Suncor Energy Selects Softricity's Software Virtualization for XP Migration

Softricity® today announced that Suncor Energy Inc. has selected Softricity's SoftGrid® application virtualization platform to expedite deployment and simplify management of 900 applications for all its 4,000 Canadian and U.S. employees. The deal was handled by Bell Canada-owned Charon Systems, a leading Canadian systems integrator and the only Softricity reseller in Canada.

"We want to migrate all Suncor users to Microsoft XP by the end of 2004. Our aim with this technology upgrade is to simplify and reduce the cost of ongoing application management, provide the flexibility needed for future growth, and enable us to ensure business continuity," said Doug Pelton, Suncor's director of IT infrastructure.

SoftGrid transforms Windows applications from products that must be installed and managed locally into virtual services that are centrally managed and deployed on-demand -- without any recoding -- to any desktop, server or laptop. SoftGrid's patented application virtualization technology enables applications to run in a protected "sandbox" environment without installation or alteration to the host operating system. This eliminates application conflicts and the need for time-consuming regression testing.

Suncor's XP migration plans include using Altiris® to deploy operating systems in conjunction with Softricity's SoftGrid, which will deploy and manage applications on both desktops and Citrix servers. Benefits include:


--  Reducing time to deploy applications from 40 to 4 hours

--  Support applications across all business areas.  By virtualizing
    applications, SoftGrid turns them into data files that can be treated --
    and replicated -- just like data, making them much easier to manage. This
    enables:

    o    Branch office support: any application update or patch added to a
    SoftGrid server at the main data center can be automatically replicated to
    branch office servers, which then deploy the change to local end-users in
    Colorado, Wyoming and throughout Canada.  This greatly reduces WAN traffic,
    and enables Suncor IT to update applications for its entire organization
    with one change to its central SoftGrid server.

    o    Seamless business continuity: If a branch office becomes unavailable,
    end-users can access their applications from other servers sitting at other
    branch offices. This not only provides dramatic time savings -- the
    alternative is to install application to each terminal server and desktop
    at a back-up site each time a change is made at the live site -- it also
    reduces end-user downtime to minutes instead of hours or days.

"As a leading Canadian information technology provider, Charon Systems is well aware that application management contains so many labor-intensive processes that it has become one of the most onerous, resource-draining parts of the IT infrastructure," said David Fung, President & CEO, Charon Systems, the company providing sequencing and ongoing service for Suncor's SoftGrid implementation. "By virtualizing applications to eliminate the most time-consuming aspects of application management, SoftGrid makes it simple to increase change management responsiveness to expedite deployment, upgrades, patches, and terminations -- enabling Suncor to run IT more cost effectively."

"We're pleased to add Suncor to the list of world-class organizations that are benefiting from SoftGrid," said Harry Ruda, CEO, Softricity. "It's great testament to Softricity's corporate progress that a company of Suncor's caliber is relying on SoftGrid for such a large-scale, time-sensitive migration, and committing to SoftGrid for long-term infrastructure management."

About Softricity:

Softricity® helps enterprises simplify and accelerate software management with SoftGrid, the industry's first application virtualization platform. The award-winning SoftGrid utility computing solution transforms applications from products that must be installed locally into virtual services that are centrally managed and deployed on-demand to any Windows desktop, laptop and Terminal Services/Citrix MetaFrame Presentation server. By eliminating application conflicts and regression testing, and increasing change management responsiveness, SoftGrid expedites deployment, upgrades, patches and terminations. Global 2000 companies such as Prudential, AIG, ABM Industries, and Raytheon use SoftGrid to save tremendous time and money, enhance IT service quality, and transform into more dynamic businesses. Softricity has a multiyear Strategic Alliance with Microsoft Corp., is a Microsoft Terminal Services Industry Partner and is a Premier Citrix Business Alliance Member. More information can be found at http://www.softricity.com.

About Charon Systems:

For over a decade, Charon Systems has been at the forefront of the information revolution, working with clients in all industries to help them leverage the strengths of IT investments, to optimize their business performance and produce value-driven results. As one of Canada's leading end-to-end information technology solution providers, and a Bell Canada company, Charon combines technology and business expertise with innovation, real-life experience, value, and flexibility -- partnering with clients as a trusted advisor, to deliver strategic, cost-efficient solutions that precisely meet and surpass their business and technology needs. More than 2,000 business and government organizations, both local and national, rely on Charon Systems to innovatively and effectively plan, build, integrate, consolidate, secure, and manage their IT infrastructures, using Charon's time proven best practices. For more information on Charon Systems, please visit www.charon.com.