HYPERION SOFTWARE "INTELLIGENCE" FEEDING DATA WAREHOUSE STRATEGIES; ADDS POWERFUL, NEW MULTI-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS CAPABILITIES Open Strategy Enables Companies to Meet Data Management, Analysis Needs

Business Wire, July 17, 1995

STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 17, 1995--Hyperion(R) Software (NASDAQ:HYSW) is reinforcing its stated open strategy, business solutions positioning that has led to its leadership in client/server-based financial management software by outlining its value-added role in corporate data warehouses and by introducing Hyperion Analyst, powerful new software for on-line analysis.

Hyperion Software's market-leading Hyperion Enterprise products provide the financial cornerstone for corporate data warehouses, and offer companies a choice: either a stand-alone, powerful, intelligent, financial data store or access to validated financial information through a corporate data warehouse. Hyperion Enterprise refines raw transaction data into validated financial information by adding: financial intelligence that applies accounting rules and financial standards; applications intelligence that encompasses a company's business rules and methods; and process intelligence that contains the necessary controls and procedures to ensure accuracy.

The new Hyperion Analyst product provides multi-dimensional, on-line analysis capabilities that are specifically tailored to the specialized requirements of working with financial and accounting data. Hyperion Analyst can work against data stored in either Hyperion Enterprise or Hyperion Financials.

"Hyperion Software has a compelling strategy in that it is weaving its open, comprehensive financial solution into the larger, corporate information solution," said Barry Wilderman, program director of Meta Group's Application Development Strategies. "We believe that Hyperion's customers will achieve significant value both from Hyperion Analyst, as well as the ability to easily replicate validated financial data into a traditional data warehouse."

Hyperion Analyst -- Bringing Financial Multi-Dimensional Analysis to A New Level

Hyperion Analyst is optimized for financial data and leverages the best capabilities and features of both Hyperion Enterprise and Hyperion Financials. The new software has sophisticated analysis features, many of which are "firsts" in the application software marketplace:

o Ease of Access: Using a familiar spreadsheet interface, data held in the Hyperion Enterprise and Hyperion Financials applications is accessed and analyzed by end users without writing any spreadsheet formulas or having any SQL knowledge;

o Ease of Use: Information can be accessed and explored graphically using "drag-and-drop" techniques, automatic "drill-down" capabilities and through powerful "point-of-view" navigation;

o Analysis/Viewing Options: All application dimensions can be positioned and compared in virtually any combination to create information mining capabilities.

Industry technology analysts say that Hyperion Software's newest product plays well into the drive by major corporations for more meaningful information. "Data without context is meaningless to business decision makers -- no matter how many dimensions can be accessed," said Ed Black, director of client/server solutions, Aberdeen Group. "Advanced query products with designed-in business intelligence, like Hyperion Analyst, will be readily adopted."

Company Likens Corporate Data Warehouse to Department Store

"If you think of the corporate data warehouse as a department store and the client/server user as an informed shopper, the buyer can either purchase fabric and thread to make a garment, or buy the finished outfit," explained Gordon Rapkin, Hyperion Software's vice president of Enterprise Products. "In financial management terms, we're providing validated financial information -- the finished garment -- ensuring all users access to a single version of the truth. This is very different from giving users direct access to raw financial data -- the thread, etc. -- and letting them create their own version of the truth. Hyperion Software is giving the market an opportunity to make an informed choice."

Hyperion Analyst will be commercially available by late summer at no additional charge for Hyperion Enterprise customers. It is part of the company's ongoing expansion of the product modules and capabilities within Hyperion Enterprise, currently installed in more than 1,000 major corporations.

Hyperion Software, with $122 million in sales for the twelve-month period ended March 1995, develops, markets and supports financial management software for large, multinational corporations. The company's client/server-based product suite includes a wide spectrum of accounting, management reporting, financial consolidation, budgeting and information access software. With more than 2,000 corporate customers, Hyperion Software is ranked third in the client/server accounting market by IDC, a leading provider of market research on the worldwide information technology market. The company has won the Inc./MCI Positive Performer's 1995 National Award recognizing exceptional customer service. Hyperion Software is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. -0-