Percussion Software Introduces Rhythmyx 5.5, Extends Its Lead in the Mid-Tier ECM Market

WOBURN, Mass.--Oct. 2, 20045, 2004--

New Release Features Enhanced Support for Document Management, New Digital Asset Management and More Out-of-the-Box Functionality

Percussion Software today introduced version 5.5 of its Rhythmyx Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solution, a major new release that extends Percussion's leadership position in the ECM market for mid-tier enterprises. Rhythmyx 5.5 is tailored for organizations of any size that share the mid-tier market's need for the right balance between out-of-the-box functionality vs. customization requirements. Its new features deliver a more robust ECM solution, with faster time-to-value and higher ROI.

Among Rhythmyx 5.5's major new features are enhancements to the Document Management (DM) module, new Digital Asset Management (DAM) capabilities and the FastForward for WCM rapid implementation package. Other new Rhythmyx 5.5 features include the industry's first automated Text Extraction capability, WebDAV support and enhanced search and collaboration capabilities.

"Customer feedback clearly shows that ECM solutions designed for large enterprises cannot simply be downsized to meet the needs of the mid-tier enterprise market," said Andy Warzecha, senior vice president at META Group, a leading provider of information technology research, advisory services, and strategic consulting. "The mid-tier ECM market has its own distinct set of requirements, which include not only lower cost, but also quicker ROI in terms of ease-of-use, time-to-value, and manpower. Successfully addressing these mid-tier requirements means that ECM vendors must deliver rapid implementations, application functionality out-of-the-box, and lower services for implementations and ongoing administration. Moreover, as ECM evolves, mid-tier solutions must evolve with it, adding new core functionality in areas such as Document Management and Digital Asset Management that were once delivered as separate offerings."

Among the most important new features in Rhythmyx 5.5 are those that advance the way Rhythmyx handles unstructured content for both DM and DAM. These include:

-- The industry's first Text Extraction capability, which makes reusing content across multiple channels easier by unlocking the valuable information "trapped" in various file types. Text and meta-data can be extracted from over 200 file types for easy reuse in HTML, XML, PDFs and many other formats.

-- The new WebDAV Support enables rapid end-user adoption by allowing users to contribute content to Rhythmyx directly from familiar desktop tools, including Adobe PhotoShop, Macromedia Dreamweaver, Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, FrontPage and Project, and many other applications via Windows Web Folders.

-- The new Enhanced Search with the embedded Convera RetrievalWare technology offers the most advanced search capabilities, including concept, pattern and Boolean searching.

-- The new Collaboration Enhancements allow users to collaborate on Rhythmyx-managed content from portals, email and other applications. These include a universal link function allowing users to cut and paste links to Rhythmyx content into emails and other applications where work-in-progress is shared and discussed.

"Percussion's Rhythmyx 5.5 ECM is a practical, comprehensive solution for us, as our beta test has demonstrated," said Matt Petrie, eMarketing Manager of The MathWorks. "As a global company that serves many industries, we didn't want an enormous and costly ECM solution that could take a year or more to customize. We required rapid time-to-value, robust core capabilities delivered right out-of-the-box, and the ability to let our users continue working with their existing desktop applications, rather than forcing them to retrain. Rhythmyx 5.5 ECM strikes the balance we need between rapid implementation and customization."

New Digital Asset Management Capabilities

Rhythmyx 5.5 also introduces new Digital Asset Management capabilities that meet core DAM requirements. Rhythmyx's DAM capabilities include:

-- Seamless integration with popular DAM creation tools via WebDAV, including Adobe PhotoShop;

-- Indexing and searching of over 200 digital asset formats;

-- Extensive library services and complete meta-data management;

-- A unique Impact Analysis feature that enables organizations to understand all the places where an asset is being used; and,

-- A new Inline Image Editor.

Rhythmyx's new Inline Image Editor features more than 20 of the most common image manipulations without forcing users to leave Rhythmyx. It allows users to: re-size, blur, sharpen, change brightness, crop, rotate, change dimensions, and add text to digital assets. The Inline Image Editor also allows content contributors to watermark or copyright digital assets.

Bundled FastForward for WCM

Rhythmyx 5.5 comes bundled with FastForward for WCM, the prepackaged WCM implementation for Rhythmyx that enables users to get their sites under management rapidly, without sacrificing any of Rhythmyx's leading multi-site, multi-channel features. FastForward for WCM is the first of the Rhythmyx FastForward for ECM series.

FastForward and Rhythmyx 5.5's many other pre-built capabilities deliver real-time ROI, while its flexible customization capabilities allow customers to focus customization only on projects with measurable ROI, rather than on those that simply enable basic building block capabilities. FastForward for WCM includes: 10 pre-built content types; automatic list generation based on metadata; Microsoft Word support for rapid end user adoption; rich editing capabilities; Active Assembly(TM) to graphically manage related Web content; out-of-the box workflows to optimize approval processes; site folder publishing and managed navigation to support dynamic menuing, section pages, breadcrumbs and sitemaps.

"With Rhythmyx 5.5, we are further extending our lead in the mid-tier ECM market by providing the industry's strongest and most complete solution specifically designed for the mid-market - which we define by an organization's key content management needs, rather than by its size," said Barry Reynolds, president and CEO of Percussion Software. "Our enhanced document management module and new digital asset management capabilities, along with the bundling of our FastForward rapid implementation, enable us to meet mid-market needs, by delivering the features and functions that are most important to our customers: a more robust ECM solution 'out-of-the-box,' faster time-to-value and higher ROI."

Rhythmyx 5.5 also adds new browser support for Safari for Mac users and Mozilla Firefox for Windows users. Rhythmyx 5.5 supports Microsoft Windows, Red Hat Linux and Sun Solaris platforms and is available this month. Pricing varies depending on configuration, however a typical Rhythmyx 5.5 configuration starts at $95,000.

About Percussion Software

Percussion Software's family of practical software solutions enables customers to maximize both the value and quality of their enterprise content through cost-effective content management, ease of content reuse, optimized delivery to multiple channels and increased efficiency. The company's flagship product, Rhythmyx 5.5, based on open standards, is the first Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solution to provide cost-effective, multi-channel delivery of easily reusable content. Percussion's Lyrix 2 product, the first comprehensive Lotus Domino Content Integration solution, unlocks proprietary Domino content for reuse in other enterprise applications. Lyrix 2 builds on Percussion's Domino expertise, gained over the past 10 years from the company's line of award-winning and innovative Power Tools for Lotus Domino: Notrix, PowerFlow, and ServerAdmin Plus.

Percussion's portfolio of over 2,500 customers includes Fortune 1000 companies as well as other global, industry and public sector leaders, including Armstrong World Industries, Bank One, Bayer, Colgate, the FAA, Hitachi, HUD, IBM, ICI Paints, Intel, Jefferson Health System, MasterCard International, McKesson, Merck, MetLife, Motorola, Northrop Grumman, Prudential Insurance, Shell Chemical, the Dept. of State, 3M, Thrifty Car Rental, and Toshiba. Founded in 1994, Percussion Software is self-funded and profitable. More information can be found on the Web at www.percussion.com.

Percussion Software is a registered trademark and Rhythmyx, Active Assembly, De-Coupled Delivery and FastForward are trademarks of Percussion Software. All other registered trademarks and trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.