Kirkland WA, June 14, 1999

ADVANCED BusinessLink, a leading provider of e-business solutions for the IBM AS/400, has released a new super-fast version of its High Speed Messaging (HSM) architecture. HSM, a key component of the company's Strategi AS/400 e-business platform, allows the development and deployment of massively scalable interactive web applications that are several orders of magnitude faster than alternate technologies. The company also added advanced performance monitoring capabilities so businesses can easily track web use.

Now with the new HSM, transaction times average an unprecedented two milliseconds. The original HSM architecture allowed interactive response times of 50 milliseconds per transaction, which was already much faster than other technologies such as Common Gateway Interface (CGI). Transaction speed is significant for e-businesses that provide Internet-based services to connect employees, distributors, suppliers and customers so they can dynamically share data and access applications.

"Strategi with HSM helps turn the AS/400 from the high horsepower device of choice into a world-class means of competing in the e-business environment," said Chris Lategan, president and CEO of ADVANCED BusinessLink. "With this turbo-charged version of HSM, we've upped the performance level to outpace anything else available on the market, with far greater scaling than any other Web application environment. As a result, users can now access Web-delivered products and services, such as online catalogs or sales reporting systems, faster and more efficiently than ever before."

ADVANCED BusinessLink also enhanced HSM with performance monitoring capabilities. The new HSM not only tracks "hits" to a page, but also tracks each transaction on a page, the time taken to perform the transactions in milliseconds, as well as the average time to perform a transaction. This ability takes the guesswork out of conventional site tracking and allows managers to monitor visitor patterns, an invaluable asset for both administrators and the marketing team.

For businesses that rely on fast data transfer, ADVANCED HSM provides a critical advantage. Instead of regenerating and transmitting each and every page of an Internet transaction, HSM accesses and transmits the only new data within a page.

A&I Products, a manufacturer and distributor of tractor parts in the United States and Canada, uses HSM to power its online catalog and tracking system. With Strategi, A&I Products can provide its staff, sales reps and 8,000 resellers Internet access to its inventory in 12 regional warehouses.

"High Speed Messaging allows us to handle increased orders without adding staff," said Jerry Wynia, director of IT. "From online applications to paper-less sales reports, Strategi and High Speed Messaging have dramatically streamlined our business processes. We're looking forward to using the enhanced High Speed Messaging to help us take advantage of new ways to ramp up our business."

ABOUT ADVANCED BUSINESSLINK

ADVANCED BusinessLink provides e-business solutions that help IBM AS/400 users compete in today's electronic marketplace. The company's products are used by thousands every day in more than 22 countries. Its flagship product, Strategi, provides a powerful array of features to form a growth path from simple AS/400 legacy emulation to the development and deployment of e-business web-based applications.

ADVANCED BusinessLink has been recognized as an IBM All-Star and has an impressive list of firsts, including 100% native AS/400 Java client applet (1998), AS/400 PushFeed technology for easy file transfer (1997), Secure Sockets Layer Java product for advanced security (1997), and Java full-featured client applet for AS/400 (1996)

Founded in Sydney Australia in 1987 as a business consulting firm, ADVANCED BusinessLink is headquartered at 5808 Lake Washington Boulevard NE, Suite 100, Kirkland, Wash., 98033, USA. The company also has regional offices in Sydney, London and the Netherlands. Telephone is (425) 602-4777; fax (425) 602-4789. Web site: www.businesslink.com.

Media Contact: Paige Longdon
Phone (425) 602 4777   Fax (425) 602 4789

Young & Company
Phone (425) 869 8333   Fax (425) 869 7866