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Siemens Energy and Automation Taps Astoria Software for On-Demand Content Management

Deal Reflects Dramatic Increase in Acceptance for On-Demand Content Management Applications for Forbes Global 2000 Manufacturers

SAN MATEO, Calif. - May 21, 2007 – Driving the next generation in dynamic enterprise publishing for manufacturers, Astoria Software today announced that the Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc. Postal Automation Division, has awarded Astoria a very significant contract for Astoria On-Demand, the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution for structured content management. Siemens will use the Astoria solution to support internal and external customer requirements for technical information re-use and maintainability.

"We went with Astoria On-Demand because it offered the best fit for our requirements," said Cory Smith, manager of technical publications for the Siemens Postal Automation Division. "Our needs are complex, dynamic, and likely to grow very quickly. We needed a solution that was robust, proven, and quick to deploy. We spent weeks during our evaluation of Astoria challenging them with difficult technical requirements and problems. They consistently devoted themselves to providing us with timely solutions."

Michael Rosinski, executive vice president, worldwide sales and field operations, for Astoria Software added, "This is the largest deployment of an on-demand content management system to date and is a reflection of countless hours of hard work for both Astoria and Siemens. We look forward to a long and productive relationship with Siemens."

The Postal Automation Division of Siemens Energy and Automation, Inc. is a major supplier of mail sorting equipment, and material handling products and systems. The process involves designing and manufacturing the machines, developing the software to run the machines, providing support during implementation, as well as creating, maintaining, and delivering the supporting documentation.

The business process of creating, managing and maintaining technical publications involves several functional areas, including field engineering, manufacturing, engineering, and the customer service organization, which includes technical publications. The Siemens Postal Automation Division was specifically looking to:

• enable digital deliverables for technical publications,
• improve productivity in producing technical publications,
• reduce cycle time for new or revised publications, and
• meet or exceed the customer-driven demands for publication quality.

Siemens Energy & Automation Historical Challenges

Before deploying Astoria, the Siemens Postal Automation Division had been wrestling with product documentation problems that had seemed unsolvable for years, including:

• Product documentation costs had been growing as a percentage of total project cost.
• Cycle times for documentation review had been increasing consistently as products continued to grow in complexity.
• Because of lengthening documentation cycles, delays in content delivery were impacting product shipments, increasing costs, and delaying revenue recognition.

The Astoria On-Demand Advantage

Prior to their engagement with Astoria, the Siemens Postal Automation Division had not considered an on-demand solution as an option and had not introduced the documentation standard Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA). With the Astoria team, Siemens Postal Automation engaged in an intense solutions evaluation over 90 days, eventually selecting Astoria On-Demand for the following reasons:

• With Astoria On-Demand, they could literally have the solution up and running in days.
• Astoria offered a complete end-to-end solution - authoring tools, DITA content conversion, workflow management, and an integrated rendering engine.
• Astoria has a history of providing high performance solutions geared towards handling large, complex content deliverables to customer such as Siemens Medical.

The deployment of Astoria On-Demand by the Siemens Postal Automation Division supports over 120 people in locations across the United States. The initial focus will be on the mission critical maintenance guide for a complex postal sorting system.

Dan Ortega, vice president of marketing for Astoria Software, added, "This is a great customer for us. They're building very complex products that require sophisticated creation, management, and delivery capabilities for product documentation. This deployment quantifies the demand for an industrial-strength on-demand content management system. Visionary companies like Siemens are in the forefront of a change that is going to affect every global manufacturer that is trying to increase customer satisfaction and their bottom line. Look for lots more announcements like this soon."

Pricing and Availability

Astoria On-Demand is available today and is custom-priced based on customer needs. For more information on Astoria On-Demand, please visit www.astoriasoftware.com.

About Astoria Software

Astoria Software drives efficiencies in dynamic product documentation with on-demand delivery of structured content management. Texas Instruments and other Forbes Global 2000 manufacturers rely on Astoria to meet rigorous market demands – increasing product volumes, accelerating time-to-market, and concurrent global customization. Astoria On-Demand reduces documentation costs up to 90% and compresses product launch cycles from months to weeks. Astoria Software is based in San Mateo, California. For more information, visit www.astoriasoftware.com.

Resources:

Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc.
http://www2.sea.siemens.com/Home

Astoria On-Demand Product Information
http://www.astoriasoftware.com/products/

News Release: "Astoria Software Leads On-Demand Revolution in Dynamic Product Documentation"
http://www.astoriasoftware.com/news_events/press_releases/052107.asp

News Release: "Software Study: Discrete Manufacturers Comprise $4.4 Billion Market for Dynamic Product Documentation On-Demand"
http://www.astoriasoftware.com/news_events/press_releases/051407.asp

News Release: "Dynamic Product Documentation On-Demand Guides Manufacturers to Bring Products to Market Faster and At Lower Cost"
http://www.astoriasoftware.com/news_events/press_releases/051407b.asp

Market Brief: "Dynamic Product Documentation On-Demand: Extending the Information Revolution to Manufacturing"
http://www.astoriasoftware.com/forms/whitepaperForm.asp?id=16

Astoria Virtual Press Room
http://www.astoriasoftware.com/news_events/press_room/index.asp

Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA)
http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=dita

OASIS
http://www.oasis-open.org/home/index.php

Artwork:

Astoria On-Demand – Enterprise Content Management Ecosystem
http://www.astoriasoftware.com/news_events/press_room/ecm.asp

Astoria On-Demand – Process Workflow
http://www.astoriasoftware.com/news_events/press_room/process_
workflow.asp

Astoria On-Demand – 4 Phases of Dynamic Publishing
http://www.astoriasoftware.com/news_events/press_room/dynamic_
publishing.asp

Astoria On-Demand – Product Architecture
http://www.astoriasoftware.com/news_events/press_room/product_
architecture.asp

Screen Shots
http://www.astoriasoftware.com/news_events/press_room/screen_shots.asp