Bellevue, WA - January 18, 1999 - DataChannel, Inc., the leader in two-way corporate portal infrastructure, today announced the immediate availability of the 3.2 version of DataChannel RIO, the company's flagship product. DataChannel RIO is an XML-enabled solution designed to build a dynamic two-way corporate portal with input (i.e. publishing) and output (i.e. retrieval) capabilities that make Intranets and Extranets easier to use, integrate, manage, and support. With this release, new features and functionality have been added to ensure smoother deployment in a secure environment, help better manage documents and integrate data. This newest release also represents the first implementation of the XML Java parser co-developed by Microsoft and DataChannel in a commercial product.

The 45-day trial can be downloaded at http:\\www.datachannel.com\download

"DataChannel RIO 3.2 was upgraded with DataChannel customers needs in mind. It allows for the easier management of corporate data," said David Pool, CEO of DataChannel. "DataChannel's goal is to empower corporations to prepare for the future by providing a standards-based XML-enabled strategy/solution to 'Webify' their architecture and distribute information based on their knowledge needs."

The need for a corporate portal
Corporations today are inundated with a wealth of information from different content sources: from legacy systems, to a variety of different databases systems, to multiple applications. In an August 28, 1998 Gartner Group Research Note titled "Portals: Not Just for the Internet," analyst Gene Phifer wrote, "The sheer volume of information contained on intranet Web sites is beginning to overwhelm enterprises. An Intranet portal will provide structure and organization to that data, turning data into information and information into knowledge. Providing an overlay structure relevant to the enterprise will be more effective than performing a traditional search to find information on the Internet."

Even further, DataChannel sees the corporate portal as being the starting point into a company's Intranet/Extranet and acts as an information hub aggregating links that connect users of the portal to relevant information sources. DataChannel RIO provides a personalized corporate portal that utilizes XML to organize and distribute customized information to its users. Using DataChannel RIO's Save to the Web(tm) technology, users can publish documents directly to a Web server without using the corporate Webmaster as an intermediary. Corporate data can be saved to channels and folders to be published and distributed with instant notification to the appropriate users in an efficient manner.

"Koch Industries has been a customer of DataChannel's since the 1.0 version of their flagship product. Their continual upgrade and enhancement of the product shows me that they are listening to Koch's mission-critical needs," said Dave Fletcher, Business Systems Analyst, Petroleum Group, Koch Industries. Koch Industries is the second largest privately held company in the US and has offered their commodities traders the flexibility and ease to re-aggregate and combine data, manage risks, and provide market data analysis using DataChannel RIO.

New Enhancements in DataChannel RIO 3.2 include:

• Extensible Security Architecture
  DataChannel RIO 3.2 provides an open security architecture that supports standard directory services; an API to access proprietary directory services; and integration of SSL support. It ensures that the right people see private information and that their user sessions are encrypted to protect data transfer. Additionally, DataChannel RIO can utilize existing security technologies such X-509 certificates and ADSI to make certificate-authenticated login and secure user sessions possible by leveraging existing security systems. As a result of this new security feature, businesses will save considerable development time and money and greatly reduce support costs in general.
• Extended Channel and Folder Capabilities
  Publishers can now assign URLs to Channels and Folders just as with items in previous versions of DataChannel RIO. This functionality provides greater flexibility for organizing information and simplifying navigation for end-users.
• Enhanced Content Management
  To help manage and preserve valuable server storage space, content owners can easily remove files that they have published from the storage locations they utilize with the upgraded Save to the Web capabilities. When the original publisher deletes a specific Channel, Folder, or Item, the associated documents or URLs are automatically removed from their storage location to free up needed server storage space.
• Includes the most advanced XML Java technology The latest release of the XML Java parser that has been co-developed by DataChannel and Microsoft extends XML processing capabilities to allow developers to access and manipulate data moved between applications across different platforms such as Unix, Linux and NT. It also allows for XML to be viewed through its XSL capabilities. The parser also allows corporations to prepare for future applications such as Office 2000.

DataChannel RIO core functionality includes: centralized administration and access control, instant content publishing, personalized distribution and notification.

Pricing & Availability
The 3.2 version of DataChannel RIO is immediately available by calling sales at 425.462.1999. A free 45-day trial download or CD can be requested by visiting www.datachannel.com/download or by calling sales at 425.462.1999. Pricing starts at $9, 500 for the DataChannel RIO server for Windows NT and $14,500 for DataChannel RIO for UNIX. Pricing varies according to the number of desktop supported and quantities purchased. Technical support is provided via telephone at 425. 974.4151, or via email at support@datachannel.com.

© 1999 DataChannel, Inc.