PLUM Plumtree Software (MM)

More Than 725 Attendees Learn to "Create. Connect. Collaborate." at Sixth Annual User and Advanced Developer Conference (ADC) Plumtree Software (Nasdaq:PLUM) today unveiled its sixth-generation product suite, Plumtree Application Suite G6, at its annual Odyssey+ADC 2005 conference. The new product suite, which is now generally available, will enable organizations to deliver information to a single audience; collaborate with employees, customers and partners; and build applications more quickly at lower cost. Plumtree Application Suite G6 empowers organizations to streamline operations and processes, meet changing business needs and integrate existing systems and resources, ultimately helping them save money, improve business processes and increase productivity. Plumtree also announced new versions of several products, including: -- Plumtree Foundation: Plumtree's flagship product, which customers use as a framework for deploying portals and applications; -- Plumtree Process: used by customers to automate, manage and optimize dynamic business processes spanning people and systems to improve efficiency; -- Plumtree Collaboration: used by customers to create online workspaces where users share tasks, calendars, discussions and documents. Developers integrate those same features into applications deployed on Plumtree Foundation (Please refer to the following product backgrounder for more information. Additionally, visit www.plumtree.com/G6/PR/ to register for a Plumtree G6 product webinar or download the Plumtree G6 white paper.) In a separate press release, Plumtree today announced its upcoming release of a new application for the retail industry called High Performance Store Management (HiPer). The application will help retail companies improve the execution and measurement of corporate objectives by their stores and network of franchises. HiPer will be available in Q4, 2005. Customers, Executives, Developers Gather to Discuss Best Practices and Strategies Also today, Plumtree opened Odyssey+ADC 2005, its sixth annual user conference and second annual developer conference. This year's "Create. Connect. Collaborate." theme embodies Plumtree's ongoing mission to create composite applications that connect systems and people for collaboration within business processes. It also reinforces the role the portal plays as the linchpin of a service-oriented architecture (SOA) strategy to help enterprises solve application integration challenges. "We are always excited to share Plumtree's technology innovations with our customers and partners. This year's announcements at Odyssey+ADC 2005 are especially notable as they signify the next stage in the evolution of our platform, from a portal for assembling and presenting information to a foundation for creating process-driven applications to help solve complex, extended-enterprise business challenges," said John Kunze, chief executive officer of Plumtree Software. "Our solutions have demonstrated their ability to integrate information, IT systems and people. Plumtree Application Suite G6 extends these capabilities by adding a powerful process management engine for orchestrating the suite into Web applications that streamline collaborative business processes. The combination of portal framework, business process management, and collaborative and knowledge management tools provides our customers with a unique environment for tackling tricky business challenges." During the three-day event, hundreds of Plumtree customers, including Aflac, Casino Group, International Aero Engines, Weyerhaeuser and U.S. Geological Survey will share how their Plumtree-powered deployments resulted in a significant return on investment (ROI). Keynote presentations will be given by: -- John Kunze, chief executive officer of Plumtree Software -- Paul Ciandrini, president and chief operating officer of Plumtree Software -- Mark Carges, chief technology officer of BEA Systems -- Michael Czinege, senior vice president and chief information officer of Applebee's International -- Jim Malone, vice president of sales and marketing of The Babcock & Wilcox Company -- Colin Karsten, director of information service programs, Pratt & Whitney -- Will Kaser, senior vice president, multi-channel banking systems of SunTrust Banks Additionally, Plumtree customer, The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W), will reveal a new Sales Process Accelerator that was developed by Plumtree's "Extreme Makeover" team using the new Plumtree Process and Collaboration products. In just five weeks, Plumtree consultants and user interface experts transformed the company's sales application into an advanced system for mapping sales process activities with best-practice approaches. "We're excited about this new application because it will help streamline our sales process and ensure consistency among the sales organization," said Penny Sherrod, director, enterprise systems at B&W. "It will also help to establish a best-practice approach to selling, which we believe will enable us to be even more responsive to our customers." Developers participating in ADC will have their own conference tracks, along with a hands-on developer lab and "Booth of Pain," where Plumtree partners square-off against each other to build a composite application in real-time. The event gives attendees the opportunity to meet with Plumtree's strategic partners, participate in business and technical sessions and gain insight into Plumtree's vision for G6 product development. As a part of Plumtree's Partner Showcase, partners including Project Performance Corporation, Enterpulse, Theoris Vision, Fuego and others will educate end-users on how to build more powerful applications. "Plumtree's collaborative applications platform is a critical driver in helping companies transition to service-oriented architectures and we believe our customers are leading the charge," said Kunze. "Odyssey+ADC 2005 is the forum in which attendees learn the critical role our new generation of portal technology will play in connecting people, systems and information to create the next generation of enterprise applications." PRODUCT BACKGROUNDER Plumtree Application Suite G6 Plumtree Application Suite G6 is an integrated solution to enable organizations to cost-effectively build and deploy portals, collaborative communities and composite applications in both J2EE and .NET environments. This sixth-generation portal solution enables employees, partners and customers to work together in new ways to meet the changing needs and goals of organizations and make business processes more efficient and agile. Plumtree's G6 