Altova MapForce 2005 Named Jolt Product Excellence & Productivity Awards Finalist

Market Wire, January, 2005

Altova® (www.altova.com), creator of XMLSpy®, MapForce(TM), and other leading software development and data integration tools, today announced that Software Development magazine has selected Altova MapForce 2005 as a finalist for the 15th annual Jolt Product Excellence and Productivity Awards in the Best Integration and Data Tools category.

For the past 14 years, the Software Development Jolt Product Excellence and Productivity Awards have been presented annually to products that have "jolted" the industry with their significance and made the task of creating software faster, easier and more efficient. Jolt cola, the fabled soft drink quaffed by software developers for sustenance during development project marathons, sponsors the awards presentation. Finalists in 15 categories were chosen from 288 nominations by a team of Software Development editors, columnists and industry gurus.

"The finalists for this year's Jolt Product Excellence and Productivity Awards represent a cross section of the best and brightest tools for every phase of the software development lifecycle," said Software Development Editor in Chief Alexandra Weber Morales. "We commend Altova MapForce 2005 for distinguishing itself within the largest pool of nominations the program has ever received."

Altova MapForce 2005 is a remarkably powerful data integration tool that allows developers to design XML, database, flat file and EDI mappings visually through an intuitive user-interface, then instantly preview the output. MapForce auto-generates mapping code in multiple programming languages, including XSLT 1.0/2.0, XQuery, Java, C and C#, for royalty-free use in custom data integration applications. As such, it compares favorably against large, server-based enterprise integration applications, which may sell for ten or twenty times its price.

"MapForce is one of those rare tools where you can look at a screenshot and just get it," said Tim Hale, Director of Marketing for Altova. "It is so easy to use and so cost effective that customers enjoy telling us when they realize a positive return on investment in only a week or two. And now with Software Development magazine informing us that MapForce is up for the prestigious Jolt Award, it's a wonderful reconfirmation of the significance of this product."

The Jolt Product Excellence and Productivity Awards are presented by CMP Media's Software Development, which promotes itself as the leading magazine for software development managers. This year's awards ceremony will take place on March 16, 2005 at the Santa Clara Convention Center during SD West 2005. Winners will also be featured in the June issue of Software Development magazine. A full list of finalists is available at: http://www.sdmagazine.com.

About Altova

Altova accelerates development and integration projects with software, services, and solutions that enhance productivity and maximize results. As an innovative, customer-focused company and the creator of XMLSpy, MapForce, and other leading software development and data integration tools, Altova is the choice of over 1.5 million clients worldwide and virtually every Fortune 500 company. With customers ranging from vast development teams in the world's largest organizations to progressive one-person shops, Altova's line of software applications and custom-tailored professional and educational services fulfills a broad spectrum of business needs. Altova is an active member of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and is committed to delivering standards-based platform-independent development solutions that are powerful, affordable, and easy to use. Altova was founded in 1992 and has headquarters in Beverly, Massachusetts, and Vienna, Austria. Visit Altova on the Web at www.altova.com.

Altova, XMLSpy, MapForce, StyleVision, Authentic, and DiffDog are trademarks of Altova GmbH registered in numerous countries. The names of and reference to companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

For media and analyst inquiries: Tracy Sullivan Public Relations Manager Altova Inc. 978-816-1567 tracy.sullivan@altova.com