InfoWorld Magazine Awards IONA's Orbix E2A Web Services Integration Platform Coveted 'Deploy' Rating

Business Wire, Jan 16, 2002

Business/Technology Editors

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 16, 2002

Review Declares Orbix E2A "One of the Strongest Showings

among Web Service Platforms";

Proclaims Orbix E2A "Beneficial to Cutting Costs,

Improving Reusability and Ensuring Competitiveness"

IONA(R), the leading e-Business Platform provider for Web Services Integration (NASDAQ:IONA), today announced that a product review in InfoWorld magazine offers a solid endorsement of IONA's Orbix E2A(TM) Web Services Integration Platform. The magazine gave Orbix E2A XMLBus(TM) Edition 5.0 a "Deploy" rating, the highest rating possible, and the product scored eight out of 10 when rated across InfoWorld's standard 10 product attributes: Ease of use, Implementation, Innovation, Interoperability, Scalability, Security, Suitability, Support, Training and Value. The magazine's review, part of a comprehensive package of articles on Web services technologies, declares Orbix E2A "one of the strongest showings among Web service platforms."

"InfoWorld's comprehensive look at IONA's Orbix E2A verifies that IONA has staked a clear and definitive lead in the Web services integration market," said John Rymer, vice president of product marketing for IONA. "The InfoWorld Test Center review is proof of what companies like Nordstrom.com and Boeing already know, that IONA's Orbix E2A Web Services Integration Platform is the best option available on the market today."

The product review lauds Orbix E2A's benefits from a technology and business standpoint. In the review, InfoWorld Test Center stated: Orbix E2A XMLBus "will help enterprises keep integration efforts in line with business objectives and reduce costs through asset recycling...XMLBus Edition 5.0 represents a comprehensive platform for orchestrating services-based integration within the enterprise."

Among IONA's Orbix E2A XMLBus Edition 5.0 strengths noted in the InfoWorld Test Center review were the following:

-- Broad Technology Support: a Java-based technology framework for developing, deploying, monitoring and managing Web services based on applications from a variety of platforms, including J2EE (Java 2 Enterprise Edition), CORBA, Microsoft .Net, and J2ME (Java 2 Micro Edition).

-- Business-Process Modeling Engine: the graphical environment enables nontechnical developers to focus on core business logic and model complex processes out of Web services building blocks to encourage reusability among Web services components, improving flexibility and garnering cost savings through ready code reuse

-- Graphical Wizard-driven Development and Testing Tools: wizards and tools enable the quick packaging of archive files and generation of interface specifications from Java classes, EJBs, CORBA objects, and skeleton WSDL files - laying the ground work for a quick ramp up of Web services efforts in the enterprise

-- Performance: container-based hot-deployment of Web services, combined with debugging, monitoring, wizard-driven development, and real-time testing tools provide for uninterrupted performance

-- Easy Install and Configuration of Orbix E2A XMLBus Edition 5.0 components including the Web services engine, the SOAP Message Spy, and the Process Engine

The InfoWorld review coincides with the publication's Next Generation Web Services Conference, which is being held January 16 and 17 at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. Barry Morris, IONA's President and CEO, will be delivering the closing keynote at the conference, and IONA Orbix E2A customer Nordstrom.com will be presenting a case study on January 16.

The InfoWorld review of Orbix E2A XMLBus Edition 5.0 appeared in the January 14, 2002 print edition on page 46 and is also available online at http://www.infoworld.com.

Orbix E2A Product Lines

The Orbix E2A Web Services Integration Platform - which combines business-to-business, enterprise integration, and application development functionality - is built on Web services standards and a services-oriented architecture to cut the cost of application integration both inside and outside the firewall. The Orbix E2A Web Services Integration Platform provides all the tools and the management services required for reliable, scalable, and secure dynamic data exchange, business process automation, and composite applications. The Orbix E2A Web Services Integration Platform is available in three editions: XMLBus, Partner and Collaborate.

The Orbix E2A Application Server Platform is the most deployed, heterogeneous application server in the industry. Orbix E2A Application Server Platform combines the scalability of CORBA and the productivity of J2EE, with Web services standards. The Orbix E2A Application Server Platform provides the management services required for reliable, scalable, and secure applications. The Orbix E2A Application Server Platform is available in three editions: J2EE Technology, Standard and Enterprise.

About IONA

IONA is the leading e-Business Platform provider for Web Services Integration with more than 5,000 customers worldwide including a majority of the Global Fortune 500 and leaders in the aerospace, financial, ISV, manufacturing, retail and telecommunications industries. IONA Orbix E2A(TM), which consists of the Orbix E2A Web Services Integration Platform and Orbix E2A Application Server Platform, enables the flow of information across disparate systems and the liberation of application assets for new business opportunities. Founded in 1991, IONA(R) (NASDAQ:IONA) is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, with U.S. headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts. The company had revenues of $153 million in 2000 and employs more than 950 people in 30 offices worldwide. For additional information about IONA, visit our Web site at http://www.iona.com.