Micro Focus Provides Partners Who Have Investments in COBOL with the Latest in Core System Development Tools

Business Wire, Nov 15, 2006

COBOL Developers Can Now Create and Deploy to Multiple Platforms without Risky Alterations to Stable, Proven Core Infrastructure

ROCKVILLE, Md. and NEWBURY, England -- Micro Focus[R] (LSE:MCRO.L), a leading provider of core system application development and deployment solutions, today announces general availability of Micro Focus Studio[TM] for COBOL Developers and Micro Focus Studio for Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). These latest editions of the Micro Focus COBOL suite of tools target both Corporate and Public Sector end users who have large existing investments in critical COBOL applications, as well as ISVs who create, sell and embed applications in COBOL.

Today's announcement builds on recent updates to the company's COBOL product line1, completing the newest suite of core Micro Focus system development and deployment solutions. This product line ensures continued cost-effective support for core applications while making risky rip-and-replace modernization strategies obsolete.

Micro Focus Studio for COBOL Developers integrates key Micro Focus technology to provide enterprises with a comprehensive COBOL development environment for Windows, UNIX and Linux. Applications can be developed on one platform and deployed (cross-platform) to another seamlessly while also being integrated into the latest .NET or JEE technologies. They also can be extended as Web services, as part of a comprehensive move to a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA).

Micro Focus Studio for ISVs, powered by the same key technology as Studio for COBOL developers, is available to the application provider community and gives them powerful cross-platform Windows, UNIX and Linux development solutions. Both Studio for COBOL Developers and Studio for ISVs support new platforms, including Intel x-64 architecture on Windows, UNIX and Linux. By supporting development for all the supported Micro Focus platforms, Studio for ISVs enables application vendors to get the most out of their core applications on the widest array of platforms.

"Over 99% of our customers' applications are written in COBOL and one indisputable fact remains clear - these applications run the business," said Sandy Allinson, chief executive officer of Inglenet Business Solutions, a leading provider of legacy mainframe application transformation services. "To expand their business through technology, their COBOL applications must have the ability to operate efficiently on multiple platforms and take advantage of the infrastructures available there. Micro Focus Studio allows just this."

"Micro Focus is excited about offering our first product targeted specifically to the ISV community," said Stuart McGill, vice president of worldwide marketing at Micro Focus. "By combining integration capabilities and the ability to leverage COBOL assets in a SOA with cross-platform portability and performance, we are delivering to these partners a compelling proposition for ISVs seeking to build and sell products that meet end-user needs."

About Micro Focus

Micro Focus provides innovative software that helps companies to dramatically improve the business value of their enterprise applications. Micro Focus Enterprise Application Modernization software enables customers' business applications to respond rapidly to market changes and embrace modern architectures with reduced cost and risk. For more information please visit www.microfocus.com.

Micro Focus is a registered trademark and Micro Focus Studio is a trademark of Micro Focus. All other products mentioned in this announcement are trademarks of their respective owners.

1 EDITOR'S NOTE: You can find recent product announcements for COBOL at: http://www.microfocus.com/AboutMicroFocus/pressroom/releases/ pr20061030130000.asp and http://www.microfocus.com/AboutMicroFocus/pressroom/releases/ pr2006110813300000.asp (Due to their lengths, these URLs may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)