Financial Fusion and Sun Microsystems Performance White Paper Documents Most Impressive Performance Test Results for Online Banking Transactions

Business Wire, Nov 28, 2000

Business/Technology Editors

BAI Retail Delivery Show 2000

NEW ORLEANS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 28, 2000

System Demonstrates the Capacity to Scale to Over 8.5 Million Users

Financial Fusion, Inc. and Sun Microsystems, Inc. announced today that they have released a white paper that analyzes how the Financial Fusion Web & Wireless System(TM) running on Sun Enterprise(TM) 450 servers is able to meet the arduous demands of the growing population of Web banking customers. The performance test outlined in the white paper examines the hardware system and software applications offered by Financial Fusion and Sun Microsystems, that financial institutions would require to meet the Online Banking Report's (May 31, 2000) projected Web banking population growth to 30 million total users by 2004. The results of the Financial Fusion and Sun Microsystems performance test prove that a financial institution can deploy this leading, robust solution on the market today without the associated high-cost investment in technology and infrastructure demanded by other Web banking solutions.

The performance test shows that Financial Fusion Web & Wireless System running on Sun Enterprise 450 servers can quickly and reliably process a complex matrix of customer transactions totaling more than five million in any given day - with peak loads of 388,494 transactions processed during the densest hour. The research showed user scalability results leading the industry today with support for a customer base of a financial institution with 4,644,835 users, that could handle the demands of 10,791 concurrent users, with 90% of all transactions processed in less than two seconds in the tested configuration. Additionally, the research demonstrated the capacity to scale to support over 8.5 million users based on the assumptions outlined in the white paper. Other platforms in the industry have peaked at 4,800 concurrent users, with a projected capacity to scale to a maximum 3.7 million users. Results from the Financial Fusion-Sun testing clearly anticipate the high-growth trends predicted in the industry and demonstrate to customers that their solutions are viable platforms on which to build their Web banking business.

"As consumer acceptance of Internet banking increases, the ability to handle high numbers of users and higher transaction rates is becoming increasingly essential," said Richard Bell, director of eBanking, TowerGroup. Financial Fusion and Sun Microsystems feel that the results of this project are quite timely as the scalability requirements of the Web banking arena have outpaced the NT platform's capabilities and subsequently increased the demand for Sun Microsystems' scalable and secure network-computing platform.

"Financial Fusion is dedicated to providing the online banking industry with superior technology that is able to deliver the highest volume and user thresholds with the comparatively lowest investment in infrastructure and support on the market today," said Michon Schenck, president, Financial Fusion. "Working with an industry leader like Sun Microsystems that supplies over seventy-five percent of the hardware used in the Web operations of financial institutions to optimize the capacity of the Financial Fusion Web & Wireless System, is one way Financial Fusion ensures our customer's growth and success."

"Today's Web-savvy customers demand integrated access to all of their accounts, from a myriad of devices, including browsers, cellular telephones and PDA's," said Bob De Martino, vice president, Customer Communities for Sun Microsystems. "As the demand grows for access, anytime, anywhere, from any device, financial institutions should not have to place bets and hope for a winner. This study shows the Financial Fusion-Sun solution to be a clear and proven choice."

About Financial Fusion, Inc.

Financial Fusion (www.financialfusion.com) builds complete e-finance solutions that integrate applications and middleware for retail delivery and capital markets. It serves the world's leading financial institutions through its global service and support network. The Financial Fusion Web & Wireless System, a Dynamic Template Framework for Java(tm) built to open standards, delivers enterprise-class technology to provide full spectrum financial destinations on the web; seamless performance on any Internet device; and the infrastructure for back-end connectivity and institutional electronic trading--all on a single, integrated platform. The company's global alliance partners include IBM, Sun Microsystems, e-Profile, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Intuit and CheckFree. Financial Fusion, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sybase, Inc. (NASDAQ:SYBS).

About Sun Microsystems Inc.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -The Network Is The Computer(TM) -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq:SUNW), to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that power the Internet and allow companies worldwide to dot-com their businesses. With $17.6 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 170 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com.