will use Unisys News Gathering Manager (NGM) software, which allows users to easily collect information from sources such as wire agencies, remote reporters, e-mails, video, PDFs and the Internet. Unisys integration services and training will also help the editorial and IT staffs migrate to the new system.

With a total of 345 seats running on Windows and Apple Macintosh platforms, Hermes 10.1 will support FVP and MSP at their seven daily and 14 weekly publications, including The Beacon News, The Naperville Sun, The Herald News, The Courier News, The News Sun, The Daily Southtown, The Penny Saver and the Star and Sun weekly newspapers that cover the Chicago metropolitan area. Hermes 10.1 will be deployed from a single, centralized server cluster supporting the 345 newsroom and production personnel working at the geographically separate newspaper properties, allowing the publishers to facilitate content sharing and gain IT operating efficiencies by standardizing and consolidating technology platforms.

"While the list of selection criteria was lengthy, the final selection boiled down to two major components," said Jeff Kane, IT Director for FVP/MSP. "First, we needed a system that could handle a large number of distributed users in multiple locations. Second, we required a system that could provide the flexibility needed for our complex zoning. In addition, we wanted a system that was cross-platform so that our end-users could pick the client workstation they were most comfortable with. This was a strength that a number of the competitors could not provide.

"The central server concept will allow us to take advantage of the content we have available across both newspaper groups and provide us flexibility with our products that we did not have before," Kane continued. "It was also important for us to use off-the-shelf editing and design tools that were constantly enhanced and supported by a major player. Unisys proven ability to implement a system for large-scale use with an Adobe-integrated editorial suite fits the bill."

The multi-phased project will be implemented over a two-year period. The project comprises an enterprise-wide, centralized technology solution, including services, training, and software. Importantly, the Adobe CS software will be the exclusive text editor and layout tool, expanding use of Unisys Media Ensemble in the North American marketplace.

Unisys in the media industry

The evolving Unisys Media Ensemble suite of solutions, including Hermes 10.1, helps media companies reach the next levels of information delivery, content management and customer service. With 30 years of experience helping publishers meet dynamic business challenges, Unisys provides a comprehensive suite of editorial and media sales and advertising solutions to improve flagship publications, deliver content in multiple channels and accelerate both print and online production cycles. Unisys complements its solution portfolio with a wide range of consulting and outsourcing services. Unisys is implementing the Hermes 10.1 solution suite for a number of newspapers and magazines in Latin America, North America, Europe and Asia such as the The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.), Scranton Times (Scranton, Pa.), Group Poligrafici (Italy), Editora Abril (Brazil), and El Tiempo (Colombia). For more information, see http://www.unisys.com/media.> About Unisys

Unisys is a worldwide information technology services and solutions company. Our people combine expertise in consulting, systems integration, outsourcing, infrastructure and server technology with precision thinking and relentless execution to help clients, in more than 100 countries, quickly and efficiently achieve competitive advantage. For more information, visit www.unisys.com.

RELEASE NO.: 1118/8471

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