SBYN Seebeyond Technology Corp (MM)

SeeBeyond (Nasdaq:SBYN), provider of the world's first fully integrated composite application network suite (SeeBeyond ICAN Suite) for advanced integration and composite application solutions, today announced that Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais (SNCF), the French state-owned railroad and train operator, successfully deployed SeeBeyond to enable the real-time display of accurate arrival times on the schedule boards across the country's railway stations. With more than 890 million passengers and responsible for nearly 31,000 kilometers of Reseau Ferre de France (RFF) tracks, SNCF is one of the largest railroad operators in the world and a major player in the European Transportation Industry. With increased competition from new entrants brought about by railway deregulation and increasing customer demand for travel services, SNCF launched Programme Alliance in April 2002 to increase quality of service and efficiency in the railroad operations while enhancing control on operational costs. "After making significant investments in our distribution system, SNCF is currently focusing on improving performance and efficiency in our railroad operations, where complex business processes and information are spread across various departments," said Charles Joder, Director of Programme Alliance for SNCF. "SeeBeyond allows us to simplify systems, bringing a high level of interoperability and ensuring that accurate information is available in the right place at the right time." As a part of its Programme Alliance initiative, SNCF embraced an Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) strategy to broadly respond to Passenger Transport Division requirements around streamlining and rationalization. After an extensive evaluation of the marketplace SeeBeyond was selected and, in 2004, SNCF made the decision to standardize on the SeeBeyond ICAN Suite for the 370 identified Programme Alliance processes. One of the most visible benefits from the deployment is SNCF's ability to quickly inform travelers and the public in the event of delays and service disruption. Sensors located on the tracks collect data on trains in real time. SeeBeyond's eGate(TM) Integrator platform dispatches and routes this information to the right station in order to display accurate arrival times in real time on the various schedule boards across the station. With 1.2 million departures expected the first weekend in July in the Paris stations alone, the ability to deliver real-time, accurate information is critical for SNCF. The broadcasting of pre-announcements and announcements of arrivals in a timely manner is also invaluable to station staff to coordinate resources to better service trains and passengers. "With this global integration infrastructure, SNCF is now able to provide more reliable and accurate information to achieve our required level of performance, with better control on operational costs," added Joder. "Additionally, this approach has enabled us to unlock development resources to enable new services and applications for the passenger division's system, generating additional benefits." After a successful pilot in Marseille Saint Charles station, the project was expanded to include other major French stations, including Paris-Lyon which went live in May 2005. Another 60 stations will go in production by the end of 2005. "As markets become more challenging, organizations are beginning to realize that a Service-Oriented Architecture offers a compelling alternative to traditional development techniques in the rapid delivery of new business services -- driving cost reductions, velocity, agility and real competitive differentiators," said Ian Hill, vice president and general manager of EMEA for SeeBeyond. "As a result of the success of the current project, SNCF is now rolling this infrastructure out to an additional 60 stations." About SNCF SNCF Group (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais), consisting of the public authority SNCF, has more than 700 subsidiaries and operates in France, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK, and focuses on the transportation industry. With more than 238,000 employees, it is one of Europe's leading ground transportation groups. In 2003, SNCF reported consolidated sales of EUR 23 billion. About SeeBeyond With more than 15 years of software innovation and real-world experience in integrating systems across Global 2000 organizations, SeeBeyond delivers the industry's first integrated composite application network built on a comprehensive integration platform. The SeeBeyond(R) Integrated Composite Application Network Suite(TM) helps organizations rapidly assemble and deploy enterprise-scale end-user applications built on existing systems and infrastructure to dramatically improve business operations. SeeBeyond has more than 2,000 customers worldwide, including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, BHP Billiton, The Cleveland Clinic, The Dial Corporation, DuPont, Florida Power & Light, Fluor Daniel, Fujitsu, General Motors, Halliburton, Hertz Corporation, HP, Lockheed Martin, Pfizer, Samsung, Sprint and Sutter Health. For more information, please visit www.SeeBeyond.com. SeeBeyond is a registered trademark of SeeBeyond Technology Corporation in the United States and select foreign countries. SeeBeyond Integrated Composite Application Network Suite is a trademark of SeeBeyond Technology Corporation. The absence of a trademark from this list does not constitute a waiver of SeeBeyond Technology Corporation's intellectual property rights concerning that trademark. All other brands or product names are trademarks of their respective owners.