Hitachi Computer Products Announces Availability of TPBroker 3.0, the First Commercially Proven Object Transaction Monitor -OTM-

Business Wire, Feb 9, 1998

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 9, 1998 --

Multi-Platform, CORBA-Compliant Object-Oriented Transaction

Middleware Features Modular Design for Improved Flexibility,

Integration, Availability and Performance

The Advanced Software Center of Hitachi Computer Products (America), Inc., today announced the availability of TPBroker 3.0, the first commercially proven transaction processing middleware for the Object Request Broker (ORB) market.

Hideyuki Takada, vice president of Hitachi Computer Products, said TPBroker 3.0, Hitachi's thoroughly tested and reliable OTM technology, is the first product to be used in production applications. "TPBroker 3.0 leverages Hitachi's 30 plus years of enterprise transaction experience, providing the next generation of quality, robust, and complete transactional functionality for distributed object applications," he said.

Traditional transaction processors manage the complex tasks of synchronizing the information contained in computer databases. Transactions can include everything from a bank deposit to a customer service inquiry. The distributed Internet environment poses new challenges to older transaction systems that are best solved through the flexibility and power of object-oriented technology.

TPBroker 3.0 delivers a robust Object Transaction Service (OTS) that is fully compliant with the OMG OTS 1.1 specification (including nested transactions, direct/indirect transaction context management, implicit/explicit propagation) and a CORBA 2.1-compliant ORB from Visigenic Software, Inc.

"By combining Hitachi's vision, technology, service and resources, TPBroker 3.0 is well-positioned for success as the transaction processing market rapidly continues to evolve," said Michael Hicks, Hitachi's senior business development manager.

Growing Market for Transaction Processing

The market for transaction processing amounted to $1.5 billion last year and is expected to grow to $2.2 billion in the year 2000, according to The Standish Group International, Inc.

"Middleware products like Hitachi's TPBroker 3.0 dramatically reduce application development costs while also providing excellent interoperability," said Karen Boucher, vice president of The Standish Group.

Customer Application

For example, Concorde Solutions, Inc., a subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation, became the first customer for an earlier version of TPBroker when it embedded the product into its Credit Card Online (CCOL) system. This system sits between the user on the Internet and large legacy databases and enables bank credit card customers, like Bank of America's, to receive current information about credit card accounts at download speed.

"The task of establishing connectivity between hundreds of users and legacy mainframe financial systems was daunting enough without worrying about the integrity or quality of an ORB, an OTS and a transaction processor. TPBroker 3.0 will allow us to handle a large volume of customers quickly, reliably and safely," said Isaac Applbaum, chief executive officer of Concorde Solutions.

TPBroker 3.0 is a crucial piece of the infrastructure required to develop robust transaction-based applications for the Internet or intranet. It integrates transactional technology from the database and mainframe worlds with object-oriented technology. An industry group, the Object Management Group (OMG), devised a set of standards to aid in the marriage of the object and transaction worlds, and TPBroker is the first production-quality product to achieve full compliance with this set of standards.

"TPBroker 3.0 is Internet/intranet savvy," Hicks said. "It is specifically tuned for use in Net transactions and fully supports the IIOP Protocol, allowing for the development of high-performance Internet applications with built-in transactional assurance and data integrity."

TPBroker Advantages

TPBroker 3.0 provides a low-cost pricing model for development and production licenses that will help save on the cost of building, maintaining, expanding, enhancing and integrating systems and applications. It supplies connectivity to commercially available relational databases such as Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, Informix, MQ Series, Sybase and others.

Hitachi is a worldwide leader in computer systems, networks and system software. TPBroker 3.0 is one in a long line of technologically advanced products that give Hitachi's customers a competitive advantage through innovation. Hitachi's TPBroker 3.0 provides key transaction processing features: -0-

--   Support of flat and nested transactions for complex applications
     and design-level compatibility with existing systems;

--   Implicit/explicit propagation and direct/indirect context
     management for flexible application design;

--   Distributed OTS architecture for high-performance, scalability
     and reliability that is proven by existing mission critical
     middleware products;

--   Improved internal component architecture for integration
     flexibility, administration and management;

--   A multi-thregement and administration;
     and

--   Proesellers
(VARs), system integrators and consultants. Evaluation copies will be
available at www.tpbroker.com.
     Suggested pricing starts at $2,745 for development and $4,165 for
deployment. Professional services, including consulting and training,
are also available.
     Hitachi will initially market TPBroker 3.0 to targeted vertical
markets, such as financial services, as well as to the commercial
development community.
     For more information about TPBroker via the Internet, visit
http://www.tpbroker.com.

About Hitachi

     With nearly three decades of experience in end-to-end enterprise
systems, transaction software, support and service, Hitachi delivers
highly reliable, easy-to-use, integrateable and interoperable products
world wide. Its mission is to ensure that its customers receive the
maximum return from their computing investment. Toward this end,
Hitachi employs a strategy of partnering with world class U.S.
companies to assure technical and business success for its customers.
     Hitachi Computer Products (America),agnetic tape drives and
semiconductor storage devices. HICAM also develops software and
hardware products fohtml.
     Hitachi America, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi,
Ltd., Japan, markets and manufactures a broad range of electronics,
computer systems and products and semiconductors and provides
industrial equipment and services t manufactures a wide range of products, including