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EXHIBIT 99
NEWS RELEASE
MILINX BUSINESS GROUP INC.
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BUSINESS PLAN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
JULY 2000
CERTAIN MATTERS DISCUSSED IN THIS SUMMARY ARE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
INTENDED TO QUALIFY FOR SAFE HARBOR FROM LIABILITY ESTABLISHED BY THE PRIVATE
SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS ARE
INHERENTLY BY DEFINITION UNCERTAIN AND SUBJECT TO MANY RISKS. SUCH STATEMENTS
SHOULD BE VIEWED WITH CAUTION.
OUTLINE PROFILE OF MILINX
Milinx Business Group, Inc. is an Application Service Provider (ASP) with
services aimed at the SOHO (Small Office/Home Office), SME (Small/Medium
Enterprise) and various Reseller market sectors in North America. An application
service provider rents software applications, stored on its own servers to
businesses and individuals for a monthly fee. These services are delivered over
a Wide Area Network, usually the Internet, or a secure Virtual Private Network
through the Internet. It is our objective to rapidly expand our sphere of
operations first in North America and then globally.
THE ASP MARKET
The ASP delivery model is well positioned to become the dominant business
computing model in the first decade of the 21st century, with forecasts of
market value from reputable technology commentators growing from US $6 billion
in 2001 (Forrester), $ 23 billion in 2003 (Gartner Group) to US $44 billion in
2004 (Ovum). The ASP market has only emerged very recently as technological
advancements in high bandwidth and data communications over the Internet have
matured to enable remote provision of applications and data. Microsoft has
validated the new move forward in this market by announcing, as recently as one
month ago, their ASP service offerings and direction.
The advantages of ASPs to end-users are considerable. This delivery model
reduces the cost of software use, cuts the implementation time for new software
and hardware from months to weeks, and allows for frequent upgrades and the
ability to choose best-of-breed applications. It also reduces the need to
maintain an expensive and increasingly scarce human resource--the internal
Information Technology (IT) staff.
However, perhaps the most compelling argument to support the emergence of the
ASP is that this delivery model allows businesses to concentrate on their core
competencies - not on their computers. Likewise, current enterprise IT resources
are freed from the requirements of system maintenance and upgrades, and enabled
to concentrate on projects and processes that leverage the strategic objectives
of the firm. Thus, THE ASP DELIVERY MODEL ENABLES USERS TO MAXIMIZE THEIR
COMPETITIVENESS. In the ultra-competitive business environment of the 21st
century, the ASP delivery model will arguably become obligatory for firms
wishing to compete effectively.
OBJECTIVES AND PENETRATION STRATEGY
Milinx intends to utilize our CORE COMPETENCY as a full-service ASP to complete
the execution of our Business Plan to become a Top 10 ASP in the near term, and
a major player in the middle ground of the ASP market. By middle ground, we
refer to both the customers that we seek, and the applications we deliver. It is
not our intention initially to compete for the delivery of complex applications
to large corporations. There are many ASPs in this
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market space who are finding customer adoption difficult because a buy decision
involves "bet the business" leap of faith by the customer in the capabilities
and reliability of the ASP. Our view is that initial market penetration is most
likely to be successfully achieved through an entry-level suite of
non-mission-critical applications, which are swiftly followed by an upgrade
route to more sophisticated applications.
STRATEGIC APPROACH & OFFER
Our strategic approach is to address the three key market sectors in the
following sequence. The primary targets will be SOHOs, and various categories of
Resellers, quickly followed by an attack on the SME market. Small and medium
size businesses tend to be more adaptable and open to new innovations, because
of flexibility in internal decision-making processes and limited capital outlay
for technology infrastructure. We believe these two sectors will therefore be
more predisposed to be early adopters. Of course, we are not precluding the fact
that there are many early adopters among large corporations that are also
looking at the ASP model for their business. However, the experience we gain and
the partnerships we form in this initiative will greatly assist a successful
assault on the corporate sector at a later date.
