Informix Integrates Excalibur RetrievalWare Into Informix-Universal Server; Informix Strengthens Competitive Advantage With Advanced DataBlade Technology For Text and Visual Information Retrieval

Business Wire, June 27, 1996

MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 27, 1996--Informix Software Inc. (NASDAQ:IFMX), the leading provider of innovative database technology, today announced it will integrate Excalibur Technologies Inc.'s (NASDAQ:EXCA) RetrievalWare search capability for full-text and visual information retrieval into INFORMIX-Universal Server.

This agreement significantly expands joint development efforts between Informix and Excalibur and will result in an extensive, robust and closely coupled suite of DataBlade technologies for information retrieval.

Based upon over one year of customer feedback and optimization, the Informix-Excalibur alliance will enable users to index, search and manage both text and visual data, such as photographs, faxes, scanned images, and even video, as native data types within the INFORMIX-Universal Server.

Under the agreement, RetrievalWare text and visual retrieval capabilities will be included in each copy of INFORMIX-Universal Server at no additional cost to users and are scheduled for availability at the end of this year.

By incorporating RetrievalWare, Informix customers gain access to one of the industry's most comprehensive, flexible and accurate capabilities to find the information they need in diverse data repositories, throughout their organizations or across the Internet. RetrievalWare is the solution of choice for many of the world's most demanding information retrieval applications, including real-time news profiling, government and competitive intelligence, online services on the World Wide Web, and information asset management within enterprise intranets.

"Informix has taken the lead in defining database management systems for today, and for the future, by natively integrating Excalibur's text and image retrieval capabilities as core services within the INFORMIX-Universal Server," said Dick Williams, senior vice president, Business Units, Informix. "Businesses increasingly want to manage documents and images within their databases, particularly in Internet and Intranet applications. Only Informix provides these capabilities in a single, integrated platform."

Patrick C. Condo, president and CEO of Excalibur Technologies said "Informix's Universal Server strategy and Excalibur's products and vision are exceptionally synergistic. We share a mission to deliver solutions to manage all of an organization's information assets, regardless of structure or format. This makes for a strong, long-lasting relationship.

"The expansion of our alliance with Informix is key to our own strategy of partnering with the leading providers to the MIS community. Our commitment to this vision is such that we have included support for the INFORMIX-Universal Server in all of our product plans. We will also encapsulate new options for RetrievalWare as Informix DataBlade modules become available. This will enable customers not only to implement RetrievalWare as a distinct, enterprise application, but to seamlessly extend their database capabilities to manage the full range of text and visual information," Condo said.

Market Demand Increasing

As Meta Group advanced information management program director David Yockelson noted, the Informix-Excalibur alliance is particularly well timed. "The penetration of Internet technology into corporations will drive the need for new media management and, more importantly, a way to search for a variety of content across various platforms. The Informix-Excalibur integration will provide a cohesive way for users to find and manage a variety of information without the need for extensive indexing, character recognition or manual cataloging," he said.

The integration of RetrievalWare DataBlade technology into the INFORMIX-Universal Server will be closely coupled, powerful and scalable to support Informix's parallel processing, and RetrievalWare's optimization for high-volume storage and large numbers of concurrent users. The integration will also provide for 64-bit object ID support, roll back and recovery, and full SQL compliance.

The Informix/Excalibur alliance also includes plans to further license new products and joint development efforts. These plans include advanced DataBlade modules that will provide advanced text search functions, including Excalibur's exclusive semantic network searching; advanced visual search functions for specific data domains including faces and various document image types; real-time message filtering and real-time news profiling; video indexing and scene change monitors; automatic categorization of search results based on personalized interest; an intelligent Web and Server crawler and indexer, and advanced security features.

Excalibur has created a dedicated, Informix DataBlade snap-in technology release team, chartered to deliver these modules.

About Informix

Informix Software, based in Menlo Park, provides innovative database technology that enables the world's leading corporations to manage and grow their business. Informix is widely recognized as the technology leader for corporate computing environments ranging from workgroups to very large OLTP and data warehouse applications. Informix's database servers, application development tools, superior customer service, and strong partnerships enable the company to be at the forefront of many leading-edge information technology solution areas.