IONA Technologies Extends Mainframe Middleware Support with OrbixPL/I for OS/390

Business Wire, Feb 2, 1999

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 2, 1999--IONA Technologies (NASDAQ:IONAY), the world leader in Making Software Together(tm), is today announcing its latest product, OrbixPL/I for OS/390(tm). OrbixPL/I for OS/390 brings CORBA(r) middleware functionality to mainframe developers who build applications with PL/I, a third generation mainframe language. By using OrbixPL/I, developers can integrate existing mainframe applications across the enterprise to other server platforms and the Internet.

Reflecting the mission-critical nature of mainframe applications, IONA is announcing a pre-release program for OrbixPL/I at IONA World 99. The program will enable IONA to work closely with mainframe customers to ensure the product meets their development needs. This program follows similar successful initiatives with IONA's other mainframe products, Orbix(r) for OS/390 and the Orbix IMS Adapter and Orbix CICS Adapter.

One of the world's largest financial institutions, Credit Suisse, has been extensively involved with IONA in the development of this technology. On February 2, during a presentation to be delivered at IONA's global users' conference, IONA World 99, Martin Prater, CORBA manager at Credit Suisse will explain how Credit Suisse is using IONA's Orbix products, in particular OrbixPL/I, to enable the integration of new technologies with its existing computer systems.

"The Orbix product family provides a powerful cross-platform infrastructure to build, integrate and deploy enterprise IT applications," commented Maurice Martin, senior product manager for OS/390 products at IONA Technologies. "Orbix is increasingly being used as the standard infrastructure for enterprise applications from the mainframe across Windows, UNIX and the Internet. As a result of its success, we are focused on extending Orbix to support a wider range of mainframe technologies. OrbixPL/I enhances the capabilities of Orbix for OS/390 by enabling the integration of mainframe applications written in PL/I with the enterprise. This is in addition to our existing support for COBOL."

IONA's OrbixPL/I for OS/390 supports interface-based application development by using the CORBA standard Interface Definition Language (IDL) and Internet InterORB Protocol (IIOP) for interface definition and execution between the mainframe and other platforms. IONA's OrbixPL/I for OS/390 features both an IDL to PL/I compiler and a PL/I object adapter that exposes key Orbix interfaces in PL/I to facilitate development of PL/I Orbix applications. The product currently provides support for batch PL/I clients and servers and PL/I IMS and CICS servers.

For further information on the OS/390 product set please visit: http://www.iona.com/products/orbix/orbixformvs

The Orbix for OS/390 manual and white paper are available at: http://www.iona.com/products/orbix/orbixformvs/fordevelopers.html

To find out more about the pre-release program, please email: pli@iona.com

For further SALES information, please contact: USA: 1-800-orbix4u (6724948) Europe: 353 1 662 5255 Asia Pacific: 61-8-9288 4000

Founded in 1991, IONA Technologies (NASDAQ:IONAY) is the world leader in Making Software Work Together(tm). IONA's leading product, Orbix(r), provides customers with a standards-based enterprise middleware solution to make diverse software components work together in a reliable, dependable and scaleable manner. According to IDC's market research, Orbix, which is used by over 3,500 businesses worldwide and conforms to the Object Management Group's CORBA specification, is the world's leading object middleware product.

NOTE TO EDITORS: To access IONA press releases and background material on the web, visit: http://www.iona.com/news/pressroom/. If you would like to receive IONA press releases by e-mail, contact Sarah Lima at sarahl@iona.com.

Orbix is a registered trademark of IONA Technologies. Making Software Work Together is a trademark of IONA Technologies. CORBA is a trademark or registered trademark of Object Management Group, Inc. in the US and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.