The launch product targeted at the SOHO sector is comprised of an initial suite
of web presence and e-commerce enabling tools. Web presence and e-commerce tools
allow a company or individual to create their own web site and sell products and
services online. There are three main product suites that are unique to Milinx:
Milinx Portal Suite, Milinx Communicator Suite and Milinx CRM Suite. These
offerings will be augmented in scale and substance in the near term to include
the following products:
MILINX PORTAL SUITE:
MiPortal is a secure Web-based user environment that allows an organization to
bring together employees, partners, suppliers and customers under one user
domain. The Milinx Portal Suite can be customized and personalized, and
aggregates content and information from inside and outside the customer's
organization, while acting as gateway to software applications used by the
customer's enterprise. This much is common among portals, although customization
is a much-sought-after feature. The Milinx Portal Suite also provides views of
content from syndication services, corporate intranets, suppliers, customers,
and current business applications, using a single point of access. This creates
a dynamic information and content link allowing anytime, anywhere access for
everyone in the value chain. Unlike many portal interfaces, with Milinx the
business process determines the user view, not the vendor products or
sometimes-conflicting internal initiatives.
MISTORE
This application creates a customized and personalized web site for retailers
who wish to have an electronic store and shopping catalogue for selling their
goods over the Internet in a secure Web-based user environment. The easy
user-interface allows customers to build their catalogues online. Other features
include domain name registration and a single point of access for customers. All
back-end operations are perfectly integrated with all financial and delivery
operations, and in case all this is not enough to get a customer's online store
online, Milinx maintains a multimedia call center and training to serve
customers on a 24/7 basis.
The benefits are clear: this kind of quick and easy implementation gives our
customers a clear time-to-market advantage and a world class infrastructure and
gives retailers a cost-effective approach to building business globally via the
Internet without costly support, design and maintenance fees.
MICONTENT
This service provides the end user with relevant content from inside and outside
the enterprise, and organizes workflows and content creation for posting to
websites. This allows our customers' enterprises to have multiple, non-technical
content providers contributing to their websites and Intranets. In addition,
users can customize content they view through the portal, and outside content
can be provided by syndication services and news organizations, then filtered by
topic and relevance.
This allows organizations to provide fresh, continuously updated content both to
employees and customers. Customers of Milinx will be able to quickly change
their websites to reflect marketing campaigns and other special initiatives,
while easily controlling content (posting and archiving) through a Web-based
administration interface.
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MiCommunications Suite:
MIOFFICE
This office productivity and communications solution acts like a virtual
intranet delivered through the ASP model to corporate SME and SOHO end-users. It
comprises a suite of applications accessible over any Internet Web browser
interface in the world. Applications include calendar, collaboration
applications, email and virtual file sharing and storage designed especially for
delivery via the Internet in the ASP model. After the Phase 2 enhancement,
customers will be able to access a full-featured office productivity suite
through this virtual meeting and working space, with applications including word
processing, spreadsheet, and presentation. In addition, the Milinx PROPRIETARY
email application will improve email communication by augmenting text messages
with multiple voice annotations.
Our customers can look forward to enjoying the benefits of anytime, anywhere
access to the best-of-breed office suite without support and implementation. Add
to this anytime, anywhere collaboration and file-sharing abilities, plus
enhanced email access, and you have a package that's hard to beat.
MIMESSAGING
Unified messaging is fast becoming ubiquitous, but a company like Milinx that
combines and organizes all messages received in any format into a single,
universal inbox still has a competitive edge. Customers access can all email,
voice, fax and paging messages through a single phone call or Web page,
configure call-forwarding, routing, and messaging anywhere, anytime through
integrated Internet and telecommunications technologies, plus voice-recognition
integration and text-to-speech conversion.
This gives Milinx customers secure access and control over all communications
for consumers and businesses through a single-point provider. With this
application, senders and recipients have multiple choices for conditional or
immediate contact. Overall, the application improves communications and ensures
that urgent messages are delivered immediately.
MINETWORK
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a secure network, which uses public network
infrastructure such as the Internet to deliver data. It creates encrypted,
real-time connections between multiple points, which provides the ability to tie
together an enterprise headquarters with remote workers and branch offices.
