DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION AND APPLE COMPUTER, INC. SUPPORT THE INTRODUCTION OF ODESTA DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
SEYBOLD DESKTOP PUBLISHING CONFERENCE, Santa Clara, CA., -- September 16, 1988 -- Odesta Corporation today introduced Odesta Document Management Systems (ODMS) -- a family of networked software applications for workflow and document management. Digital Equipment Corporation and Apple Computer, Inc. supported the introduction by participating in the announcement of ODMS, which runs on both Vax and Macintosh computers. Odesta also announced that future versions of ODMS would support Digital's Compound Document Architecture (CDA).
ODMS multiuser systems organize, track and retrieve work done with applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, graphics, and page layout programs, and in so doing facilitate the management of the work process itself from Macintosh workstations or VT terminals. By providing a way to use networks of Vax or Macintosh computers to manage both the group work process and the work itself, ODMS is the first family of products to integrate individual desktop computing activities into a shared information system designed around organizational resources and goals.
Industry Endorsements
Digital Equipment Corporation's VAX Information Architecture and Network Applications Support have provided the foundation for Odesta's Organizational Computing Strategy and the companies' previously announced Cooperative Development Alliance.
"ODMS represents an important example of how Digital's Network Applications Support (NAS) can provide the benefits of VAX architecture to disparate desktops, making those desktops part of a manageable whole," said Howard Woolf, manager of Digital Equipment Corporation's Electronic Publishing Systems group. "Odesta's
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intention, announced today, to support Digital's Compound Document Architecture within ODMS exemplifies how Digital's CDA strategy as an industry leadership solution will result in innovative, integrated, enterprise-wide solutions," added Woolf.
In 1983, Odesta became one of the original developers for Apple Computer, Inc.'s Macintosh personal computer, for which it has subsequently brought to market a series of innovative products for object-oriented application generation, client/server database networking, graphical data analysis, and geography-based decision support.
"The critical element of collaborative computing is that it enables people to change the way they work to the way they want to work. By providing Macintosh workgroups with transparent document and workflow management capabilities, ODMS makes the productivity of the whole workgroup much greater than the sum of its parts," said Peter Friedman, Apple Computer, Inc.'s Group Market Manager of Business Systems Marketing. "By using either a Macintosh or VAX as a server, and by supporting AppleShare, ODMS delivers the high level of distributed applications integration Apple has come to expect from Odesta and moves forward the category of collaborative computing applications in which the benefits of Macintosh have never been clearer," Friedman added.
With ODMS Odesta maintains its leadership position of delivering integrated solutions using the common communications foundation and core network services jointly developed by Apple and Digital.
ODMS/DocuShare and ODMS/Matrix
Odesta introduced ODMS/DocuShare and ODMS/Matrix, systems that help manage the process of different people working on different machines with different applications on the same project, document or job.
"With ODMS/DocuShare and ODMS/Matrix, we have taken the problem of a fast-paced, heterogeneous workplace and turned it into the solution. We have tied the different pieces together into a coherent, collaborative system designed for the way people want to work-- in direct touch with the things they are working on and the people they are working with," said Daniel Cheifetz, founder and president of Odesta Corporation. "By combining the best from Digital, Apple, and Odesta, we can offer a system so sophisticated and powerful that it becomes invisible-- you feel the workflow instead of the frustrating barriers of technology," Cheifetz added.
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ODMS/DocuShare provides document storage, retrieval, and archival services to Macintosh or VT terminal users. Any type or size document may be copied from the desktop along with user-defined keywords and comments to a Macintosh or VAX server. Other identifying information that the system automatically generates about the document is also stored. The document may then be easily searched for and quickly retrieved by any authorized user on the network. Since documents may be associated with each other by type, project, category, date, or other keyword, it thereby becomes possible to retrieve the elements of a large, compound document. An example would be a multi-page word processing document along with a very large scanned graphic and the appropriate template or style sheet from a page layout program.
ODMS/DocuShare maintains the associative links between documents, offering far more flexibility and organizational power than fileservers can provide. However, at sites that already have fileservers, ODMS/DocuShare may be run on the same Macintosh as Apple Computer, Inc.'s AppleShare fileserver; also, ODMS/DocuShare is independent of and compatible with VAX-based fileservers.
ODMS/Matrix adds a management dimension to the functionality of shared document storage and retrieval. By providing a bird's eye view of the status of all work being done on the network, ODMS/Matrix offers "windows of opportunity," allowing a manager to save time before it is wasted, correct mistakes before they are compounded, and coordinate efforts to avoid crises and missed deadlines. The ODMS/Matrix tracking function is always accurate, since it is a real-time reflection of the actual document-based work taking place at individual word processing, graphics, spreadsheet, or page layout desktops.
ODMS/Matrix features a unique "Work on document" menu command that delivers a priority document from the VAX or Macintosh host to an individual's workstation, starts up the application, and then "rubberbands" the changed document back into the host system for updating---all automatically. As a result, each workgroup member is able to function better because the system eliminates the frustration and duplication of effort so often
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caused by mis-communication and misplaced job information. In addition, a manager can use access control lists to establish authorization and security levels for individual workers on a per-job basis. Automatic exception reporting, work assignments, and work audit trails are also part of the system.
Pricing and Availability
ODMS/DocuShare for a Macintosh server and unlimited number of clients is priced at $895. Pricing of ODMS/DocuShare for a VAX server and unlimited number of clients ranges from $4,500 to $19,500, depending on the size of system used. Both configurations will be available December 15, 1988.
ODMS/Matrix for a Macintosh server and unlimited number of clients is priced at $1995. A VAX-based system with an unlimited number of clients ranges in price from $15,000 to $110,000, depending on the size of system used. Both configurations will be available December 15, 1988 along with optional customization toolkits.
Headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, Odesta Corporation develops and markets software products and related services for the management, sharing, and analysis of information by individuals and their organizations.
ODMS, ODMS/DocuShare, and ODMS/Matrix are trademarks of Odesta Corporation. VAX, VMS Services for MS-DOS, CDA, and Network Applications Support are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation.
Macintosh and AppleShare are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.
