Varian's Third Deployment of Axeda's DRM Technology
MANSFIELD, Mass -- May 12, 2004 - Axeda Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: XEDA), the world's leading provider of device relationship management (DRM) enterprise software and services, today announced that Varian Medical Systems, Inc., the world's leading manufacturer of integrated cancer therapy systems, is expanding deployment of Axeda's DRM technology to Varian's Acuity™ System.
Varian has been an Axeda customer since 2001. The success of the relationship has resulted in multiple deployments of Axeda DRM™ to support various product lines. Varian's first deployment enabled proactive, remote customer service of the VARiS Vision™ oncology management system. This was followed by deployment with Varian's Millennium™ MLC (multileaf collimator), a sophisticated device that shapes the radiation beam during cancer radiation therapy treatments. Marketed by Varian as SmartConnect™ technology, DRM-enabled VARiS Vision™ systems and MLCs are deployed in over 300 hospitals, allowing for immediate technical assistance to customers in a private and secure manner, improving service call response times, and minimizing downtime. Varian will now expand those benefits to their Acuity™ System, an integrated treatment planning, simulation, and verification system for patient plans.
"Acuity customers will enjoy the benefits of real-time support from our customer support organization through our SmartConnect solution enabled by Axeda DRM," said Bob Larsen, director of service marketing for Varian Medical Systems. "This additional deployment will make it possible for our team to provide immediate response to Acuity customer inquiries. It will enable our staff to remotely assist our clients with optimizing the product's image quality, solving operational problems, tuning performance, and updating software. SmartConnect will allow Varian's customer support staff to assist therapists with better usage techniques, and provide instructions on how to manipulate Acuity's tool set for image optimization."
"We are extremely pleased that an innovator like Varian Medical Systems has expanded the use of Axeda's DRM solution to enhance their customer support initiatives," said Robert M. Russell Jr. chairman and CEO of Axeda Systems. "Service organizations that support complex systems and devices are continuously seeking innovative ways to enhance customer service while lowering service costs. At Axeda, we understand Varian's growing need to assist its customers by remotely monitoring, managing, and servicing the company's deployed assets without interruption to the business."
Varian customers will benefit from the DRM-enabled Acuity simulators through increased productivity and shortened response time. Instead of waiting for a service engineer to arrive on-site to solve a performance or operational issue, Axeda DRM will enable problems to be resolved remotely, increasing customer uptime and satisfaction. The Acuity applications environment sometimes requires user-driven responses to irregular messages before an application can proceed; SmartConnect will quickly facilitate the customers' need for instant resolution through a Varian support person.
Axeda Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: XEDA) is the leading provider of device relationship management (DRM) enterprise software and services. Axeda helps businesses become more competitive by using the Internet to extract real-time information hidden in their intelligent devices. The Company's flagship product, the Axeda Device Relationship Management System™, is a distributed software solution that lets businesses remotely monitor, manage, and service intelligent devices deployed around the world, allowing them to optimize their service, development, sales, and manufacturing operations. Axeda customers include Global 2000 companies in many markets including Medical Instrument, Enterprise Technology, Office And Print Production Systems and Industrial and Building Automation. Axeda has sales and service offices in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, and distribution partners worldwide. More information about Axeda is available at www.axeda.com.
Everyday intelligent devices such as copiers, elevators, vending machines, building control units, medical devices, computers and storage systems, and industrial machines are an important new source of business information. Device relationship management systems allow companies to tap into this valuable information anytime anywhere. Pioneered by Axeda, device relationship management technology provides a distributed information management system that leverages the Internet to allow timely, accurate, and unbiased information to be communicated automatically between intelligent devices, wherever they are deployed around the world, and service personnel or enterprise business systems. Device relationship management helps turn reactive businesses into proactive businesses providing new sources of revenue, increased operational efficiency and lower costs, with an ROI that is often measured in months.
Press Contact:
Erin Nolan Smith
Corporate
+1 508-718-6351
enolan@axeda.com
