OSIsoft Continues Enhancement of PI Server with Release 3.4.370; Development Effort Addresses Demands of Enterprise Applications

Business Wire, Oct 26, 2005

SAN LEANDRO, Calif. -- OSIsoft, the leader in performance management software, today announced the latest version of its PI Server 3.4.370. The PI System serves as the engine for OSIsoft's Real-time Performance Management (RtPM) Platform -- the core piece of technology that extends the real-time data from the plant floor to other areas of the enterprise.

"The need for timely information used for critical operational decision making is growing rapidly as companies move to a more business-centric manufacturing approach that stresses performance, agility and flexibility while providing the ability to capture higher-value market opportunities," said ARC Advisory Group Analyst Tom Fiske. "Performance-driven companies are recognizing the need and value of having high quality real-time visualization and analysis of information consistently available to a broad spectrum of users throughout the entire enterprise."

Features:

--Support for 64-bit computing -- many enterprise applications are moving from 32-bit to 64-bit operating systems to take advantage of greater virtual memory storage capacities and increased performance. The latest version of PI Server supports this feature to provide greater storage capacity to users.

--Faster archiving and hot backup support -- PI's high-performance data collection and distribution capabilities have been boosted in this release in addition to introducing a new "hot backup" capability. PI System backups can now be performed while the server is on-line and in service, thus eliminating downtime.

--Editing support -- administrators can now easily edit the definitions and classifications of the data being collected so that point maintenance is greatly simplified.

In addition, OSIsoft is introducing a license management feature that enables both customers and OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) to buy and enable new features without the necessity of reinstalling or upgrading the software version they have. A user or OEM simply receives a new license key and if the software is already present on the server, it will be activated. To help OSIsoft's customers during disaster recovery, OSIsoft can provide a temporary set of licenses to get them back up and running quickly with a new server in another safe location.

"The goal of our PI engine is to provide everyone in the enterprise with the accurate, timely information they need to manage critical situations, from production and maintenance to cost and quality control," said Michael Saucier, OSIsoft's vice president of Marketing. "As the performance and storage demands of the enterprise increase, we strive to keep our software development efforts in tune to meet those demands. We want to ensure that large, enterprise-wide rollouts of our RtPM Platform will support simultaneous access by business and technical users with no effect on system performance or response times."

PI Server 3.4.370 software underwent beta testing at several OSIsoft customer sites. According to one customer, the latest release makes it possible to "change the point type without the need of creating a new tag and without interruption of the logged data. The hot backup support also makes the backup unnoticeable for users. This was a high demand for our users, because we make backups frequently."

Customers who are current Software Reliance Program subscribers may learn about all the PI System 3.4.370 enhancements and download the new version at OSIsoft's support site (http://support.osisoft.com).

About OSIsoft

OSIsoft delivers performance management software to the world's leading process manufacturing, life sciences, and utility companies -- anywhere real-time operational metrics fuel performance. With more than 10,000 installations worldwide, OSIsoft's real-time data platform crosses IT and process boundaries to incorporate and display operational information. Providing comprehensive visibility into operations, the OSIsoft platform unlocks the potential for timely analysis and the ability to make critical, informed and profitable decisions.

Founded in 1980, OSIsoft, Inc. is headquartered in San Leandro, Calif., with operations worldwide and is privately-held.

Copyright (C) 2005 OSIsoft, Inc., all rights reserved. OSIsoft and the OSIsoft logo, and RtPM are trademarks of OSIsoft, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.