PointCast Rebounds From Bandwidth Headaches

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August 31, 1998 (5:52 PM EDT)

By Andy Patrizio,

PointCast's client-based, Internet news-delivery software is being welcomed in a growing number of large corporations, and re-entering companies that had banned the product because it used too much bandwidth.

After it was introduced in early 1996, PointCast software required each client be updated individually. That meant if hundreds or thousands of corporate users updated their client simultaneously, the company's bandwidth would be almost totally consumed.

To counter this, PointCast introduced Intranet Server, which handles all PointCast updates. Individual clients, rather than pulling new data from the Internet, then pulled it from the Intranet Server, easing the strain on the external Internet pipeline.

The product that replaced Intranet Server, called Caching Manager, has demonstrated improved scalability, better administration tools, and gives users the ability to add custom content to PointCast news feeds.

Launched at the end of 1997, Caching Manager has risen from 500 installed servers to more than 2,000, accounting for 40 percent of the Fortune 1000, according to Pam Brodt, director of enterprise marketing at PointCast, in Sunnyvale, Calif.

The bandwidth savings with Caching Manager is between 70 percent and 90 percent, said Brodt. "So, instead of enterprises banning us, they've embraced us and installed the server," she said.

PNC Bank, a PointCast customer, reduced bandwidth usage by more than 90 percent with Caching Server. "We are extremely impressed with the bandwidth-saving capabilities of PointCast Caching Manager," said Eric Meredith, manager of advanced technologies at PNC Bank.

Hewlett-Packard had also banned PointCast, but is now bringing it back with a rollout to 27,000 employees. HP plans to utilize the custom content capabilities with its internal news service, called The Edge, which is staffed by former San Francisco Chronicle reporters.

After testing PointCast with The Edge content on the desktops of around 1,000 employees, HP surveyed the employees and found 92 percent said their knowledge of the industry had increased, while 75 percent said the channel had enabled them to spend less time searching for news.

PointCast's reappearance at HP is a milestone for the privately held company, said Melissa Bane, program manager for The Yankee Group in Boston.

As a result, PointCast's viewership is increasing. Media Metrix, which measures Web usage and trends, said more Internet users spend time viewing PointCast than any other content website, including Yahoo and MSNBC.

Keeping viewers is becoming more important than hits. "Engagement is a critical issue to building relationships online, and PointCast's ability to engage people longer gives them an advantage over their competitors," Bane said.