Cartesis Group to Acquire Advance Info Systems, Inc., Provider of BI Analytical Software; Deal Will Enable Cartesis to Launch its Third BPM Pillar: Cartesis ES Information Delivery

Business Wire, July 25, 2005

PARIS -- Cartesis Group, a leading supplier of business performance management (BPM) software, announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the shares and voting rights of Advance Info Systems Inc. (AIS). AIS is a provider of Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) software for interactive reporting and analysis. Following the announcement of the INEA acquisition a few weeks ago and the subsequent launch of Cartesis Planning 4.1, this transaction continues Cartesis' accelerated time-to-market advantage through delivery of a uniquely integrated common infrastructure that encompasses the three pillars of BPM: Financial Consolidation, Planning and Forecasting, and Information Delivery. The transaction will close today.

Through the acquisition of AIS, Cartesis will launch Cartesis ES Information Delivery before the end of this calendar year. ES Information Delivery will be a packaged application leveraging Cartesis' Integrated Data Model that provides operational managers and decision-makers with a unique, easy-to-use and secure solution for real-time access to the freshest data and business analysis processed through planning, forecasting, consolidation and management reporting. This continues Cartesis' leadership position in delivering unparalleled domain expertise and best of breed applications addressing companies increasing needs to drive business competitiveness, agility and productivity.

"AIS technology is a key front-end component of Cartesis' upcoming information delivery application that will complement our BPM suite, said Didier Benchimol, CEO of Cartesis. "With access to our new real-time and collaborative BPM solution, organizations will benefit by providing significantly larger numbers of business users from across the organization, with broader and deeper access to critical business information. This major shift forward will allow them to perform in-depth analysis to better understand their key business drivers and then act upon them in a completely secure enterprise wide environment. The acquisition accelerates our capacity to become the leading software provider of BPM solutions for the Global 2000."

As a Microsoft Certified Partner, AIS re-enforces Cartesis' existing strategic alliance with Microsoft. AIS technology also allows business users to leverage Excel's familiar spreadsheet environment to build powerful analytical queries, graphs, formatted reports and executive-friendly reporting packages. This technology improves data analysis, shortens reporting cycles and enhances organizations' ability to respond to real-time events.

"The acquisition of AIS will enable our customers to broaden business performance practices within their organizations with the capability to analyze information and act upon these indicators at any time," said Pierre Samec, Senior Vice President of Cartesis Product Group. "This acquisition fits perfectly with Cartesis' strategy to deliver best in class analysis features on top of the Microsoft Business Intelligence stack."

About Cartesis

Cartesis is a global software vendor that provides trusted solutions for driving your company's financial and business performance. Cartesis equips its customers with the control and insight they need to assess and react in today's rapidly changing marketplace. With the recent acquisition of INEA Corporation, Cartesis offers best-of-breed planning and forecasting capability with the number one best-in-class financial consolidation and compliance solution for an integrated approach to business performance management.

One in five Fortune Global 100 companies rely on Cartesis' powerful technology to unify complex information, people and processes in a single data model that can be applied easily and consistently across multiple geographies and business segments. Headquartered in Paris, Cartesis has offices in Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Norwalk (CT), Tokyo, Toronto and Utrecht. The company has more than 1300 corporate customers and partners in 44 countries around the globe.

For more information, please visit www.cartesis.com.

About Advance Info Systems, Inc.

AIS is a Business Intelligence consulting and software development firm providing Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) solutions to companies in a variety of industries throughout North America. Their expertise is in the design, development, implementation, training and support of OLAP databases including SQL Server Analysis Services and Hyperion Solutions Essbase. Created in May 2001, AIS has successfully implemented several analytical applications in a variety of large corporations including Xerox, Microsoft, ING and Manulife Financial.

For more information, please visit: www.advanceinfo.com.

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