B&L Associates

B&L OFFERS VERTICES MEDIA MANAGEMENT FOR VERITAS BACKUP EXEC™

First application that extends Backup Exec™ environments to include removable media…

NEEDHAM, Mass. -- May 16, 2000 -- B&L Associates, Inc., a leading provider of computer media management software, today announced a way for users of Veritas' Backup Exec™ to extend storage management to removable media. Vertices®, B&L's comprehensive, enterprise-wide removable media management system, can now integrate with Backup Exec 8.0 and 7.3 to control the logging, movement, storage and restoration of physical media including tapes, CDs, DLTs and other computer media.

Vertices is the first removable media management application to leverage Backup Exec's comprehensive file management. It extends the functionality to help control removable media for Microsoft Windows NT and Windows 2000 installations in networked and Storage Area Network (SAN) environments. Vertices is valuable for companies that manage large amounts of physical media either in single or multiple sites with both onsite and offsite storage facilities.

The Vertices removable media management solution complements Backup Exec's comprehensive workstation and server backup facilities by solving the problem of extending control of the actual media once it is removed from the backup server or attached storage unit. Vertices captures critical tape information, such as serial number, backup date and generation number, for each backup job regardless of the number of sources or file types, and imports the data into the Vertices database.

Once the information is logged into its database, Vertices gives operators the tools to control critical media management aspects such as movements, media location, inventory reconciliations, and more. This level of control protects against lost files, enables operators to identify media that is available for reuse and helps staff restore files within the shrinking backup/restore timeframe.

"Companies, like Veritas, have developed sophisticated systems to backup and protect online data. With Vertices, not only can Backup Exec users manage their data and its resources, but now they can also tackle vault, inventory, and security management in an automated manner," said Michael Kramer, B&L vice president of sales and marketing. "This brings them a 'mainframe-class' level of control that's been missing from Windows environments."

Vertices Automation Agent for Backup Exec for Windows Version 8.0/7.3 is available immediately from B&L Associates and authorized resellers.

About B&L Associates

B&L Associates, established in 1975, is the largest media management provider to the Unisys ClearPath marketplace and a leader in open systems media management. The company offers a full suite of data center operations automation products and storage management solutions, as well as online scheduling, billing and labeling systems through a network of qualified value added resellers (VARs). B&L, with installations in 26 countries, serves some of the world's leading organizations, including Electronic Data Systems (EDS), the Home Shopping Network, the city of Miami, the state of Michigan, the General Services Administration, and Unisys Corporation. For further information, contact B&L at 877-VERTICES (877-837-8423) or http://www.bandl.com.

B&L, the B&L Associates logo, the BBARS logos, BL/SCHED, BL/PACK, BL/SOURCE, BL/DIST, and BL/LIB are registered trademarks of B&L Associates, Inc. VERTICES®, the Vertices® logo, and THE POINT WHERE ALL MEDIA COME TOGETHER are registered trademarks and VERTICES AUTOMATION MODULE™, VERTICES AUTOMATION AGENT™, VERTICES BAR CODE SCANNING MODULE™, and VERTICES LABELWRITER MODULE™ are trademarks exclusively licensed to B&L Associates, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Editors - for further information contact:

L.J. DiCarlo
B&L Associates
781/444-1404
ljdicarlo@bandl.com

Sandy McLaughlin
Soucy Communications Group
978/266-1700
sandym@scg-pr.com