TeleComputing Announces Its First Customer to Use Microsoft Office Online in ASP Rental Environment

TeleComputing Participating in Microsoft Office Online Pilot Program

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Nov. 9, 1999 - TeleComputing Inc., today announced its first customer to use Microsoft's new offering, Office Online and receive the Microsoft Office 2000 suite of applications on a rental basis (see related Microsoft announcement). Sterling Capital Ltd. in Baltimore will use Microsoft Office 2000 as part of a larger service offering for a fixed monthly fee while TeleComputing manages the applications remotely. TeleComputing's services are initially being rolled-out as part of a pilot program in the Mid-Atlantic region including Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C. In this model, TeleComputing takes responsibility for all customer computing needs, including the Office applications and the connectivity from TeleComputing's remote, secure data centers via high-speed networks. As part of the pilot program, TeleComputing will continue this program through the remainder of 1999, and roll the service out nationwide in the US and in Europe next year. 

"As a leading ASP, TeleComputing already has the infrastructure in place to offer Office as an application service and has begun working with customers to deploy Office to them over the Internet," said Steven Sinofsky, Vice President, Microsoft. "The addition of Office Online to TeleComputing's existing service offerings enables customers to receive a complete computing solution. We're excited to be working with TeleComputing to provide customers with another choice for using Office." 

"Together Microsoft and TeleComputing are making remotely-managed Office computing a reality," said Stephen Fragapane, CIO of Sterling Capital Ltd. "Now that we can have reliable and secure access to the computing services we know, love and need, we can finally use this ASP technology for our business advantage." 

TeleComputing will license Microsoft Office and bundle it as part of a complete computing solution that includes network management, first-line help desk support, and comprehensive application services. Customers pay a fixed, per-seat monthly fee for the service, which can also include other applications required by the company. 

"We are extremely pleased to be working with Microsoft in deploying its leading Office productivity suite to the desktop in this new and exciting delivery model. Almost all of our existing customers are using the Microsoft environment for their desktop productivity needs so this is a natural extension to our business model," said Jan Eigil Rydningen, president and CEO of TeleComputing. "This further reduces the complexity of computing for end-users and IT managers by allowing TeleComputing to manage important but non-strategic issues like licensing, upgrades, help desk and routine maintenance so that the IT staffs can focus on more strategic issues to improve their companies' competitiveness. And, by establishing an off-balance sheet model for how computing costs are accounted for, it frees up valuable capital for growing companies while reducing the total cost of ownership of a computing environment." 

TeleComputing's state-of-the-art data center in Vienna, Virginia is co-located with MCI/WorldCom's UUNet unit, directly connected to UUNet's high-speed Internet backbone. TeleComputing's Vienna data center will provide the ASP production infrastructure for delivery of the Windows-NT-based application services. The data center is built around TeleComputing's unique TECOS architecture, a standards-based software infrastructure specifically developed to enable server-based computing implementations to be delivered extremely reliably and with high levels of performance and security. All of the more than 80 applications the company supports go through a rigorous testing process that certifies them for use in the TECOS environment. As a result, TeleComputing guarantees its customers high-availability from the server to the desktop and printers, and its process is the only ASP model to be completely audited for secure information management processes by a third-party security auditor.

About TeleComputing

TeleComputing is the world's first and leading supplier of Windows application delivery and computing services that extend from server to the desktop. As a pioneering application service provider (ASP) in full production since early 1997, TeleComputing works to bring the benefits of enterprise-quality computing as a service to small and mid-sized businesses. TeleComputing's ASP service represents the next generation of IT outsourcing, incorporating server-based Windows desktops with application delivery, data archival, help desk, and managed network connectivity, all delivered to customers with a Service Level Agreement (SLA) for a fixed monthly fee. TeleComputing's high service level assurance is made possible by its TECOS software infrastructure for ASP operations. The company operates ASP services from three secure data centers internationally, supporting customers at over 200 locations in Europe and the U.S. Founded in Norway in 1997, TeleComputing opened its US headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1999, and co-located its U.S. server operations at MCI Worldcom's UUNET facility in Vienna, VA. In addition to strategic business partnerships with Microsoft, Compaq, Citrix Systems, Marimba and UUNET, TeleComputing has an extensive network of ASP value-added resellers (VARs) and system integrators that sell and support its services in North America and Europe. For more information on TeleComputing go to www.TeleComputing.net

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Telecomputing is a trademark and TECOS is a registered trademark of Telecomputing,Inc. All other trademarks referenced belong to their respective owners.