Volume 8, Number 14, April 10, 2003



This Week's Contents:

1) NEWS ABOUT NETPRENEUR
    1.1 Worldly Temptations
2) REGIONAL NETPRENEURS
    2.1 Vibrant's Revenue Management Tools
    2.2 Platform Logic's Host Security Package
    2.3 WorkStrategy's HR Solutions
    2.4 High Stakes Writing's Email Writing Courses
    2.5 Round-up Quick Hits
    ......news from Ariel Research, ZyLAB, Datatel,

    .............WiSE, DR2DR, and PowerScan
3) FUNDING & FINANCE NEWS
    3.1 Dough Raise Me
    ......$27M for 3 local entrepreneurs
    3.2 Life In The Food Chain
    ......ITS Services Is Acquired
    ......Pacel Acquires Asmara
    ......CIENA Acquires WaveSmith
    ......Secure Blue Acquires Omega Info
4) NEWS FROM THE U's
    4.1 New Tech Management Grad Degree From AU
5) WHO'SWARE
    ......new directors at Telaxis and SRA

|||||||||||||||||||| 1. News About Netpreneur ||||||||||||||||||

1.1 WORLDLY TEMPTATIONS
Matt Voorhees, President of Anybill, tells us that his company just closed two new customers in Europe. He'll tell you how and why at this month's Coffee & DoughNets, joining panelists Sundaresan Raja, CEO of Airbee Wireless, and John Malone, CEO of BizTelOne, to discuss "Going Global: A Look At International Sales, Partnerships & Outsourcing." Like the title sez, doing business around the world doesn't have to be about (or only about) sales. Entrepreneurs are also getting benefit from international partners, development, customer support, and more. From marketing to outsourcing, we'll cover it all on Tuesday, April 22, at the Marvin Center at George Washington University in Washington, DC. Register now.

Register for C&D: http://netpreneur.org/events/doughnets


|||||||||||||||||| 2. Regional Netpreneurs ||||||||||||||||||

2.1 VIBRANT'S REVENUE MANAGEMENT TOOLS
(Fairfax, VA) Vibrant Solutions debuted two revenue management applications, Order Validation & Verification (OVV) and Off-Net Revenue Recovery (ORR), targeted at identifying and stemming revenue leakage in the Operational and Business Support Systems of Communications Service Providers. Both help increase profitability in the "Order-to-Bill" cycle, a functionally and technically complex process because carriers use multiple and disparate systems, organizations, and applications. OVV identifies lost revenue and discrepancies between a carrier's Order Management and Billing systems; and ORR identifies off-net order errors, over-charges, billing errors, and unused or unidentified network capacity for leased circuits and services.
http://www.vibrantsolutions.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2.2 PLATFORM LOGIC'S HOST SECURITY PACKAGE
(Glenwood, MD) Platform Logic introduced AppFire, a host intrusion prevention product. Rather than simply watching network activity, emails, and files for known attack signatures, AppFire monitors program behavior on a server or workstation, spotting and preventing inappropriate activity as it is attempted. The software's Modular Policy Architecture allows administrators a unique level of control for managing policies in complex enterprise environments. The AppFire suite consists of four components: a server, user interfaces for administrators and security specialists, and a Behavior Control agent.
http://www.platformlogic.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2.3 WORKSTRATEGY'S HR SOLUTIONS
(Columbia, MD) WorkStrategy is a new human resources technology firm that will provide strategic planning and application implementation services tailored for mid-sized organizations. Founded by Brian McIntyre, who also founded HR implementation services consultancy, Working Concepts (later acquired by Towers Perrin), WorkStrategy will build its business model around emerging human resource management software vendors, best practice implementation services, and process improvement techniques. The company will focus particularly on employee and manager self-service, workforce productivity, and third-party integration support. Services are planned for traditional business vertical markets, the public sector, and nonprofit organizations. Towers Perrin will hold a minority ownership in the new company.
http://www.workstrategy.com
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2.4 HIGH STAKES WRITING'S EMAIL WRITING COURSES
(Washington, DC) Another new company, High Stakes Writing, specializes in safer email practices for business and government. Offerings include online training courses, on-site seminars, and consulting on email safety for employees and management. Its first two courses, "Writing Safe Email" and "Editing and Proofreading Email," are now available online. The first teaches employees and managers the pitfalls of email and how to avoid them; the second teaches a system for reliably editing and proofreading electronic documents. Additional courses soon to be released will teach a risk-management approach to email and techniques for writing clear email. The courses are offered in partnership with Reston-based VCampus.
http://www.highstakeswriting.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2.5 ROUND-UP QUICK HITS

