ST Releases VL Accelerator version 4.0
iSeries400 - Windows Development Made Easy

BLOOMFIELD, NJ – June 13, 2001 – Surround Technologies, LLC, a leading developer in Windows development for the iSeries 400, today unveiled Frameworks for Windows, the latest addition to its Drill Down Frameworks suite. Version 4.0 of Surround's own Windows development standards, this new product is estimated to improve team development efforts by more than 50%, while improving end user acceptance and efficiency by 25% or more due to a more natural and efficient Windows standard interface. The Framework allows developers to quickly generate shell systems with a standard Windows user interface with virtually no programming, and to then "plug-in" there own business-specific functionality.

Frameworks for Windows 4.0 is built upon LANSA Inc.'s Visual LANSA development tool and comes complete with a set of programs, files, components, wizards and standards that provide the basis, or framework, for the design, development, and implementation of large scale software applications.

The Frameworks has come a long way since its inception in '97," states Lee Paul, CEO and Senior Partner at Surround Technologies, LLC. "It has proven to be an irreplaceable tool in our development efforts, and has been the deciding factor in the success of our own software such as the Universal FTP Interface System (UFTP) and our Freight Management Systems (FMS) package."

"This tool can literally cut your development time in half," declares Derek Maciak, Vice President of Product Development at Surround Technologies, LLC. "In addition, it provides increased reliability and consistency in our development team's techniques and programming efforts."

Along with the development of their products, Surround Technologies, LLC has used this tool to successfully develop and deploy custom built systems for many of their clients. "Not only did Surround's technology decrease the time necessary to develop our Parish Information System," exclaims Marty Thompson, Director of Information Technology for the Diocese of Steubenville, OH. "But, the end users of the software rave about the ease of use and similarity to the many familiar Windows products that they use daily.

Surround Technologies, LLC recently used this new technology to help Thinplex, LLC, a start up company in California, develop their Store Management Solution software package. Bob Springston, President and Chief Technical Officer at Thinplex says "This technology gave us a significant jumpstart in the development of our Store Management Solution product, which allowed us to quickly move it to the market and turn a profit faster.

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