Furthermore, the service is not necessarily static - it can be dynamic
(established for short periods of time and then electronically dismantled or
re-configured). This system alleviates concerns about privacy and security
without the cost of establishing private network infrastructure with dedicated
connections, and accommodates corporate network expansion easily with access via
any browser, anywhere, anytime while providing secure low-cost access for remote
work force
MISTORAGE
This is a web-accessible form of storage intended to alleviate increasing
demands for storage on local area and corporate networks. A Web-based form of
file management provides complete views of files stored locally and with the
ASP. This form of storage provides secure, remote access to files for common use
such as presentations and project plans or reports. Because cost is amortized
over many clients, storage cost is reduced. This form of storage also addresses
the problem of growing email traffic (approximately 30% increase per year) by
reducing the cost of keeping a record of e-correspondence. E-storage also
provides a low-cost repository for organizations that store large file types
such as multimedia and images
MIBILLING
This application allows companies to offer private-label bill presentment and
provides easy payment for online customers. It interacts with the enterprise
accounting software and content database to provide transparent branding
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on bills, and includes e-commerce back-end process payment for immediate deposit
to the corporate account. This reduces accounts receivable and improves cash
flow while offering an alternative payment route for customers. The client does
not have to invest in Web software or hardware, and the real-time account
reports raise customer satisfaction.
MILINX CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM) SUITE:
The MiCRM solution focuses on better management and support of the customer base
and potential customers a user may have. Web-based self-support and
communication are used to create a "single view" of the customer throughout the
enterprise and unify communication channels to the customer. In addition, Milinx
CRM offers sales support modules and takes advantage of Internet-based telephony
and web presence.
This CRM solution raises customer satisfaction by allowing multiple points of
contact while eliminating contradictory modes of support and sales, and allowing
each enterprise department to understand each customer from every other
department's perspective. At the same time, it lowers overall support costs by
making more effective use of agent/customer time.
The launch product targeted at the reseller market provides a secure,
personalized portal for our customers, which allows applications and content
aggregation to be brought into to one window on the Internet. This portal
concept allows direct interaction between all participants in the value chain,
and becomes the vehicle through which we deliver applications and data to our
customers. Those applications will initially include Virtual Private Office
(email, unified messaging, calendar and collaborative tools), electronic bill
presentment and payment, Intranet provision, e filing and web document
management. The portal will also FACILITATE THE NEW FRONTIER OF THE INTERNET
KNOWN AS P2P, OR PEER-TO-PEER COMPUTING. Not to be confused with peer-to-peer
networking, peer-to-peer computing is the concept whereby Internet information,
instead of being held in a few central locations, is spread out and available on
every personal computer connected to the Internet. Also known as "content at the
edge" this structural approach could be used to create online auctions without
any middleman or Internet searches that find up-to-date information from many
sources besides web pages.
Collectively, the offerings with which Milinx will enter the ASP market
represent a suite of products virtually unrivalled in depth, functionality and
comprehensiveness for our key target sectors, and places the Company in a strong
position to score rapid penetration gains and achieve a significant position in
the fast-emerging ASP market. Our role will be that of a one-stop e-business and
productivity-enabling Firm.
COMPETITIVE ACTIVITY
The ASP landscape continues to be a maelstrom of turbulent activity, with many
new ASPs entering the market, and existing players changing their business
models in an attempt to improve their competitive position. In our view, much of
the latter is a reaction to the difficulties that ASPs having encountered in
selling mission-critical ERP applications to larger companies. Unlike Milinx,
many ASPs lack a clear and focused strategy to develop demand in what is, after
all, an industry in its nascent stages. We have a lucid understanding of the
need to provide a simple entry point to ASP computing linked to a logical
upgrade route leading to more complex applications. This deep understanding of
the technology buying process is a result of Milinx's early adoption of the ASP
model, leading to successful market acceptance with ACTUAL customers as early as
1998.
OUR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Milinx is acutely aware of the imperative to develop a position of LONG TERM,
SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE. Our R&D team is completely focused on
developing innovative, proprietary technology that enhances and expands the
functionality of the third party applications we deliver. In this way, the offer
becomes a mosaic of applications, many of which are unique to Milinx, resulting
in the totality of the services, rather than merely an amalgam of third party
solutions. Our Voice/Text email invention, which features voice-enhanced email
(and has the potential to make typing a thing of the past for emails) is one
example of a worldwide patent-pending innovation that we have developed. MILINX
IS ALSO COMMITTED TO BUILDING ITS OWN "TOOLKIT" WHICH WILL ENABLE EASE OF
CUSTOMIZATION AND DESIGN FOR THE MANY APPLICATIONS THAT THE COMPANY OFFERS.
