Akonix Switches on Westar Energy to the Power of IM; Leading Energy Company Uses Akonix Products to Assure Compliance with IM Archiving Requirements Set by Sarbanes-Oxley, FERC and Others

Business Wire, Feb 7, 2005

SAN DIEGO -- Westar Energy, the largest electric energy provider in Kansas, has selected Akonix to provide enhanced security, compliance and management capabilities for instant messaging (IM) use across its enterprise. Implemented as a complete IM management solution, Akonix L7 Enterprise and Akonix Enforcer will help Westar Energy manage and use IM as a productive business tool for internal and external communications.

Having used IM to communicate in real-time with outside partners and customers, Westar Energy embraced the productivity benefits of IM immediately. The company also identified business concerns from unauthorized employee IM use. Being a public utility company, Westar Energy is required to log and archive certain of its IM conversations to meet government and industry requirements. Westar Energy was also concerned with security risks posed by IM use, including potential loss of proprietary information; the spread of spim (spam over IM), malware or viruses; and legal responsibility in the event of inappropriate material being sent or illegal P2P file sharing.

After a careful analysis of the leading IM management vendors, Westar Energy chose Akonix to support its enterprise-wide IM compliance, security and management needs. Akonix provided the following key benefits, which ultimately led to Westar Energy's selection:

--In-depth understanding of Westar Energy's specific business needs and attention to detail in supporting the pre-sales product evaluation

--Ability to provide logging, monitoring and archiving across public and enterprise IM systems, ensuring regulatory and legal compliance for all IM use from a single system

--Flexible, granular policy management system, meeting immediate management needs and future requirements as IM use grows

--Advanced security protection, for threats such as unauthorized file transfers, the use of inappropriate content or the spread of worms and other malicious code

"We knew that we would be facing both legal and security problems if we didn't closely monitor and manage employee IM use," said Randy Meinholdt, Software Systems Engineer at Westar Energy. "The combined solution of Akonix L7 Enterprise and Akonix Enforcer addressed every concern we outlined, from data protection to compliance with industry and government regulations. Akonix's undivided attention to customer service and product expertise made our decision very easy, and we look forward to a close working relationship for the long-term."

"Early technology adopters like Westar Energy already have a competitive advantage and are paving the way for instant messaging to become a critical business communications tool," said Peter Shaw, CEO at Akonix Systems. "It's our goal to solve IT managers' pain points, and Westar Energy needed advanced enterprise-class capabilities to effectively manage its IM use. In addition to meeting Westar Energy's, compliance, security and management needs, we're proud that Akonix was selected based on its unmatched technical expertise and service."

To learn more about Akonix L7 Enterprise or Akonix Enforcer, or for a free trial, please visit www.akonix.com.

About Westar Energy

Westar Energy, Inc. (NYSE:WR) is the largest consolidated electric utility in Kansas, providing electric service to more than 650,000 customers in the state. Westar Energy has nearly 6,000 megawatts of electric generation capacity and operates and coordinates more than 34,800 miles of electric distribution and transmission lines. For more information about Westar Energy, visit us on the Internet at www.wr.com.

About Akonix

Akonix is the leading provider of enterprise-class business solutions for leveraging the power of multi-network enterprise instant messaging. Akonix's award-winning products leverage patent-pending core technology, an advanced IM application development platform, and certified strategic partnerships to deliver multi-network management, security, integration and compliance capabilities across all major IM systems, including America Online(R) AIM and ICQ, Microsoft MSN, Yahoo! Messenger, Microsoft(R) Live Communications Server, Reuters Messaging, IBM Lotus Instant Messaging (Sametime) and Jabber.

More than 500 customers in Financial Services, Telecommunications, Energy, Technology, Healthcare and Entertainment depend on Akonix to manage, secure and enable IM for over 700,000 enterprise users. Akonix is the preferred IM management solution of some of the world's largest companies, including Cingular Wireless, EMC and ING.

Akonix is widely recognized as the technology and market innovator with awards for its L7 Enterprise IM gateway from Windows & .NET Magazine, Network World, eWeek, SC Magazine, PC Magazine and Red Herring. Akonix is backed by leading venture capital firms Menlo Ventures, Mission Ventures, Palomar Ventures and Windward Ventures, who collectively manage over $3.5 billion in capital.