HP To Optimize Baan IV BackOffice For Superior Performance On Windows NT; Enterprise Market Solution Available on Both UNIX Systems and NT Platforms

Business Wire, June 18, 1996

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 18, 1996-- Hewlett-Packard Company today announced that it will team with Baan to optimize its BAAN IV BackOffice enterprise business application software for NT enterprises.

The team will optimize BAAN IV BackOffice running Microsoft(R) SQL Server and Windows NT on HP's top-of-the-line Pentium(R) Pro-based HP NetServer LX.

Today's announcement strengthens HP's commitment to its customers to deliver outstanding enterprise business solutions, such as BAAN IV, for UNIX(R) systems and NT.

"HP is expanding its longstanding relationship with Baan in the UNIX system market to deliver solutions for the NT market," said Duncan Campbell, worldwide marketing manager of HP's Network Server Division. "Together, we intend to deliver unparalleled levels of manageability, availability and performance for our joint Baan/HP NT enterprise customers."

Nearly half of Baan's customers rely on Baan and HP for a flexible solution as their business needs change. Now, Baan and HP together will be able to offer their customers solutions in an integrated UNIX system and NT environment.

"With this expanded alliance, we are offering an optimized Baan solution on HP NetServer products that gives customers in manufacturing and vertical markets a viable solution for the NT enterprise market," said Doug Sallen, vice president of corporate marketing for Baan. "Baan's capacity for enabling customers to dynamically model their applications through a changing business environment, coupled with HP's industry-leading platforms for reliable NT computing, will, we believe, offer the first cost-effective solution for large, medium and small enterprises."

SERVICE AND SUPPORT

Baan's service and support, which help enable speedy and successful implementation of BAAN IV BackOffice on NT, will be complemented by consulting and service from HP's Professional Services Organization, which provides worldwide support for HP's full line of HP NetServer products, as well as its information-technology architecture, benchmarks, systems and network management and HP software solutions.

These services from HP span a customers' environment from desktop to data center, for both UNIX systems and NT. In addition, as a global Microsoft Authorized Support Service Center, HP can provide support for Windows NT through its reseller network.

HP NETSERVER LX PRO APPLICATION SERVER

HP's recently announced Pentium Pro-based NetServer LX Pro application server is designed to meet the performance and availability needs of the most demanding business-critical applications, such as BAAN IV. Its advanced high-availability features maximize system uptime, and its unprecedented memory and storage capacity enables it to grow as customers' needs grow.

As part of that announcement, HP also set out its clustering roadmap, which includes porting HP's proven MC/Service Guard to the NT platform, thereby delivering a robust, industrial-strength high-availability solution that helps ensure maximum uptime for critical applications.

The complete HP NetServer product line is composed of a series of PC servers that range from the entry-level, file-and-print HP NetServer LC series through the award-winning midrange HP NetServer LH servers to the high-end HP NetServer LX series.

The Baan Company (NASDAQ: BAANF: Amsterdam Stock Exchange: BAAN) is a leading provider of enterprise-wide business software applications and consulting services. Companies in the hybrid manufacturing, as well as automotive, electronics, project, and process industries use its products to streamline processes across the enterprise, as well as external processes across the supply chain. The company offers the Baan family of integrated, open-systems based applications and tools developed for the client/server architecture. The foundation for the products is Orgware, a suite of tools and methodologies which reduce the time and costs associated with implementation and continuous improvement. With Orgware, Baan is enabling a new paradigm called Dynamic Enterprise Modeling, which delivers a framework for insuring that enterprise applications are in close alignment with an organizations changing processes and business model.

The Baan Company, founded in 1978, has more than 1,750 employees, 1,700 customers and 1,900 installations worldwide. Customers are global industry leaders such as ABB, The Boeing Company, GEC Alsthorn, NORTEL and Philips.

Hewlett-Packard Company is a leading global manufacturer of computing, communications and measurement products and services recognized for excellence in quality and support. HP has 108,300 employees and had revenue of $31.5 billion in its 1995 fiscal year.

Information about HP and its products can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com. -0-

NOTE TO EDITORS: Microsoft is a U.S. registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. Windows is a U.S. registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. Pentium is a U.S. registered trademark of Intel Corp. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open(tm) Company Limited. X/Open is a trademark of X/Open Company Limited in the UK and other countries.