Stratus celebrates 25 years of success and innovation in fault-tolerant technology

Company founder Bill Foster in 1981 with the first Stratus server, the FT 200.

MAYNARD, Mass., June 14, 2005 – While many of its peer companies from the Massachusetts high-tech corridor have passed from memory, Stratus Technologies has embraced change, adapted technology, and remained true to its purpose as it now celebrates 25 years in the computer server business. And, like most 25-year olds, the scrappy, self-assured Stratus believes its best years lie ahead.

In May 1980, Bill Foster left the now-defunct Data General Corporation and, with Gardner Hendrie and Bob Freiburghouse, founded Stratus Computer, Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company has grown into one of the world’s top developers of technology and computer server systems for the world’s most challenging jobs. Today Stratus employs 750 people around the world, 450 of which are based in Massachusetts. Its fault-tolerant servers are chosen by banks, financial institutions, national defense, telephone networks, and stock exchanges to run software applications that must never fail to stay up and running all the time. Even the network of canal dikes that prevent flooding throughout Holland has relied on Stratus^® Continuous Processing^® technology. So has Merrill Lynch, an active customer of Stratus’ since 1982.

Counted among the company’s thousands of customers are:

Nine out of the world’s top ten pharmaceutical manufacturers
150 public safety emergency response centers
Fourteen of the 20 largest telecommunication service providers
Six of the 10 largest banks in the world
Three of the top five U.S. securities firms

Today, the renamed Stratus Technologies has its U.S. headquarters in the 287,000 square-foot building that once served as the main office of the former Digital Equipment Corporation in Maynard, Massachusetts. Located here are the U.S. company’s executive offices, finance and administration, hardware and software development, and sales and marketing operations. Stratus has R&D, sales and service offices throughout Europe and the Far East, and is represented by an extensive network of distributors in most of the rest of the world.

It is an industry leader at designing and marketing computer servers engineered not to fail. The company’s success at bridging the closed, proprietary technology world and the world of open systems and industry-standard technology is fueling Stratus’ 21st-century growth. It is among the very few firms in the world delivering continuous server availability using Intel^® processor technology and supporting the Microsoft^® Windows^® and Linux^® operating environments, which are the fastest growing parts of the global server market.

“Through booms and busts, merger frenzy and Y2K scares, Stratus has persevered and succeeded, while other hardware innovators such as Wang, Data General, Prime, Apollo, DEC and many more have met other fates,” said David J. Laurello, president and CEO, Stratus Technologies. “We have succeeded by adapting our unique brand of technology to the continuously evolving demands of customers. In many ways, Stratus is a company reborn and reinvigorated to meet the new challenges of a global marketplace. This is an achievement worth commemorating.”

About Stratus Technologies
Stratus Technologies is a global provider of fault-tolerant computer servers, technologies and services, with more than 25 years of experience focused in the fault-tolerant server market. Stratus^® servers provide high levels of reliability relative to the server industry, delivering 99.999% uptime or better. Stratus servers and support services are used by customers for their critical computer-based operations that are required to be continuously available for the proper functioning of their businesses.

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