Wyse® Technology Announces Rapport 3.0 Thin Appliance Management Software

Major New Release Of Rapport Extends Company's Vision Of Creating A Software Infrastructure Capable Of Managing Any Device, Anywhere In The World

San Jose, CA – 03/19/2001 - Wyse® Technology, the worldwide leader in thin-appliance computing, today announced the availability of Wyse® Rapport 3.0, the industry's most powerful thin-appliance management software. Wyse Rapport 3.0 is capable of managing more devices than any thin-appliance management software on the market today, including Wyse's own Winterm™ 3000 and 8000 series thin appliances, NetXpress thin appliances from Netier Technologies and thin appliances sold by Wyse's large number of OEM customers, including Compaq, HP, Data General, Unisys and others. The delivery of Wyse Rapport 3.0 is the next step towards the company's vision of creating a software infrastructure that will not only manage thin appliances, but eventually the new devices that surround business and consumers in an increasingly digital world.

Wyse ignited the global explosion of "thin" appliances with the delivery of the first thin client, the Wyse Winterm Windows® Terminal, in 1994. This led to the debut of other breakthrough "thin" devices, such as fixed-function consumer Internet appliances, web phones and enhanced PDAs. Wyse has a vision where new "thin" information appliances will touch virtually every aspect of our day-to-day lives, and emerge as part of the popular culture. Rapport will provide the software infrastructure to manage these myriad devices, beginning in the enterprise and one day reaching the consumer.

"Wyse is building the next chapter in its evolution as we not only deliver the world's most widely used thin appliances, but also the complementary software infrastructure enabling businesses and consumers to eliminate the burden of managing a broad spectrum of related thin devices," said Jeff McNaught, vice president of customer marketing for Wyse Technology. "Wyse is committed to delivering complete thin-appliance solutions designed to ease many of the day-to-day pains experienced at all levels of IT, from CIOs looking for more cost effective IT solutions, all the way to the network administrator looking to simplify his or her day-to-day job."

Wyse Rapport - A Management Class Of Its Own

Whether a business wants to manage 100 thin appliances in one location, or tens of thousands of thin appliances over remote locations, Wyse's Rapport software sets new standards for ease-of-installation and use, scalability and performance. Wyse Rapport 3.0 was designed as a snap-in for Microsoft® Management Console, providing a familiar look and feel that simplifies usability, and helpful install wizards make deploying Rapport easier than existing management software. Wyse Rapport features extensive reporting to help IT professionals easily track the success or failure of any scheduled event. Wyse Rapport has three key features that help the product step out from the pack in thin-appliance management software: Grouping, Scheduling and Scalability.

Grouping - By organizing devices into a user-configurable hierarchy of groups, Rapport helps simplify and streamline thin appliance management. Instead of picking devices out of a list of thousands each time an administrator wants to perform a task, terminals can be put into named groups (example; store 102 or California), and with a simple drag-and-drop, tasks are executed.

Scheduling - Network administrators must monitor their network traffic and be able to determine the best times to conduct updates to desktop devices. With the Rapport scheduling feature, administrators can schedule upgrades to automatically take place after hours or during times of minimal network demand, minimizing impact on an end-user's network bandwidth and productivity.

Scalability - With Wyse and Wyse's OEM partners currently delivering thin-appliance deployments scaling into the tens of thousands of devices, Rapport is bridging the gap between expensive, difficult to use network management applications and underpowered thin appliance management tools.

Wyse Rapport - Unmatched Enterprise Management

Wyse has focused on four key areas that cause the most pain and incur the most cost for today's businesses. These areas are Software Distribution, Device Diagnostics, Device Configuration and Asset Management.

Software Distribution - Rapport enables network administrators the ability to replace all of the software that resides on a thin appliance, or update specific applications on a device; for instance updating a browser to a newer version. Wyse Rapport enables software updates to tens of thousands of thin appliances from a central location with the click of a mouse.

Device Diagnostics - Rapport helps track the service history of each device, enabling network administrators to remotely diagnose problems that a user might be experiencing. For instance, if a user is not using the latest version of a browser, the network administrator can determine why the device did not automatically update the night before, and create a solution to the problem without ever visiting the desktop.

Device Configuration - Rapport delivers this hands-free device configuration capability to network administrators. One of the most important benefits of thin appliances is they are designed to work with little or no maintenance from the user. To support this, network administrators must be able to adjust settings for a device, telling the device where to connect, what permissions the user has, what applications that user has access to or adjust the user's desktop look and feel.

Asset Management - In order for IT professionals to effectively manage their devices and efficiently plan upgrades, they must be able to track asset information on their networks. Asset information includes not only the number and types of devices, but specific information about each device, such as amount of RAM and Flash memory, software load, operating system type and version, serial number, operating characteristics and device location. Rapport provides a view of each appliance on the network.

Pricing for Rapport 3.0

Wyse Rapport 3.0 is being delivered in two versions: workgroups edition (up to 200 users) and enterprise edition (200 or more users). Pricing for Wyse Rapport 3.0 is $15 per seat for the workgroups edition, and $30 per seat for the enterprise edition. Orders can be placed via wyse.com at www.wyse.com/products/software.

About Wyse Technology

Wyse Technology is the global leader in Cloud Client Computing. The Wyse portfolio includes industry-leading thin, zero and cloud PC client solutions with advanced management, desktop virtualization and cloud software supporting desktops, laptops and next generation mobile devices. Cloud client computing replaces the outdated computing model of the unsecure, unreliable, energy-intensive and expensive PC, all while delivering lower TCO and a superior user experience. Wyse has shipped more than 20 million units and has over 200 million people interacting with their products each day, enabling the leading private, public, hybrid and government cloud implementations worldwide. Wyse partners with industry-leading IT vendors, including Cisco®, Citrix®, IBM®, Microsoft, and VMware® as well as globally-recognized distribution and service partners. Wyse is headquartered in San Jose, California, U.S.A., with offices worldwide.

For more information, visit the Wyse website at http://www.wyse.com or call 1-800-GET-WYSE.

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