Y2k check-up courts subscribers
Jan 29th 1999: A Year 2000 software vendor and an e-commerce site developer have joined forces to offer online Y2k readiness testing for PCs. The WebVentory service is based on Y2k software from systems management vendor WRQ and has been developed by WebVision, an e-commerce developer based in Torrance CA. Users who register with the site must download the testing software, which tests the PC BIOS and scans the installed operating system and applications. The results are then compared against a knowledgebase stored on the server, which reports a headline summary of potential problems. Users must pay a $29.95 charge if they want to see the details, and can then access the report and the knowledgebase for a 90-day period. WebVision is offering corporate membership as well as individual online payment for the service.
o WebVentory
o WebVision
o WRQ

AS/400 apps for 7:11 owners
Jan 18th 1999: An AS/400 solutions provider will launch an Internet-based application service next month which is designed to appeal to the owners of independent convenience stores across the USA. ScotSystems, of Vicksburg, Mississippi, is putting the finishing touches to ICEData, a subscription-based service based on its existing applications for the oil products distribution channel, running on IBM AS/400 midrange computer systems. Delivered to Web browsers using a Java-based interface, it will offer financial, accounting, inventory control, tax and payroll functions to independent distributors and convenience store operators, of which the company estimates there are some 17,000 in the USA. Customers will access the service from PCs or network terminals via a secure Internet connection. The launch is the culmination of a seven-year project by company founder and CEO Bill Scott. "The founding fathers of computers were correct when they said only one computer was necessary to run the world - the Internet is that computer," he told ASP News Review on Friday.
o ScotSystems Inc
o ICEData

$100m fund for Oracle8i ventures
Jan 14th 1999: Oracle today launched a $100m venture capital fund to back companies developing products and services based on its forthcoming Oracle8i database platform. Application outsourcing by independent software vendors is one of the five categories of venture the fund will invest in. The others are web portals, electronic commerce, content management and other end-to-end Internet solutions. The fund will partner with established venture capital groups to co-invest in both new and developing companies, making an average investment of between $2 and $5 million. Those backed by the Oracle Venture Fund will have preferential access to Oracle development resources and will benefit from Oracle branding and marketing, the vendor said.
o Oracle

MS pushes e-commerce hosting
Jan 11th 1999: Microsoft Tuesday (Jan 5th) launched Complete Commerce, a hosted electronic commerce package that targets medium-size and large businesses. It also unveiled the Commerce Solution Directory, a listing of providers it has qualified to meet customers' commerce-hosting requirements. Complete Commerce is positioned as an all-in-one solution for Fortune 2000 businesses who want to set up an e-commerce outlet without tying up in-house resources. Ten US service providers are listed in the directory at launch, including Digex, GTE, USinternetworking and USWeb/CKS. There is also a second listing of providers who offer smaller-scale commerce hosting services. Microsoft is inviting other prospective hosting providers to download a deployment toolkit from its web site. This provides advice from Microsoft, Compaq and Intel about configuration and setup options, including server farm management, as well as suggested customer presentation materials.
o Announcement press release
o Deployment toolkit
o Commerce Solution Directory (for larger businesses)
o Commerce Solution Directory (for smaller businesses)

USi equity funding tops $95m
Jan 7th 1999: Fast-growing ASP USinternetworking announced today that it had raised $62m in its second round of equity financing, which closed last month. This brought the total raised in 1998, its first year in business, to over $95m. The most notable new investor was Siebel Systems, the leading vendor of enterprise customer relationship software, whose product forms part of USi's application rental portfolio. A Siebel executive will join USi's board. Leading telco US West, which took an initial stake earlier in the year, stepped up its investment, along with venture capital firms who participated in the first round. Two more VC firms joined the second round. Chairman and CEO Chris McCleary said USi had turned down proposals from other investors who'd wanted to join the funding round.
For previous stories on USinternetworking, see our news archive
o USinternetworking

McAfee says 9.5m rent its app
Jan 6th 1999: To mark the launch of its revamped portal in preview mode, Network Associates subsidiary McAfee yesterday (Tuesday) claimed 9.5m subscribers for its new software-based service McAfee Clinic. Previously touted as McAfee Garage, the Clinic hosts browser-access versions of popular McAfee PC utilities such as VirusScan, Nuts & Bolts and First Aid. Folding its existing services, Oil Change and SecureCast, into McAfee Clinic yielded the huge startup subscriber base. It will be free through February, when subscriptions will cost $5.95 monthly or $49.95 per year. It currently supports only Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser, with Netscape browser support promised "early this year". Other apps at McAfee.com include a branded version of the Visto Briefcase online information organiser. The site is one of the most popular Web destinations, with a monthly visitor total of 15m users.
o McAfee also announced yesterday the formation of Vulcan, a new Internet venture fund which will invest in projects designed to enhance online services.
o McAfee Online
o Network Associates