Attensa Introduces Enterprise RSS Feed Server Appliance

WebKnowHow
Wednesday, July 19, 2006; 08:56 AM

Attensa, Inc., developer of RSS software for businesses, introduced its innovative enterprise feed management appliance. The Attensa Feed Server is a Web feed server appliance that can be easily installed behind the firewall to create a secure, scalable, enterprise RSS environment. The Attensa Feed Server makes it easy for administrators to set-up and manage Web feed usage. IT administrators have full control over subscription access and the appliance makes it easy to quickly configure specific feeds for individuals and groups.

The Attensa Feed Server architecture provides the enterprise IT administrator full control over RSS subscription access. RSS subscriptions are securely stored behind the corporate firewall.

With the Attensa Feed Server individuals, workgroups, departments and entire organizations can securely receive internal and external RSS information. RSS articles can be read in Microsoft Outlook, in a secure online reader or on a mobile device. Attensa's unique AttentionStream synchronization ties the server to the company's desktop, web and mobile RSS readers so articles read, filed and deleted are continuously updated, regardless of when or where they are accessed.

"Web feeds are quickly evolving into the de facto delivery platform for getting critical business information to the right people automatically," said Craig Barnes, CEO of Attensa. "Just as companies integrated servers to manage email and the demands it placed on their organizations, Web feed servers are needed to manage the flow of information. These servers must easily integrate with current enterprise infrastructure; efficiently transfer information; protect valuable, proprietary information; and be scalable to serve large organizations. The Attensa Feed Server is all this and more."

The turnkey appliance is deployable in less than three hours and resides behind the firewall ensuring all data is kept private. It is a Linux-based system utilizing Java, TomCat and Apache. The appliance uses an open source database for its data store and can be optionally integrated with Microsoft Active Directory for user and group information, and with Microsoft Exchange for feed delivery via Outlook and other Exchange clients. Deployment is simplified because there is no need to install client software. RSS users can access their feeds through Attensa's AJAX Web RSS reader application. Or the server can be connected with Microsoft Exchange, so users can access their feeds via Microsoft Outlook.

Organizations can further trim the costs of information work by connecting the Attensa Feed Server to Attensa for Outlook, a business class RSS reader designed to help knowledge workers cut through information overload by intelligently prioritizing RSS feeds and articles. Attensa for Outlook uses a unique predictive ranking technology which prioritizes RSS subscriptions and articles based on their importance to the reader.

The Attensa Feed Server uses AttentionStream synchronization to tie desktop, web and mobile RSS reader clients together so articles read, filed and deleted are treated consistently across all of the clients.

Client software requires either Microsoft Windows 2000 or later, or one of the following Web browsers: Microsoft Internet Explore 6.0 or later, Firefox 1.0 or later, or Safari 1.2 or later. 

Attensa for Outlook 1.5, is in public beta and is free for 60 days. It can be downloaded at www.attensa.com