Extensis, Inc. Press Release 31/03/04

Extensis Portfolio Server Sets the Bar for Instant Installation, Ease of Use and Affordability with Digital Asset Management Solutions

Enhanced collaboration and automated workflow features make organizing, finding and distributing digital assets across multiple workgroups easy and affordable.

Northampton, UK - March 31, 2004 - Extensis, Inc. today announced the upcoming release of Portfolio 7 Server, a leading digital asset management (DAM) solution that enables workgroups - from those in small-to-medium sized organizations to multiple workgroups in global 2000 companies - to organize, retrieve, repurpose, and distribute digital files quickly. Portfolio Server also provides controlled access to assets across departmental workgroups, opening the communication channel between distributed team members and partner networks, making asset management and collaboration easier and more efficient than ever before. 

“We’re hearing from customers that most DAM solutions are far too pricey and far too complex for what they need,” said Kevin Hurst, vice president of Marketing at Extensis.  “Organizations are realizing valuable benefits with Portfolio Server because it delivers exactly what customers are searching for: ‘must have’ DAM functionally at a fraction of the price of other solutions.”

For greater efficiency and real-time collaboration, Portfolio?s new AutoSync feature allows users to assign tasks to Portfolio Server, enabling automatic synchronization. This feature also offloads file management and processing to Portfolio Server, boosting the efficiency and availability of client systems. 

Dynamic distribution of and accessibility to Portfolio catalogs is attained with Portfolio?s new NetPublish Module, a dynamic, template-based tool that streamlines the process of publishing Portfolio content to the web. NetPublish Server brings the power of server-side JavaScript-based scripting, customizable templates, and real-time database access to a desktop or web server. With a simple, wizard-like interface, and using professional-quality templates, workgroups can build sites that include built-in file searching, collection baskets, low-resolution previews and batch-download capabilities. Advanced users can access and edit the underlying NetPublish templates to create fully customized websites.

?Companies are now feeling the ramifications of the recent asset explosion that has occurred over the last few years including growing management costs, difficulty finding content and critical stress on storage and workgroup productivity,? said Joshua Duhl, research director, Content Management and Rich Media at IDC. ?Organizations want solutions that offer big-ticket workgroup DAM features while meeting the needs of the workgroup without the long integration cycles, product complexity and enterprise-wide solution price tag. ? 

Companies with multi-workgroup installations of Portfolio Sever include: Bonneville Power Administration, Bureau of Land Management, Conair Corporation, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, MTV Networks, REI and Young & Rubicam, among others.

Portfolio Server offers more expandability and integration options with optimized connection modules for Microsoft SQL Server available now, and Oracle and MySQL engines available in July 2004. Portfolio Server leverages standard ODBC technology, enabling integrators and IT professionals to create customized solutions that provide easy access to the information stored in the database.

Portfolio also supports the ability to read information stored using industry standard metadata storage conventions such as IPTC, EXIF, and Adobe?s RDF-based XMP metadata standard. In addition to reading metadata from image files, Portfolio can also embed IPTC and XMP metadata directly back into JPEG, TIFF, and Adobe Photoshop PSD files, ensuring that critical information remains permanently attached to these assets, even when exported to other applications.

Pricing and Availability
Portfolio 7 Server for Windows will be available in April followed by a Mac version in May. Portfolio Server’s estimated street price is ?2099.95. NetPublish Server licenses can be purchased for an estimated street price of ?1199.95. SQL Connect for MSDE is available for ?2699.95. SQL Connect for Oracle 8i/9i/10 is available for ?4,499.95. SQL Connect for MS-SQL is available for ?4,499.95. SQL Connect for Oracle and MySQL will be shipping in July 2004. Visit http://www.extensis.com/portfolio for more information on this product.

System Requirements
Portfolio 7 Server will support Windows 2000, XP Home, XP Professional, Mac OS X, or Mac OS 10.2 and higher and QuickTime 6.4 or higher. Portfolio Server will support Windows 2000, 2003 Server, Mac OS X, or Mac OS 10.2 and higher.  Portfolio NetPublish requires Microsoft IIS Versions 5.1 or 6.0 and Apache 1.3 running on Mac OS X.

About Extensis, Inc.
Extensis Inc., a Celartem company, a leading provider of software solutions that empower digital asset creators and users. Extensis? award winning products are used by hundreds of Fortune 5000 companies and include: Portfolio for digital asset management and Suitcase and Font Reserve for font management. Extensis was founded in 1993 and is based in Portland, Oregon and the United Kingdom. Extensis is a wholly owned subsidiary of Celartem Technology USA Inc., a division of Celartem Technology Inc., Japan (Hercules: 4330). For additional information, please visit our website at http://www.extensis.com or call 01604 636300. 

About Celartem
Celartem Technology Inc. was established in 1996 to conduct research and development into storage and distribution technologies for digital images. It has developed, and sells VFZ technology, which allows digital images to be stored and distributed without any loss in resolution, and the Protected Archive Image Distribution System that allows digital images to be distributed over networks in a secure manner at original resolution. On December 11, 2001, Celartem was listed on the Osaka Securities Exchange, Hercules Market (Hercules: 4330). Please visit http://www.celartem.com for more information.