ShowCase Corporation Announces General Availability of Essbase/400; ShowCase, Arbor Software and IBM Team to Deliver End-to-End Data Warehouse Solution for AS/400

Business Wire, Feb 24, 1997

ROCHESTER, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 24, 1997--ShowCase Corporation, the leading provider of end-to-end data warehousing solutions, today announced the general availability of Essbase/400, ShowCase's native AS/400 version of the Arbor Essbase OLAP (on-line analytical processing) server, from Arbor Software (NASDAQ:ARSW).

ShowCase's delivery of Essbase/400 is a result of its ongoing cooperation with Arbor Software and IBM to deliver a complete data warehouse solution for the AS/400 platform.

Essbase/400 is optimized for business planning, analysis and management reporting, and is offered as a component of ShowCase STRATEGY. The addition of Essbase/400 to ShowCase STRATEGY allows customers to leverage front-end tools including the integrated Query, Report Writing and Analyzer offering included with ShowCase STRATEGY, as well as Microsoft Excel, Lotus 1-2-3 and a wide range of other leading Essbase-Ready front-end tools.

Over 25 major corporations, including companies such as The Sports Authority, Strauss Discount Auto, Bank of Luxemburg and Yamada Electric in Japan currently use Essbase/400 to perform OLAP on AS/400 resident data, typically for a variety of OLAP applications such as sales analysis, product and customer profitability analysis, budgeting, forecasting, and planning.

"Essbase/400 is the result of Arbor's high-performance Essbase OLAP server an ShowCase's expertise in AS/400 data warehousing technology," said Jim Lodestro, vice president, channel sales, Arbor Software. "We look forward to working with ShowCase to provide customers additional AS/400 data warehousing solutions."

"ShowCase is a demonstrated leader in business intelligence solutions for the AS/400," said Bill Zeitler, general manager, AS/400 Division, IBM Corp. "We are committed to continuing our relationship with ShowCase to ensure development of advanced software native to this platform, including IBM DB2 OLAP server and Web browser support."

"Our business is dedicated to developing solutions for the AS/400, allowing customers to leverage the benefits of the most widely installed application server in the world," said Ken Holec, president and chief executive officer of ShowCase. "Working closely with Arbor Software and IBM enables us to provide enterprise-class solutions with Arbor Essbase, the most advanced OLAP calculation engine available, enhanced for the most current AS/400 technology."

ShowCase Corporation

Founded in 1989, ShowCase Corporation is the leading provider of end-to-end data warehouse solutions on the IBM AS/400 platform. ShowCase STRATEGY is an integrated offering that enables customers to perform data transformation, extraction, distribution, and analysis, with the centralized security and maintenance of a server-based architecture. ShowCase STRATEGY consists of six products: Server, Query, Report Writer, Distributor, Essbase/400, and Analyzer. These are available separately or as an integrated solution.

ShowCase Corporation has more than 175 employees worldwide serving customers at more than 7,000 sites in 50 countries. The company sells products in the U.S. and Canada through direct sales operations and operates subsidiaries in Asia-Pacific, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, and the Benelux region, in addition to distributors worldwide.

For information regarding products and services, contact ShowCase at 800/829-3555 or visit their World Wide Web site at www.showcasecorp.com. -0-

Note to Editors: ShowCase is a registered trademark and STRATEGY is a trademark of ShowCase Corporation. Arbor and Essbase are registered trademarks and Essbase-ready is a trademark of Arbor Software Corporation. Other product names are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective holders, and should be treated as such.

CONTACT: ShowCase Corporation

Lisa Reicks, 507/287-2831

lreicks@attmail.com

or

Phase Two Strategies

Jenni Chang, 415/772-8420

jenni_chang@p2pr.com