Strategic Alliance Offers ASPs, E-Commerce Businesses and Commercial
Enterprises an Array of Products and Services for Customized
Internet Initiatives
AUSTIN, Texas, ASP2000 Conference, Jan. 11 /PRNewswire/ --
Electric Lightwave Inc. (Nasdaq: ELIX), a top integrated communications
provider, today announced an agreement with four leading telecommunications
suppliers to offer a One Stop Shop for Application Service Providers (ASPs)
and Internet enterprises. The alliance gives companies a choice to outsource
all or part of its data transport and connectivity, e-commerce applications,
Web development and hosting, hardware and software, billing, data management
and storage, collocation, and related services.
"Our ASP One Stop Shop solutions give customers the opportunity to take
advantage of the latest technological advancements and critical elements
needed to build a new company or expand upon existing product and service
offerings," said Jim Berthot, vice president of strategic planning for
Electric Lightwave. "It also reduces capital costs that prevent companies from
entering the ASP market."
In this alliance, IBM's NUMA-Q division provides the hardware, software
and integration testing as well as equipment leasing for the applications.
Collocation Solutions Inc. provides a safe, highly redundant environment
necessary to house and maintain mission critical applications. RCG Information
Technology provides consulting services for the design, development,
implementation, hosting, and applications management of business IT endeavors
in e-solutions and server-based environments.
"And Electric Lightwave provides the connectivity and data transport piece
that is not only fast and reliable, but is piped through our premiere Internet
backbone which recently ranked fifth out of 43 profiled in Boardwatch
Magazine," added Berthot.
Ian Miller, Vice President of Worldwide Marketing for NUMA-Q, IBM said,
"This strategic alliance offers best of breed solutions and the most rigorous
Service Level Agreements (SLAs) in this industry. We are pleased to have the
IBM NUMACenter, which seamlessly integrates Windows NT and UNIX in a single,
stable and centrally managed environment, reducing the complexity and choice
of operating systems, as the foundation of the alliance's One Stop Shop for
ASPs and ISPs."
"This marriage of e-Business leaders provides a more convenient,
comprehensive vehicle for companies to meet the changing demands of new
markets, erupting technologies and shifting global economies," said
Robert Simplot, president and chief executive officer of RCG Information
Technology. "This union will enable our clients, and the client's of our
counterparts to meet these challenges head on by leveraging our One Stop Shop
capabilities."
Highlights of the agreement include:
-- Each company will work in concert with the other companies involved in
the alliance to provide an end service to business customers.
-- Each company will enter into separate contracts with potential clients
to provide the specific services required.
-- Each company will share business opportunities, leads and sales
successes with each member of the strategic alliance.
Additional information about these companies can be found at:
Electric Lightwave: http://www.eli.net
IBM NUMA-Q: http://www.ibm.com/servers/
RCG Information Technology: http://www.rcgit.com
Collocation Solutions: http://www.datsuites.com
About Electric Lightwave
Electric Lightwave Inc. is a leading integrated communications provider of
enhanced data services, frame relay, ATM and Internet access solutions to
bandwidth intensive businesses, the growing e-commerce market and now,
Application Service Providers.
The company provides data, Internet and long distance services nationwide,
with data points-of-presence in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas,
Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Palo Alto, Calif.;
Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Calif.; and Washington, D.C.
As a full-service provider, the company offers businesses local and long
distance telephone service and high-speed broadband transport that
interconnects major markets in the West, including Seattle, Sacramento,
Calif.; Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Boise, Idaho; Spokane, Wash.; and Portland,
Ore. Headquartered in Vancouver, Wash., the company employs 1,172 and
generated revenues of $101 million in 1998, up 65 percent from 1997.
Additional information about Electric Lightwave Inc. is located on the World
Wide Web at http://www.eli.net.
About the NUMA-Q brand
The NUMA-Q brand of IBM's Server Group is the leader in scalable
Intel-based server solutions for e-business. IBM NUMA-Q platforms and services
are optimized for the scalability, availability and manageability requirements
of large and rapidly growing e-business infrastructures. There are more than
10,000 IBM NUMA-Q installations worldwide, including some of the world's
largest and most sophisticated business intelligence, CRM and ERP
environments. For further information about the IBM NUMA-Q brand, phone
503-626-5700 or 800-257-9044 or visit our Web site at
http://www.ibm.com/servers .
About RCG Information Technology
RCG Information Technology (http://www.rcgit.com) is a full service provider of
end-to-end e-business solutions. RCG IT's corporate clientele spans a wide
variety of industries, from financial services, energy and health care to
pharmaceuticals, telecommunications and electronics. RCG IT's service
offerings include E-Solutions, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Data
Warehousing, Enterpnt. A
subsidiary of Reliance Group Holdings (NYSE: REL), RCG IT employs a team of
more than 2,100 consultants worldwide and posted 1998 revenues of
$248 million. The company is based in Edison, New Jersey, with 22 offices
nationwide and a global presence in the Pacific Rim and Africa.
SOURCE Electric Lightwave, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.eli.net
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/117258.html or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 117258
CONTACT:
Enid Lamey of Electric Lightwave, Inc.,
360-816-4682, or pager, 800-368-9102, or enid_lamey@eli.net; or
Catherine King of IBM, 503-578-7820, or kingcath@sequent.com; or
Lynn Beattie of RCG Information Technology, Inc., 972-855-2216,
or lbeattie@rcgit.com; or Courtney Knowles, 212-752-8338, or
cknowles@psbpr.com, for RCG Information Technology, Inc.; or Jim
deVenny of Collocation Solutions, Inc., 972-633-0413, or
jdevenny@datasuites.com
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