EasyCo unveils a low-cost alternative to on-site computers

Two of the MultiValue community’s best-known names have come together in a joint venture aimed at bringing low-cost MV computing to a wider range of small to medium-sized businesses.

The Easy Computing Company is the brainchild of Doug Dumitru of Modular Software and Sam Anderson of Repton Data, and represents the virtual re-invention of computer time-sharing as a flexible, secure and economical alternative to on-site computers.

Time-sharing as an industry was born in the late 1960s when hardware was prohibitively expensive, the skills required to maintain it were costly to obtain and the overall cost of ownership was such that it was out of the reach of all but the very largest corporations. Time-sharing meant that smaller companies could enjoy the benefits of computer resources at a comparatively modest cost.

Falling computer prices coupled with comparatively static communications charges for the dial-up links all but wiped it out as an industry by the mid-90s, but the founders of EasyCo are confident of its renaissance as a technology for the new Millennium.

They argue that the absolute dollar value of the labour costs to administer multi-user computers is about the same as it was 20 years ago, even though the hardware costs have fallen a thousandfold and the widespread use of fibre-optic technology is driving communications costs down towards a similar level in terms of cost-per-datum transmitted. This, they say, makes time-sharing make sense again.

Under its Easy TimeShare service, EasyCo offers:

• freedom from the burdens of computer ownership;
• business and financial flexibility through a month-to-month rental policy;
• an end to many of the cashflow headaches and technical concerns of computerisation - average costs are as little as $50-$75 per month;
• a choice of database platforms: Unidata, Universe, jBASE or D3;
• optional encrypted data transmission, including support for the DES 56bit standard for telnet connections, RC-4 for browser-based connections, and server and client-side firewalls;
• low-cost telecommuting - all you need is a PC running Internet Explorer 4 or better, and a dialup account;
• high uptime - servers on both East and West Coasts, disk mirroring, multiple data channels, and a service guarantee;
• an Internet presence for your company including domain, e-mail, fax-on-demand, and dynamic web-page support;
• significant potential cost savings.

Each database host system runs on a fast, robust Intel-based x86 machine running RedHat Linux, with a minimum specification of dual-processor Pentium II 400MHz, 6.4Gb “boot” hard disk, cold-swappable 18Gb mirrored drives for data, UPS backup and connection to three network segments - primary and backup Internet, and a 100MHz local administration network. There is a choice of database platforms covering current releases of D3, Universe or Unidata on Linux, or an EasyCo customised version of jBASE.

For more information, contact the Easy Computing Company on +(610) 544 6304 or on the web at http://www.easyco.com.

Last Updated: 08 December 1999

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