SAN FRANCISCO (June 11, 2002) – Critical Path, Inc. (Nasdaq: CPTH), a global leader in Internet communications, today unveiled the Critical Path Partner Program, a worldwide initiative to build partner relationships that address the significant market opportunity to sell Critical Path’s messaging and identity management solutions to leading enterprises, carriers and service providers. Inaugural partners will include BEA (Nasdaq: BEAS), Entrust (Nasdaq: ENTU), HP (NYSE: HPQ) and Netegrity (Nasdaq: NETE). Critical Path will preview its partner program in an exclusive Web launch event on June 25, 2002. Organizations interested in participating in this Web event should visit www.cp.net/partnerplace to learn more about the program.
The Critical Path Partner Program targets three primary markets:
· Enterprise Messaging: Featuring the industry’s most scalable, cost-effective messaging software along with a full set of tools to migrate from, or coexist with, legacy groupware systems.
· Carrier Messaging: Advanced messaging services ranging from email and Personal Information Management (PIM) – including calendaring, personal address book and online file storage – to Unified Communications (UC) and Multimedia Messaging (MMS) enablement.
· Identity Management: Meta-directory and directory services that are the necessary building blocks to deploy comprehensive identity management applications.
“With the launch of this program we are laying the foundation for a series of significant initiatives aimed at making our partners successful within these three markets,” said Critical Path Chief Executive Officer William McGlashan, Jr. “We are truly committed to making our partners a major component of Critical Path’s success.”
Critical Path’s partner organization is led by Patricia Hume, senior vice president, worldwide partners and channels, who previously led the IBM global strategic alliances team, overseeing relationships with 22,000 Lotus business partners.
“Critical Path directly addresses the burgeoning market for Internet communications solutions,” said Nigel Ball, vice president and general manager of HP’s Enterprise Solutions Partners Group. “The modular design of Critical Path’s platform allows customers to select the solutions and services they need today with the confidence that they will be able to rapidly introduce third-party services in the future. We are excited to participate in this program to expand our offering to this vital market.”
“Together BEA and Critical Path will deliver the next-generation of Internet communications solutions,” added Scott Edgington, vice president and general manager, BEA Global Partner Alliances. “The extension of the Critical Path Communications Platform, which includes the application infrastructure provided by BEA, will help customers more effectively manage messaging and identity management applications and Web services.”
Critical Path provides partners with a solid communications platform to build, enhance and deploy messaging solutions – from basic email to advanced unified messaging applications that integrate Web, wireless and voice services. It also offers directory and meta-directory products that simplify user profile management, strengthen information security, and enable advanced identity management solutions.
“The CP Directory and CP Meta Directory Servers are fundamental building blocks for managing users’ digital identities,” said Bill Bartow, vice president and general manager, Access Control and Identity Management Business Unit at Netegrity. “By teaming with Critical Path to extend the value of its solution to include Netegrity’s single sign-on, authentication management and entitlement management, we can enable companies to further streamline the process of managing and securing user identities across the enterprise.”
According to Mark Davis, chief marketing officer at Entrust, which has been a Critical Path partner for more than five years, “We’re excited to extend what has been a successful partner relationship with Critical Path. We will continue to team with Critical Path to provide trust and security through entitlements and enhanced Internet security solutions across extended enterprises and governments.”
Today, Critical Path also announced its “Critical Move” initiative (see separate press release) to help partners sell its messaging solution effectively into corporate enterprises.
The Critical Path Partner Program benefits partners who provide integration, deployment and support services, or deliver applications or technologies that complement the Critical Path Communications Platform. Critical Path partner categories include:
· Solution Partners: System Integrators, VARs and Consultants that deliver a range of value-added services such as integration, installation, training and support.
· Application Partners: Developers that further extend the Critical Path Communications Platform by providing applications and tools that add value to Critical Path’s offerings.
· Technology Partners: Industry leaders that provide hardware, software or devices that leverage the Critical Path Communications Platform to deliver innovative, reliable solutions.
· Channel Partners: Leading Value-Added Distributors that provide expertise in delivering solutions to small and medium-sized businesses.
Partners will be certified at two different levels, Alliance Partner and Business Partner. The program is designed as a members-only program, and membership will be evaluated by Critical Path based on selection criteria as determined by the company. Since Critical Path will be selectively recruiting partners, the introductory program is structured as a free program for baseline benefits with fee-based benefits also available.
About Critical Path, Inc.
Critical Path, Inc. (Nasdaq: CPTH) delivers software and services that power the most advanced digital communications services in the world. A leader in Internet communications, the company provides messaging solutions -- from wireless, secure and unified messaging to integrated email and personal information management -- as well as identity management solutions that provide the ability to manage users’ virtual identities. The standards-based Critical Path Communications Platform, built for high performance and reliability even at the scale of public networks, delivers the industry’s lowest total cost of ownership for messaging solutions and lays a solid foundation for next-generation communications services. Critical Path's customers include more than 40 major telecommunications carriers, 190 service providers, eight national postal authorities, 35 government agencies and 750 enterprises. More than 500 organizations outsource messaging services to Critical Path. The company is headquartered in San Francisco with offices throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America. More information on Critical Path can be found at www.cp.net.