We have several competitive advantages, which relate to:
- The timeliness, depth and comprehensiveness of our offers,
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- The reliability and scalability of our industry-leading software
and hardware, which is based on Sun Microsystems, Netscape, and
iPlanet (a Sun/Netscape Alliance) core technology, and
- The experience and knowledge we have gained from developing
proprietary software and servicing customers based on our early
adoption of the ASP delivery model.
It is our belief that some ASPs are currently at risk of commoditization, as a
result of concentrating solely on reselling third party applications. As the
market grows and matures, others will be able to enter the market and replicate
these offers without great difficulty. To protect ourselves from the danger of
commoditization, Milinx focuses on a comprehensive Research and Development
program, staffed with proven IT Industry Professionals, to deliver Milinx' own
unique, patented technology. This propriety technology will provide significant
differentiation for our brand of product services.
SUBSCRIBER RECRUITMENT, REVENUE, CASH FLOW AND PROFITABILITY PROJECTIONS
By our direct marketing and reseller programs, it is our goal to recruit at
least 15,000 subscribers by the end of calendar Q4 in 2000, increasing to 60,000
by the end of calendar Q2 in 2001, and 120,000 a year later. Recognizing the
pronounced changes in investor goals and expectations, Milinx is highly focused
on achieving profitability and, presuming the timely delivery and market
acceptance of our product line, the Company is projecting positive cash flow in
calendar Q1 in 2001, and profitable operations in calendar Q2, 2001.
MANAGEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE
Milinx has carefully assembled a team of skilled, experienced professionals in a
management framework that embraces all the professional disciplines required to
make the company a major player in the ASP market. The management and
administration infrastructure already in place deliberately mirrors that of a
much larger company, and reflects our ambition and intent to grow quickly,
unencumbered by the organizational and administrative structural problems which
can affect firms unprepared for rapid development and deployment.
INVESTOR EXIT STRATEGIES
On June 8, 2000, the common shares of Milinx began trading on the NASD Over-the-
Counter Bulletin Board (OTCBB) under the symbol "MIXBA". As soon as the Company
has achieved demonstrable trading volume and our market capitalization meets or
exceeds $75 million dollars for a period of at least 30 days, we intend to
immediately apply for Nasdaq National Market status. The importance of this
occurrence will be to provide increased public awareness of Milinx that, in many
cases, further enhances shareholder value.
CAUTION ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS IN THIS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
IN THIS SUMMARY, FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS FROM WHICH ACTUAL RESULTS COULD
DIFFER INCLUDE THE ABILITY OF MILINX TO GROW QUICKLY AND EXPAND ITS OPERATIONS
GLOBALLY, ASPS BECOMING A DOMINANT BUSINESS COMPUTING MODEL OR ACHIEVING THE
REVENUES PREDICTED BY ANALYSTS, THE ABILITY TO REDUCE CUSTOMERS' COSTS, THE
DEVELOPMENT OF PROPRIETARY TECHNOLOGY, THE RECRUITMENT OF CERTAIN NUMBERS OF
SUBSCRIBERS, AND EXPECTATIONS OF POSITIVE CASH FLOW AND PROFITABILITY.
IMPORTANT FACTORS THAT COULD CAUSE ACTUAL RESULTS TO DIFFER MATERIALLY FROM
THOSE IN THE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS INCLUDE NEW OR COMPETING TECHNOLOGIES
THAT COULD LOWER THE PROSPECTS OF SUCCESS FOR MILINX OR THE ASP INDUSTRY, DELAYS
IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND DEPLOYMENT OF HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE, COMPETITION OR MARKET
PERCEPTION AFFECTING THE ABILITY TO RECRUIT SUBSCRIBERS, DELAYS OR
IMPLEMENTATION PROBLEMS THAT INCREASE CUSTOMERS' COSTS, AND THE POSSIBILITY THAT
SUBSCRIPTION REVENUE AND NEW INVESTMENT WILL NOT MEET EXPECTATIONS AND THUS
AFFECT PLANS FOR OPERATION, EXPANSION AND PROFITABILITY.