SGL forms strategic archiving alliance with Avid

IBC, Amsterdam
10th September 2004

Software Generation Limited (SGL), a leading provider of video storage management software, today announced a strategic alliance with Avid Technology, Inc.®, the worldwide leader in digital nonlinear media creation, management and distribution solutions, to produce a fully integrated, end-to-end hardware- and software-based archive storage. Under the terms of these agreements the solution will be available from Avid sales offices worldwide.

This agreement builds on the strategic alliance agreement announced at NAB2004 between Avid and StorageTek®, the data solutions expert, that enables Avid to resell StorageTek's premier L-Series™ libraries and the StreamLine™ SL8500 modular library system and associated tape drives to enterprises in the broadcast and post-production industries.

The Avid offering will feature SGL FlashNet, which will sit between the Avid Unity™ MediaNetwork system and the StorageTek library hardware - allowing the editor to retrieve and store clips through a simple GUI driven by SGL FlashNet. Once the editor has finished his edit, he can send the clip along with its associated metadata to the StorageTek device for long term storage. For the first time ever, using SGL Flashnet integrated with the Avid Unity MediaManager application, the editor can then immediately retrieve not only the clip, but also its associated files fully preserved in native Avid format, ready to be re-used.

"These strategic alliances allow SGL's FlashNet to act as the middleware between the Avid Unity system and the StorageTek archive libraries. In this way a library can be searched directly from the Avid Unity MediaManager application and the selected material restored back to the Avid Unity shared storage system transparently," said David Huckfield, European Product Marketing Manager for Broadcast at Avid. "It's what our customers are increasingly asking for, and its key ingredients - tight integration and simplicity - are at the heart of successful digital asset management."

Bernie Walsh, Director of Sale and Marketing at SGL, commented "We are delighted to be working with Avid and StorageTek on this project. The relationship between the companies is extremely strong and this new solution, fully qualified and approved by Avid, allows us to deliver a highly intuitive storage solution that will continue to develop the full benefits of digital asset management in the broadcast business."

"We understand that today's enterprises require high performance, reliable storage management solutions to help customers archive and protect their ever-growing digital content repositories," said Bob Koecheler, StorageTek Vice President, Global Partners and Alliances. "Working with our partners, we can help customers maximise production efficiencies that can help them grow and expand revenue opportunities."

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Additional information:

Software Generation Limited is a privately held archive management software company headquartered in Southampton, England. SGL has been in business since 1989 and its flagship FlashNet product is installed in over 5000 customer sites around the world.

Avid Technology, Inc. is the world leader in digital nonlinear media creation, management and distribution solutions, enabling film, video, audio, animation, games, and broadcast news professionals to work more efficiently, productively and creatively. For more information about the company’s Oscar, Grammy, and Emmy® award-winning products and services, please visit: www.avid.com.

StorageTek is a $2 billion global company that enables businesses, through its information lifecycle management strategy, to align the cost of storage with the value of information. The company’s innovative storage solutions manage the complexity and growth of information, lower costs, improve efficiency and protect investments. For more information, see www.storagetek.com, or call 1.800.877.9220 or 303.673.5151. TRADEMARKS: StorageTek and the StorageTek logo are registered trademarks of Storage Technology Corporation. Other names mentioned may be trademarks of Storage Technology Corporation or other vendors/manufacturers.