| This is a press release, from the TracePoint home page, www.tracepoint.com :
NEW DIGITAL SPIN-OFF EYES HUGE MICROSOFT
DEVELOPERS' MARKET FOR X86 PLATFORMS
...TracePoint Technology, Inc., Readies Revolutionary
Software Development Tool Suite to Meet Demand...
MAYNARD, Mass. - February 19, 1997 - Digital Equipment Corporation today
launched
TracePoint Technology, Inc., to exploit the skyrocketing demand for x86
leading-edge
software development tools for Microsoft Windows 95 and Windows NT, known as
the
Win32 environment. Tools for Intel PCs and clones make up 85 percent of the
current $2.5
billion Win32 market, expected to exceed $13 billion by the year 2000.
TracePoint Technology, an independently operated Digital subsidiary, will be
based in San
Jose, California. The spin-off capitalizes on the efforts of a research
group at Digital's
Western Research Laboratories that developed a unique set of highly
successful software
development tools for the Alpha 64-bit UNIX system platform. TracePoint's
initial thrust is to
provide Win32 programmers for Intel and other x86-based PCs with similar
robust
capabilities through the first development tool suite that operates on
binary code for the
Windows environment. Later offerings may target Java and other development
platforms.
TracePoint Leadership
Key TracePoint employees include Mike Skelton, president and CEO; Amitabh
Srivastava,
vice president of engineering and chief technical officer; Dewaine Miller,
vice president of
marketing and sales; and David Stager, controller.
Owners and Directors
Digital Equipment will retain a majority interest in TracePoint. A venture
capital group led by
Sequoia Capital and including SoundView Financial Group and Stanford
Management will
participate. Employees will own the remainder. TracePoint's board of
directors includes:
Skelton; Jay Zager, Digital vice president of operations, Corporate Strategy
and Technology;
Paul Milbury, Digital vice president and treasurer; John Tiberi, partner,
ETEC Business
Consultants; and Mark Stevens, general partner, Sequoia Capital.
First BCI Tools
"TracePoint is expected to be the first company to release a suite of C and
C++ software
developer tools that provide binary code instrumentation to the Microsoft
Windows market,"
Skelton said. "This suite of tools will quickly deliver precise results for
x86 platforms, and all
are designed to meet exacting requirements for flexibility and performance."
According to William D. Strecker, Digital vice president and chief technical
officer,
"TracePoint technology has played a key role in optimizing Digital's
Alpha/UNIX platform and
its software applications, enabling customers to achieve major productivity
gains. Now
developers in the Win32 environment for x86, one of the software industry's
fastest growing
segments, will be able to take advantage of this robust tool suite."
Explosive Growth
Industry analysts estimate that more than one-million C and C++ software
programmers
currently are developing in the Win32 environment, which is projected to
expand at a 68
percent compound annual growth rate. TracePoint tools will help these
developers improve
the quality, performance and testing of their final software code.
"Using patented core technology called the 'TracePoint Framework,' our
employees can
design and bring to market new development tools in about half the time
required by
competing technology approaches," according to Amitabh Srivastava,
TracePoint's chief
technology officer. "This allows TracePoint to be more responsive to the
changing needs of
developers and rapidly expanding market opportunities," he added.
Marketing On the Internet
TracePoint will distribute company and product information, along with
demonstration
software, through the Internet. It will also market and distribute its
products via two-tier
distribution and software resellers in addition to the World Wide Web. For
further
information, see: http://www.tracepoint.com
The company name was derived from tracepoints, or probes, that are inserted
into code to
measure or analyze the functionality of the software.
Digital Equipment Corporation is a world leader in open client/server
solutions from personal
computing to integrated worldwide information systems. Digital's scalable
Alpha and Intel
platforms, storage, networking, software and services, together with
industry-focused
solutions from business partners, help organizations compete and win in
today's global
marketplace.
Editorial Contacts:
Digital Equipment Corporation
Ed Canty 508-493-9449 [email protected]
Sarah Miller 508-493-9448 [email protected]
Tom Madden 508-493-9437 [email protected]
Note to Editors:
Digital and the Digital logo are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corp.
Windows, Windows NT and Win32 are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp.
TracePoint and TracePoint Framework are trademarks of TracePoint Technology,
Inc.
Java is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.
CORP/97/509
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