Business Intelligence Survey Ranks Applix #1 In Fast Rollouts, Performance, Customer Loyalty and Ease of Use

Business Wire, March 25, 2002

Business/Technology Editors

WESTBORO, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 25, 2002

Applix, Inc., (NASDAQ: APLX), a leading global provider of interactive financial analysis and CRM/CRM analytics software, today announced that an independent survey cites Applix iTM1 as the industry's leading solution in rapid implementations, performance, customer loyalty, and ease of use-- outranking business intelligence competitors such as Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL), Hyperion (NASDAQ: HYSL), Cognos (NASDAQ: COGN), MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR), Business Objects (NASDAQ: BOBJ) and Brio (NASDAQ: BRIO). Announced at a recent Gartner conference in February, The OLAP Survey, conducted by market research firm Survey.com, also found that Applix iTM1 builds the quickest proofs of concept in the industry.

The OLAP Survey, the largest of its kind ever conducted, asked 644 business intelligence users worldwide to rate 11 vendors on implementation, performance and overall satisfaction of business intelligence products.

"Applix iTM1 came out well in The OLAP Survey, with its users reporting well above average loyalty, very high repurchase intentions, high project success rates and a very low shelfware rate," said Nigel Pendse, author of The OLAP Survey. "This confirms other product research that Applix iTM1 provides exceptional performance and convenience when used for interactive financial analysis. None of its major competitors come close to Applix iTM1 in its sweet spot."

Applix iTM1 Leads in Fast Rollouts, Performance, Customer Loyalty and Ease of Use

Among the key survey findings, Applix iTM1 outranked its competitors in the following categories:

-- Rollout time: According to survey respondents, Applix iTM1 was the

fastest solution to rollout, with 82 percent of iTM1 sites

completing initial rollout within six months. By contrast, 73

percent of Microsoft OLAP sites and only 56 percent of Oracle

Express sites were in production within the same period. In fact,

Applix customers were twice as likely to value speed of

implementation than other respondents: fifty percent of surveyed

Applix iTM1 buyers cited the fact that Applix completed proof of

concept faster than others as a key reason for purchase, compared

to 20.8 percent for all others.

Applix iTM1's reputation for quick, inexpensive rollouts was highlighted in other OLAP Survey findings.

-- Low external consulting spend: The average for Applix iTM1 users was
$61,590, less than half the average consulting costs of $139,801.

-- Low shelfware rates (defined as the proportion of licensed software seats
remaining undeployed after purchase): Only 19 percent of Applix iTM1
implementation seats were inactive, versus a survey average of 39 percent.

-- Performance: The survey found that Applix iTM1 is 12 times faster than
MicroStrategy and Essbase at "load/build times," eight times faster than Oracle
Express and more than twice as fast as Microsoft Analysis Services. "Load/build
times" is defined as the amount of time it takes to recalculate a business
model after loading new data or changing input values on-the-fly. As further
evidence of Applix iTM1's unrivaled power, 92 percent of Applix customers cited
performance as a reason to buy Applix iTM1, compared to an average of 49.9
percent of customers for all other vendors.

-- Customer Loyalty (Intention to Purchase More Seats): The OLAP Survey
reported that Applix iTM1 users were the most loyal in terms of their
intentions to purchase more seats. Seventy-five percent said they intend to
purchase more Applix iTM1 licenses--well above the average response rate of 53
percent.

-- Ease of use: Sixty-seven percent of respondents who purchased Applix iTM1
cited ease of use as a key selection criterion, also the highest such response
in the survey. By contrast, only 43.3 percent of all other products were cited
for ease of use.

(For a synopsis of the Applix placements in the OLAP Survey results, please see: http://ftp.applix.com/Attachments\00\00\00\21\content_document_2101_ olap_survey_tm1_findings.doc)

Due to long URL, you may have to copy and paste this link into your web browser.

"We are extremely pleased by our high rankings in this prestigious and definitive report," said Alan Goldsworthy, president and CEO of Applix. "Our customers have been giving us tremendous feedback over the years about how Applix iTM1 has helped them manage their businesses better in a measurable way -- The OLAP Survey confirms this feedback."

About Applix iTM1

Applix iTM1 is the leading high-performance technology platform that powers a suite of planning, reporting and analysis solutions used by Global 2000 enterprises, including 50 percent of the Fortune 500 companies. Applix iTM1 helps executives throughout the world improve the performance of their businesses with an unrivaled real-time planning approach that enables interactive "insight on demand." Applix iTM1 is sold and supported directly and through a global network of partners and value-added resellers.

About Applix