Sonic Software Introduces New Software Products for the Distributed Enterprise

Business Wire, Oct 24, 2001

Business/Technology Editors

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 24, 2001

SonicXQ(TM), the Reliable Platform for Web Services, and New Version

of Award-Winning SonicMQ(R)Messaging Software Announced at Web

Services Edge

Sonic Software Corporation today announced new software products for enterprise application messaging at Sys-Con's Web Services Edge 2001 Conference in Santa Clara, Calif. Sonic Software's comprehensive suite of messaging middleware provides customers with a solid foundation for developing and deploying distributed services across the extended enterprise. The company announced separately the introduction of SonicXQ(TM), a reliable platform for Web services, and SonicMQ(R) 4.0, a new version of its leading E-Business Messaging Server.

Sonic Software's customers have successfully implemented SonicMQ--the most reliable, secure and scalable application messaging product on the market today--for developing and deploying integrated applications with greater flexibility, while future-proofing their messaging architecture. Sonic Software's product suite provides the connectivity demanded by businesses today, be it within the enterprise or through a firewall, accessing partners in a trading exchange, or across the Internet.

Market research firm Gartner predicts that by the second half of 2002, 75 percent of companies with greater than $100 million in revenue will interface periodically with Web services. Support for service-oriented architectures puts Sonic Software at the forefront of messaging technology. Messaging is the best foundation for creating distributed services by connecting loosely coupled applications both within the firewall and across the extended enterprise.

"As Web services emerge as a standard model for integrating enterprise applications, companies seek new alternatives to the excessive deployment time and costs of yesterday's laborious integration platforms," said Greg O'Connor, president of Sonic Software. "Sonic Software's SonicXQ platform provides the any-to-any application connectivity that delivers on the promise of Web services. By basing our Web services offering on the proven messaging software that connects some of the world's largest companies, Sonic removes the reliability concerns for many customers beginning to deploy distributed services."

According to recent research by David Smith, vice president and research director at Gartner, "The Web services vision will be less than optimal if it is not introduced as a complete vision for dealing with aspects such as services registry, messaging, trading-partner specifications and industry standards."

Industry Support

"Sonic Software was the first messaging provider to pass Sun's rigorous Java(TM) 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) compatibility tests and continues to demonstrate leadership in the messaging market," said Rich Green, vice president and general manager, Java and XML Software, Sun Microsystems. "Sun includes messaging as a required part of J2EE 1.3 standard specifically with Web services in mind. We share in Sonic Software's commitment to providing a

strong messaging foundation for the successful development and deployment of Web services."

"Messaging is a critical part of any e-business application deployment and HP customers expect messaging that won't fail in transactions between their mission-critical applications and those of their partners," said Andre Pino, general manager of marketing, HP Middleware Division. "Integrating Sonic's best-in-class software provides us with an expanded suite of products, which offer even greater application connectivity."

"Sonic Software's messaging software is a critical component to building interoperable distributed services," said Alan Shoap, vice president and general manager of the enterprise solutions for Borland. "The simplified integration and full support for XML, SOAP and WSDL announced in Sonic Software's SonicMQ 4.0 and SonicXQ provide the flexibility, security and reliability required to adapt to evolving standards."

About Sonic Software

Sonic Software Corporation is a leading provider of e-business messaging (EBM) software and services. The SonicMQ(R) e-business messaging server serves as The Backbone of The Extended Enterprise(TM) by providing highly scalable, standards-based Internet middleware that enables the guaranteed and secure delivery of business data between applications across the distributed enterprise or between companies for B2B exchange.

Sonic Software Corporation's global customers include Commerce One and Hewlett Packard in addition to many of the world's largest corporations across a wide variety of industries including electronic commerce, financial services, telecommunications, manufacturing, and energy. Sonic Software Corporation is an independent operating company of Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ: PRGS). Headquartered in Bedford, Mass., Sonic Software can be reached by dialing 1-781-999-7000 (toll free at 1-866-GETSONIC) or on the Web at www.sonicsoftware.com.