(Bethesda MD) Ariel Research released Version 3.0 of WebInsight, its Web-based global chemical regulatory compliance guide. Enhancements include new customization features in My WebInsight.
http://www.arielresearch.com

(McLean, VA) ZyLAB released Version 5.0 of ZyIMAGE, its document imaging and text retrieval solution. Enhancements include extended support for business processes in law enforcement, security, intelligence, and legal environments, and larger document collections through 64-bit indexing technology.
http://www.zylab.com

(Fairfax, VA) Datatel and Buffalo, NY-based LiquidMatrix agreed to integrate their products to deliver a relationship management solution for the higher education community. With the combined solution, colleges and universities will be able to deploy websites for external constituents to increase enrollment, alumni involvement, and community awareness.
http://www.datatel.com
http://www.liquidmatrix.com

(Landover, MD) WiSE Technologies, a wireless ISP, formed an alliance with HMSHost that enables Wi-Fi access in HMSHost restaurants, cafes, and other concession operations throughout Baltimore Washington International Airport (BWI).
http://www.wisetechnologies.com
http://www.hmshost.com

(Richmond VA) Tampa, FL-based iLIANT, a provider of physician practice solutions, acquired the clients of DR2DR, an application hosting and Web portal company. Since 1999, DR2DR has been providing ASP-based software solutions to 26 clients, representing more than 160 physicians.
http://www.dr2dr.com
http://www.iliant.com

(Sterling, VA) PowerScan will integrate its IDEA image capture and processing software with Lombard, IL-based Computhink's ViewWise IDMS document and records repository.
http://www.pwrscan.com
http://www.computhink.com


|||||||||||||||||| 3. Funding & Finance News ||||||||||||||||||

3.1 DOUGH RAISE ME

$3 million in additional funding for Fairfax-based Vyant Technologies, the developer of RealTime, a rapid data-recovery software product. The money comes from DC-based Capitol Ventures, the lead investor in the company. Vyant's RealTime product, released this week, can recover and verify a terabyte of data in less than 20 minutes. It captures data continuously without impacting the application or network, and time-stamps and logs each write-to-disk on a backup server. In the event of a system failure or data corruption, RealTime's "Time Slider" screen can be used to roll back data to any point in time. This allows users to back out corruption by undoing the data writes in reverse order until they have moved past the crash or corruption point.
http://www.vyanttech.com

$3 million in a Series B round for Bethesda-based SecureMethods, a developer of secure network applications. The round was led by Adena Ventures with participation from West Virginia Jobs Investment Trust and previous investors Walker Ventures and principals from the company. Secure Methods' product, SM Gateway, enables organizations to replace expensive Intranet leased lines with low-cost Internet connections. The technology offers users the ability to secure data on an individual transaction basis, providing encryption, authentication, enforceable digital signature, and audit capability in a single product. In conjunction with the financing, SecureMethods will move its headquarters to Martinsburg, WV.
http://www.securemethods.com

