U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Awards Groove Networks $4.1 Million Multi-Year Contract for Virtual Teaming Solution

Solution supports knowledge management environment that is instrumental in Corps' transition to a "learning organization"

BEVERLY, Mass., September 1, 2004 - Groove Networks Inc. today announced that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has signed a $4.1 million, multi-year contract for Groove Virtual Office software as a component of the organization's Knowledge Management Environment, which is critical to the Corps' transition to a "learning organization."

The Corps' strategic plan for success in the 21st century, USACE 2012, describes the organization's knowledge management portal and learning network as critical to its goal of becoming a "team of teams." The Corps will rely on cross-functional teams to accomplish its mission of being the world's premier public engineering organization responding to U.S. needs in peace and war.

"Right now, the Corps is actively engaged with its day-to-day responsibilities, along with our added mission of supporting Iraq and Afghanistan reconstruction," said Wil Berrios, the Corps' chief information officer. "No matter how stretched we are, we must always remain at a high state of readiness so we can respond to any situation. Groove Virtual Office and Tomoye Simplify software are two tools for achieving our objective of leveraging our intellectual capital through collaboration, anywhere at anytime."

The Corps is creating a common operating environment that promotes the sharing of knowledge and expertise among the organization's various divisions, and with its partners. The common operating environment is critical to the organization's objective of developing standardized project management processes, and to its goal of better supporting burgeoning Communities of Practice (CoPs) and virtual teams.

The Corps' common operating environment is based on industry standards and knowledge management best practices. The Corps intends to tightly integrate Groove software for virtual teaming and Tomoye Simplify™ for CoPs. Groove Virtual Office allows USACE staff and their external partners to work together securely over a network as if they were in the same physical location, while maintaining IT control over infrastructure, standards, usage and intellectual property. Tomoye Simplify embeds the best practices, processes and social architecture unique to CoPs into a single technology platform that allows USACE staff to locate experts, share knowledge and have conversations online to help them meet their organization's strategic goals.

Groove Virtual Office will be used by the Corps to support field operations and virtual teams that require the software's ability to support secure, mobile, cross-organization communication and collaboration. Target work environments include corporate-level program asset management; regional watershed and installation management; protection of Corps civil and military critical infrastructure; integrated emergency management and homeland security; global disaster relief; methods for data exchange with government and industry partners; and support for one-stop access for Corps public information.

"The role of the Army Corps of Engineers is more critical than ever as we oftentimes find ourselves simultaneously waging war and peace in regions such as Iraq," said David Scult, Groove Networks' senior vice president of sales. "We are gratified that the Corps has selected Groove Virtual Office as a core component of its strategy to transform the organization. The common operating environment they're developing combines the best of edge- and center-based technologies to meet their complex and evolving mission."

About Tomoye Corporation
Founded in July 2000 and headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, Tomoye is the Community of Practice Company (CoP). Tomoye CoP software and services embed the best practices, processes and social architecture unique to CoPs so that you can reduce the time it takes to build a community, get results and scale to meet the growing demands of your organization. Tomoye Communities of Practice are at work today in some of the most demanding CoP environments in the world including the United Nations, the U.S. Army and the Government of Canada. For further information about Tomoye, visit http://www.tomoye.com.

About Groove Networks
Founded in October 1997 and headquartered in Beverly, Mass., Groove Networks Inc. delivers the "virtual office" through software that allows teams of people to work together over a network as if they were in the same physical location. Groove software helps organizations, large and small, save money, time and eliminate travel by offering both a desktop application for instant joint work, and a set of customizable, open collaboration capabilities that enhance the utility and value of existing solutions. For more information about Groove Networks, visit http://www.groove.net.