| RICHARDSON, TX, February 8, 2000 -
Alibre, Inc., the first company to offer a mechanical design system marketed, sold and supported via the Internet, today announced that the Company has partnered with Punch Networks Corporation to offer online file management capabilities to Alibre Design customers. Punch Networks is a pioneer in Web-based file storage and collaboration services. Under the agreement, Alibre will provide the Punch WebGroups service as part of a family of generic collaborative solutions that complement the Alibre Design service, enabling customers to store, share and update files of any size and type on the Web. The WebGroups service will be co-branded and available to Alibre subscribers as Alibre WebTeams.
"Alibre and Punch Networks have successfully leveraged the Application Service Provider (ASP) business model to deliver robust business solutions on a pay-per-use or subscription basis," says Paul Grayson, President and CEO of Alibre, Inc. "Punch WebGroups complements the Alibre Design service with additional file storage, management and file synchronization capabilities that are critical to the collaborative design process."
Punch WebGroups is a Web-based file sharing and collaboration service that allows individuals or a community of users to securely access, share and automatically update any file using only a Web browser. The availability of the Alibre WebTeams service will provide Alibre Design customers with a central repository for generic documentation and project data, which must be accessible to geographically dispersed engineering teams at all times.
When a document is changed, WebTeams automatically sends an email notification to all other members of that WebTeam. Members can then download the newest version of the file directly to their machine from the Alibre WebTeams site. File synchronization assures that only the changes between file versions are uploaded and downloaded to the WebTeams in order to maximize bandwidth and provide users with a rapid response. This feature enables engineers to collaborate on the Web without being hindered by slow links. All files stored and accessed via Alibre WebTeams are protected using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption and password authentication.
Alibre Design is a collaborative mechanical design service based entirely on an Internet architecture. The system provides Real-time Team Modeling™ capabilities that enable teams of engineers and designers, regardless of location, to work on the same design simultaneously. Alibre Design provides secure design data sharing through workgroup data management capabilities such as file access control, check-in/check-out and revision management via the Internet. The service provides a full 3D parametric, feature-based solid modeler that can be used offline at essentially no charge. Alibre Design customers pay for the online collaborative design and data management services, not the modeler.
"This partnership is indicative of the trend among Global 2000 organizations in outsourcing application-specific IT functions in order to remain competitive and profitable in the new Internet economy," states the president and CEO of Punch Networks. "Alibre Design and Punch Networks are committed to increasing productivity and profitability within the mechanical design marketplace through enhanced communication, team collaboration and data sharing."
About Punch Networks Corporation
Founded by David Campbell in 1995, Punch Networks develops software products, services and technologies that help people effectively manage changing digital information. The company's first service, Punch WebGroups, lets anyone store, share and automatically update their files using just their Web browser. The Company offers WebGroups as a hosted service to business partners and to companies as an outsourced service.
For more information, visit the Punch Networks website at www.punchnetworks.com, email info@punchnetworks.com, or call (206) 343-7661.
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