MERANT and Pervasive Partner to Deliver Comprehensive Web Application Development Environment; Technology Partnership Empowers Pervasive Tango 2000 Customers with Scalable, Integrated Data Access

Business Wire, April 17, 2000

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 17, 2000

Building on the MERANT Egility(TM) solution to deliver world-class data access and integration for e-business applications, MERANT (NNM: MRNT; LSE: MRN) today announced an extension to an existing strategic technology partnership with Pervasive Software Inc. (Nasdaq:PVSW), a leading provider of software that delivers the freedom to create applications for everyone, everywhere. Under the terms of the agreement, Pervasive will integrate MERANT's DataDirect(R) technology with Pervasive's Tango 2000 Web application development environment, empowering Web developers, integrators and application service providers (ASPs) to accelerate Web application development and deployment while simplifying database management for critical, multi-platform e-business applications.

Developers worldwide depend on Pervasive's Tango 2000 for its powerful, highly productive Web development and deployment environment and fast time to market. MERANT enhances Tango 2000, providing multi-platform database access to a variety of data stores including DB2, Informix, SQL Server, Sybase and more. By implementing MERANT's technology with Tango 2000, Pervasive customers get scalable transaction-based data integration across industry-leading databases, extending the power of Tango applications to help them more rapidly create and deploy high-performance Web applications.

"We're pleased to extend our partnership with MERANT, helping Pervasive ensure we can continue to support our customers with the quality database connectivity MERANT provides," said Greg Hemstreet, director of product marketing at Pervasive. "By including MERANT's data connectivity technology with Tango 2000, our customers get multi-platform support across a Web server, application server, database server and development studio, delivering a single comprehensive solution in an easy-to-install package. Thanks to MERANT, our customers enjoy the freedom to deploy their applications on platforms that are appropriate to their Web needs, regardless of their database platform choice."

"Organizations continue to recognize the need for scalable, high-performance data connectivity to their critical e-business applications," said Michael Consoli, MERANT senior vice president and general manager of enterprise data connectivity. "By providing application service providers and end users with a combination of MERANT's DataDirect technology and Pervasive's Tango 2000, we are delivering a completely integrated solution for simplified Web application deployment."

MERANT's DataDirect technology is fundamental to the MERANT Egility Data Integration solution, helping customers rapidly deliver critical e-business systems across multiple environments. The MERANT Egility Data Integration solution combines products and services that help extend the effectiveness of data in the enterprise value chain, enabling rapid and dynamic access to integrated information for an organization's customers, partners, suppliers and employees.

About Pervasive

Pervasive Software Inc. (Nasdaq: PVSW) delivers the freedom to create applications for everyone, everywhere. The company's innovative software powers the next generation of pervasive computing, enabling e-business applications to reach beyond the desktop and easily share information across everything from handheld devices to information appliances and the Internet. A channel of more than 10,000 independent software vendors (ISVs), developers, value-added resellers (VARs) and partners builds, distributes and manages thousands of Pervasive-based applications on computing platforms across many corporate, mainstream and vertical markets.

Based in Austin, Texas, Pervasive has offices in Canada, Europe, Japan, Southeast Asia and 70 distributors covering 80 countries. Visit Pervasive on the Web at www.pervasive.com or call (800) 287-4383.

About MERANT

Founded in 1976, MERANT is a leader in Enterprise Application Development, providing the products, people and processes to accelerate the customer's business through the application of innovative information technology. The MERANT Egility(TM) framework empowers organizations to transform their enterprise applications for the changing technology and business requirements of the e-business environment, manage the application development process, and provide integrated data connectivity across the enterprise, from the mainframe to the Internet. A global organization with nearly $370 million in annual revenues and more than 2,000 employees, MERANT has 500 technology partners and more than 5 million licenses at over 35,000 customer sites - including the entire Fortune 100 and the majority of the Global 500. For additional information on MERANT and its solutions, visit the MERANT Web site at www.merant.com.

DataDirect is a registered trademark, and MERANT and Egility are trademarks, of MERANT. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.