$21 million for Fairfax-based Broadmargin, a provider of telecom cost management solutions. The round was led by ABS Capital Partners, with participation from Concert Capital Partners. Broadmargin's solutions include telecom bill management and audit, bill processing, vendor management, dispute management, network optimization, and management reporting. The company provides outsourcing services, software solutions, and consulting that leverages its proprietary BillTamer software application. Deric Emry and Phil Clough of ABS Capital and Peter Nanula of Concert will join Broadmargin's Board of Directors.
http://www.broadmargin.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3.2 LIFE IN THE FOOD CHAIN

-- ITS Services Is Acquired
(Springfield, VA) Three veteran federal IT executives, backed by DC-based private equity firm Arlington Capital Partners, announced the recapitalization of ITS Services, a provider of IT solutions to federal government agencies. Founded in 1991, ITS specializes in three core areas: enterprise architecture, network services & operations, and software & applications development. Founders Angela Mason and Ram Prasad will remain with the company during a transition period and will continue as shareholders. The two new executives who will be leading day-to-day operations are Todd Stottlemyer, a former senior executive at BDM International, and Paul Leslie, who led BDM's systems development and integration business unit. Stottlemyer will serve as CEO of ITS; Leslie as President and COO. Phil Odeen, former President and CEO of BDM and more recently Chairman of TRW, will be Chairman. To finance the acquisition, Arlington Capital Partners has committed "substantial equity capital behind the management team to invest in organic growth and strategic acquisitions."
http://www.itssinc.com
http://www.arlingtoncap.com

-- Pacel Acquires Asmara
(Manassas, VA) Pacel announced that it has executed a Letter of Intent to purchase substantially all of the assets, including the outstanding stock of all subsidiary operations, of Charlotte, NC-based Asmara, a Professional Employer Organization (PEO). The acquisition will be completed by Pacel's wholly-owned subsidiary Resourcing Solutions Group (RSG). Asmara operates in the Southeastern US, and its NC headquarters will become the Eastern Regional Office for RSG with an existing client base generating approximately $25 million in annual revenue.
http://pacel.com

--CIENA Acquires WaveSmith
(Linthicum, MD) In a deal valued at approximately $158 million, Ciena, a provider of optical networking systems and software, announced a definitive agreement to acquire Acton, MA-based WaveSmith Networks, a developer of multiservice switching solutions. WaveSmith's Distributed Node platform allows service providers to cap their investments in aging technology while they begin deploying next-generation platforms.
http://www.ciena.com
http://www.wavesmithnetworks.com

--Secure Blue Acquires Omega Info
(Silver Spring, MD) Las Vegas, NV-based Secure Blue, a provider of database security solutions for enterprise networks and service providers, announced that it has agreed to definitively acquire all the assets of Omega Information Solutions. Omega's assets consist of architectural applications including secure solutions used in government and commercial sectors. Secure Blue says that it expects to further expand its operations through joint-partnerships and/or further acquisitions of companies offering security solutions.
http://secureblue.com


|||||||||||||||||| 4. News From The U's ||||||||||||||||||

4.1 NEW TECH MANAGEMENT DEGREE FROM AU
(Washington, DC) American University's Kogod School of Business will launch a new technology management graduate degree in fall 2003. The degree, Master of Science in Information Technology Management, is a 30-hour, part-time program for IT practitioners seeking technology management and leadership positions in their organizations. It is multidisciplinary, with an emphasis on improving students' IT knowledge, exposing them to global business practices, and developing their professional skills. Architects of the new degree include corporate members from a number of area firms, including Fannie Mae, IBM Consulting, and AMS.
http://www.kogod.american.edu


|||||||||||||||||| 5. Who'sWare ||||||||||||||||||

(Falls Church VA) Telaxis Communications, a developer of broadband wireless solutions doing business as YDI Wireless, named Daniel Saginario to its Board of Directors. He was President and CEO of ioWave.
http://www.tlxs.com
http://www.ydi.com

(Fairfax, VA) SRA International, a provider of IT services to federal government organizations, named John Barter to its Board of Directors. He was previously CFO of AlliedSignal and President of AlliedSignal Automotive.
http://www.sra.com

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