Alliance Creates Partnership To Deploy Solutions That Enable Real-Time Access Of Enterprise Data From Info Appliances - Company Business and Marketing

EDP Weekly's IT Monitor, Dec 4, 2000

Centura(R) Software Corp. (Nasdaq:CNTR), a provider of solutions that mobilize the enterprise, has entered into a regional strategic alliance with Powerlan Limited, (ASX:PWR), Australia's largest publicly listed IT services company and a leading supplier of end-to-end IT&T services throughout Asia Pacific. The combination of Centura's mobile application platform with the solutions offered by Powerlan will help to deliver production quality, cost-effective mobile data solutions, which can quickly and powerfully connect to enterprise systems and existing customer business logic. Partnering with Centura, Powerlan will now be able to help corporations succeed in the new economy by providing instant, secure, real-time access to the most up-to-date enterprise information, wirelessly. The collaboration of these two industry leaders will mark a new phase in the evolution and delivery of wireless enterprise data solutions.

Centura and Powerlan announced aggressive plans to become the region's pre-eminent supplier of solutions that mobilize the enterprise. Powerlan has committed to establishing a separate business consulting division that will focus solely on this fast growing market, with Centura investing the core enabling technology and associated support resources. Through the agreement, the two industry leaders will work closely together on R&D, while strategizing for the future of mobile technology. In addition, Centura is granting Powerlan preferred supplier status across the Asia Pacific region.

The online, server-centric nature of Centura's mobile application platform provides open access to multiple enterprise applications on the back-end with options for connecting various handheld devices, regardless of the operating system being used on the front-end. Moreover, its real-time direct access to the enterprise eliminates the risk of duplication and removes the need to maintain dynamic data locally on thousands of devices. As changes to enterprise data are made, they are immediately reflected on all devices. Coupled with the secure local data storage capabilities or Centura's ultra-small footprint embedded database for information appliances, the integrated solution provides Powerlan with a huge competitive advantage in this rapidly expanding market.