Merging of Technologies a Quantum Leap for Digital Asset Management (DAM)

Rumble Group of Dallas, Texas is proud to announce its source code license agreement of StudioCentralT Library, advanced asset management infrastructure from SGI (NYSE: SGI). Rumble will combine its technology with that of StudioCentral and will market them under the name RNIT, an abbreviation for Rich Media Network Infrastructure. Rumble will offer licensing and support to new customers for the former StudioCentral software. Rumble has been working for the last two years with the StudioCentral development team to develop the unique feature set of RNI and will continue with additions and upgrades. StudioCentral software is middleware infrastructure with over 70 engineering man-years of development and is deployed at educational facilities and government agencies as well as global media companies worldwide.

"We are thrilled that Rumble Group is taking on the development of StudioCentral and bringing the product into a new phase of deployment." said Jan Silverman, senior vice president of Marketing, SGI. "We're confident that the time is right for Rumble Group and SGI to bring our unique expertise in digital asset management to a wider audience."

The RNI solution is designed for scenarios where there is a requirement of high availability of media assets, such as those used by post-production, broadcast, entertainment and industries whose businesses revolve around rich media content. The product addresses the needs of these kinds of production-oriented enterprises to access, share, distribute and archive video, audio and graphics files.

"We believe that most corporations are actually media companies in their own right. Everyone understands the explosion of the amount of rich media in corporations. There is greater complexity today of the actual files themselves, whether it is a combination of text and stills, illustrations or photographs, video, audio or other time based media. There is also a greater richness to the collaboration process of accessing files from different participants in different places and time zones, either while in the production or in distributing assets globally. RNI addresses both these axis of richness for all companies," said Sean-Michael Daley, Founder and vice president, Strategy and Product Design for Rumble.

Rumble Group is also confirming the naming of Lee Harrison of I/O Partners as its CEO. I/O Partners, a respected computer systems integration company, will add Rumble Group's products to its current list of integration products while Harrison leads the commercial implementation to expand Rumble USA's presence and business activities.

"Sean-Michael Daley and I have been looking for the right person and the right business situation to bring our products into North America. Therefore the alliance with I/O Partners was fortuitous as we achieved both in one strike. Lee Harrison is a proven leader with unquestionable business acumen who understands digital asset management. He has a powerful set of experiences in the areas of media technologies and particularly in complex problem solving around rich data oriented technical solutions. We couldn't have asked for a better fit nor for a more appropriate leader for our vitally important US activities," commented Rick Holiday-Smith, Chairman of Rumble.

"It is exciting to find two companies sharing the same vision for this rapidly developing market space. It is truly a global community when two separate businesses from opposite ends of the world can work together, joining forces to create a better product, a better service for the complex world of digital asset management. Merging our two technologies and harnessing our combined expertise will greatly expand our sales opportunities," said Harrison.

Rumble is bringing to fruition the exceptional idea of a "dBank" which leverages a group of industry-leading companies to deliver a collaborative digital asset management solution that spans across organizational boundaries. "RNI dBank is Rumble Group's managed digital asset management service. Rumble has selected a number of key strategic technology providers and certified them both individually and collectively, in our labs in Dallas. This allows Rumble to offer a highly robust and available Digital Asset Management solution labelled Rumble RNI Enterprise. The benefits to the customer are no capital expenses, one vendor to deal with, complete system integration and aggressive development path," added Daley.

The product offerings that fall under the RNI Enterprise umbrella include a wide array of DAM solutions. Brand Asset Manager (BAM), is a software solution that addresses the efficient use of brand assets for global enterprises. Studio Manager is a solution that provides an on-line collaborative workspace for creative teams and allows for consistent control of corporate identity. Commercial Distribution Manager is a secure and scalable solution that streamlines the on-line sale of digital assets. And for those enterprises needing dissemination of time-sensitive news, press releases, and product information, Rumble's Information Distribution Manager is the solution that handles an unlimited amount of materials to numerous recipients. Another RNI product, Media Asset Library, is for storing, organizing and retrieving digital media assets. This particular product can be used to manage any type of media and can be adapted for use in any given enterprise. All the RNI product offerings are designed to be independent entities or can work in conjunction with any of the other solutions.

About SGI
Celebrating its 20th year, SGI, also known as Silicon Graphics, Inc., is the world's leader in high-performance computing, visualization and the management of complex data. SGI" products, services and solutions enable its technical and creative customers to gain strategic and competitive advantages in their core businesses. Whether being used to design and build safer cars and airplanes, discover new medications and oil reserves, predict the weather, entertain us with thrilling movie special effects or provide mission-critical support for government and defense, SGI systems and expertise are empowering a world of innovation and discovery. The company, located on the Web at www.sgi.com, is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., and has offices worldwide.