GTE Corp and UK-based Dicom Group Plc have formed a strategic alliance to integrate GTE’s CyberTrust security products with web-based business-to-business applications. The CyberTrust family of products allows companies to set up public key infrastructure (PKI) networks and issue and manage digital certificates. Dicom provides electronic document management (EDM) products and services in Europe and Southeast Asia. Cristoph Loeslein, executive officer at Dicom, told ComputerWire that Dicom will bring its systems integration expertise and its presence in 22 European and Southeast Asian companies to the alliance, while GTE will bring its technology and expertise in PKI implementation. Loeslein said Dicom will add CyberTrust security products to its portfolio, integrate them with its own EDM, Data Storage and Data Security Management products and offer complete security packages to businesses within its existing sales and distribution network. The goal of the alliance is to help companies that have existing client/server based intranets running ERP applications to migrate to browser/web server based architectures. GTE currently has very little presence in Europe and Southeast Asia, and this is another reason for its interest in forming the alliance with Dicom, Loeslein said. Following the announcement of the alliance, Dicom’s share price rose 29% on the London stock exchange, turning around a steady decline in the companies share price over the last few years. Loeslein said he believed the upturn was due to market interest in anything internet, rather than expectations of a takeover attempt by GTE Corp. Though Loeslein said there had initially been discussions of a minority investment by GTE, he ruled out ruled the possibility, at least in the short term.