products are available in three packaged suites to best fit customer solution needs: the Plumtree Portal Suite, Plumtree Community Suite and Plumtree Application Suite. Plumtree Portal Suite delivers proven software for deploying rich enterprise portals and transforms scattered content and complex systems into simple, meaningful experiences every user in the enterprise can understand. The portal suite provides advanced integration software for connecting to the enterprise systems that manage user identities, content and data to unlock these resources for a broader audience. Products included in the Portal Suite are Plumtree Foundation, Search, Analytics and Integration Services. Plumtree Community Suite is an integrated software environment for deploying collaborative applications for communities of users, uniting users around common goals and objectives and providing collaborative tools for them to work more efficiently as teams. The suite combines collaboration, publishing and workflow and technologies, integrated into a portal and application deployment framework. Products included in the Community Suite are Plumtree Foundation, Search, Collaboration, Publisher, Analytics and Integration Services. Plumtree Application Suite provides a rich foundation for organizations to create and deploy composite applications that streamline business processes requiring coordination among users and systems. The suite provides a critical new layer of infrastructure software for connecting existing back-end systems using Web services. Organizations use the suite to address business process inefficiencies that have historically required expensive and time-consuming custom software development. Products included in the Application Suite are Plumtree Foundation, Process, Search, Collaboration, Publisher, Analytics, Studio and Integration Services. New Plumtree Products Announced Today Plumtree Process Most portal products support workflow today, however few are taking steps toward process orchestration. Plumtree Process is a critical new product for Business Process Management (BPM) within the Plumtree Application Suite. The product helps enterprises deploy composite applications that coordinate user activities and system integration within a business process. Benefits: Using Plumtree Process, customers can model, design and deploy a business process spanning silos of systems, such as human resources, finance, and sales and marketing, to reduce inefficiencies and automate manual tasks. Organizations deploying applications with Plumtree Process attain repeatable and predictable process and compliance execution that ultimately help lower operating and IT costs, improve user effectiveness and productivity and increase organizational agility. Plumtree Foundation Many organizations are faced with poorly-integrated systems, mixed technologies and platforms and constrained IT resources. Plumtree Foundation (formerly Plumtree Corporate Portal) helps solve these challenges by providing Web integration and interface services for all Plumtree solutions. Foundation supports cross-platform (Java and .NET) integration and connects multiple users, processes and existing systems in one easy-to-use portal framework. Benefits: Organizations can deploy valuable business applications more quickly and at lower cost. Based on Web services integration, Foundation enables users to personalize content within business processes, assemble communities of users working on common objectives, organizes existing content from across the enterprise and makes all information searchable. Key new features include support for Linux and AIX, advanced user experiences, dynamic groups, credential vault, full-managed code base, easier information access and extensive improvements to developer technologies. Plumtree Collaboration Disconnected teams and poor communication often slow progress on projects and business initiatives. However, Plumtree Collaboration allows team members throughout the extended-enterprise to work together via the Web easily and efficiently. Designed to support collaboration as a part of daily work, Plumtree Collaboration offers equal integration with enterprise systems, Microsoft Office tools and a Web portal. Benefits: Employees, partners and customers can share and manage documents and project information, engage in online discussions and coordinate through notifications and synchronized calendars. Key new features include new e-mail collaboration, bulk publishing, customizable projects, zip download, a recycle bin and usability enhancements. Also, more platform and infrastructure choices are available for customers with the addition of Linux operating systems and the Firefox browser. Current Plumtree Products Upgraded For G6 The entire portfolio of Plumtree products has been upgraded to support the G6 product suite, including: Plumtree Analytics collects information on activity within a portal deployment helping administrators and community owners respond better to user needs and measure ROI. Plumtree Developer Kit (PDK) includes APIs, documentation and sample code for developers to build Web services for deep integration into enterprise systems and repositories. The PDK installs within Java and .NET development environments to ease the development of identity, content and data integration services. Plumtree Publisher enables everyday users to create and distribute new Web content, keeping portals and composite applications up-to-date and fresh. Plumtree Search indexes all of the resources accessible through the portal pages, communities and applications deployed across the enterprise making it easy for users to find the information they're looking for. Plumtree Studio allows business users and portal administrators to create their own simple Web applications, such as telephone lists, work orders, calendars and surveys without the need for coding by IT or highly-skilled developers. About Plumtree Software Plumtree Software provides enterprise solutions for organizations to create portals, communities and composite applications in both Java and .NET. Organizations rely on Plumtree's solutions to connect existing systems with people, enabling employees, customers and partners to collaborate more efficiently within a business process. Plumtree has over 22 million users worldwide, including customers such as Airbus, Pratt & Whitney, Mazda and U.S. Navy. For more information, visit www.plumtree.com. Plumtree is a registered trademark of Plumtree Software, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other registered and unregistered trademarks in this document are the sole property of their respective owners.