Attachmate Joins Microsoft BizTalk Server Adapter Builder Partner Program; myEXTRA! Smart Connectors provide seamless host access to extend the reach of BizTalk Server

Business Wire, August 27, 2002

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 27, 2002

Attachmate Corporation, a provider of enterprise information access and management software, today announced its membership in the Microsoft BizTalk Server Adapter Builder Partner Program.

Microsoft BizTalk Server Adapters are intelligent software components that enable BizTalk Server to integrate with third-party applications. Attachmate, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, extends the reach of Microsoft BizTalk Server with myEXTRA!(TM) Smart Connectors that provide seamless connectivity and real-time access to information and applications housed on back-end legacy systems such as IBM(R) mainframe, AS/400(R), and Unisys(R) hosts.

Microsoft BizTalk Server 2002 provides organizations with the server, tools, adapters, and vertical accelerators needed to integrate and automate their business. Companies in the Microsoft BizTalk Server Adapter Builder Partner Program include independent software vendors (ISVs), systems integrators, and hardware manufacturers who have helped to create solutions for some of the most pressing issues surrounding e-commerce business integration solutions today -- application integration and business process orchestration.

"We are pleased to work closely with Microsoft to provide customers with solutions that can help them leverage the best of the technology they choose. Attachmate's significant expertise in enterprise host access, coupled with our proven competence on the latest Microsoft technologies provides a win-win situation for BizTalk Server customers," explained Bob Flynn, Attachmate Sr. VP, Sales and Consulting. "For example, we have customers today who are successfully using myEXTRA! Smart Connector technology as the connection piece from their CICS(R) mainframe application to their BizTalk Server. It's working exceptionally well for them, providing a fast return on their investment."

Attachmate myEXTRA! Smart Connectors use transaction management technology to convert legacy-native formats to and from XML, so that disparate systems can share information and communicate. Smart Connectors provide an intuitive, drag-and-drop development interface that allows programmers to navigate host applications and pre-define tasks that can be exposed as Web services for new Internet, intranet, extranet, or custom B2B solutions -- without requiring changes to host code. "This allows organizations to accelerate development and conserve development resources," continued Flynn.

"Companies today have an expanding need to integrate disparate applications in order to make use of previous investments and meet changing business needs," said Eric Swift, group product manager for .NET Enterprise Servers at Microsoft Corp. "With BizTalk Server's support for standards such as SOAP and XML, customers have a nonproprietary integration solution that allows them to easily integrate applications and build dynamic business processes. To make integration even easier, Microsoft and technology providers like Attachmate offer adapters for BizTalk Server that enable customers to quickly integrate their legacy applications and systems to these BizTalk Server supported interfaces."

Microsoft BizTalk Server has gained support from leading application vendors and consulting firms as a comprehensive, open, and standards-based platform upon which companies can develop effective e-commerce integration, B2B, and application integration solutions. Additional information on the Adapter Builder Partner Program is posted at http://www.microsoft.com/biztalk/partners/applicationadapter.asp.> For more information on myEXTRA! Smart Connectors and Microsoft BizTalk Server, go to: http://www.attachmate.com/article/0,1012,3849_1,00.html.> Attachmate Corporation, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, is a privately held worldwide supplier of mission-critical host access solutions for Fortune 500 and Global 2000 enterprises. The company provides solutions for direct, real-time access to back-office systems, Web-to-host and desktop-to-host solutions, plus flexible enterprise application integration and Web services offerings. News and information is available at http://www.attachmate.com or by calling Attachmate(R) worldwide headquarters in Bellevue, Washington, at 425/644-4010.

(C) 2002 Attachmate Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Attachmate is a registered trademark and myEXTRA! is a trademark of Attachmate Corporation. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.