22 Jul 02. Exostar announced the launch of ForumPass 2.0, its newest managed collaboration service designed to enable aerospace and defense companies to collaborate in a highly secure online environment, at Farnborough today. This enhanced service provides substantial security
upgrades, new functionality, and better usability. The company also
announced that Exostar founding partner Rolls-Royce has already benefited from the early implementation of ForumPass on its Trent 900 engine program.
Specifically designed to meet the security requirements of
leading companies including BAE SYSTEMS, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Rolls-Royce, ForumPass 2.0, powered by PTC’s ProjectLink (NASDAQ:PMTC) features new, exclusive Internet security mechanisms such as:
* End-to-end document encryption,
* FIPS 140-2 compliant HSM key storage, and
* Digital certificates for user authentication by
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN).
The security built into ForumPass maximizes the benefits of online
collaboration while minimizing the security risk. “ForumPass 2.0 will
bring an unprecedented level of security and functionality to
Internet-based collaboration between aerospace and defense companies
while reducing the costs and risks traditionally associated with
collaboration,” said Don Bielinski, President and CEO of Exostar.
Christopher Darby, President and Chief Executive Officer of @stake, the
digital security consulting firm who worked with Exostar to integrate
security technologies and processes into the new ForumPass
environment, said “In ForumPass, Exostar and its founding partners have
raised the bar for safeguarding critical online intellectual property
and business information.”
New functionality includes MS Project” integration, resource
management, and reporting capabilities. Usability upgrades include easier workflow, better CAD visualization, and administration. These new features add to the existing robustness of the ForumPass collaboration service that provides an integrated collaboration environment with such tools as project management, virtual meeting, document sharing, product structure management, and CAD visualization. ForumPass 2.0 will be commercially available to new customers in September.
In this ForumPass 2.0 collaboration environment, companies
can leverage the Internet to collaborate better with their external partners to manage a project over its entire lifecycle. Recent analyst studies have shown that Internet-based collaboration provides benefits such as improved communication, better design quality, faster time-to-market, and development cost savings when compared to traditional forms of collaboration.
Integrated product teams that use ForumPass 2.0 for their collaboration can achieve benefits up to a 20% increase in productivity and responsiveness of product teams; up to 60% less travel costs, up to 45% reduction in quality assurance expenses; and up to 80% cut in vendor qualification costs.
ForumPass in Action: Rolls-Royce’s Trent 900 Rolls-Royce’s Trent 900 was the first program by an Exostar customer to implement ForumPass operationally. The company’s main objectives was to share logistical and engineering information internally and with its global technology partners and suppliers to maximize value to the program. Previously, all data was shared via e-mail, DAT/CD transfer,or fax on an ad hoc basis. The Trent 900 program plans to involve about 30suppliers in total within their ForumPass collaboration projects. RobSavidge, Rolls-Royce’s chief engineer for the Trent 900, stated that ForumPass is a strategic part of the program’s success, enabling effective collaboration and optimization of the of the design concept with partnersand suppliers. “I am confident that the benefits declared as part of theprogram are already being realized.”