Versant Corporation Announces Initiative to Integrate

IBM's WebSphere Application Server with Versant's Enterprise Container FREMONT, Calif. (PROTEXT) - Agreement Combines Best-Of- Breed Technologies to Deliver Telecom and Finance Industries Scalable Enterprise JavaBean Application Servers Using Java Products Versant Corporation (Nasdaq: VSNT), a leading provider of high performance enterprise database management systems, today announced an initiative with IBM (NYSE: IBM) to integrate IBM's WebSphere* Application Server with its Versant Enterprise Container (VEC). Versant Enterprise Container introduces a transparent Enterprise JavaBean (EJB) interface and is based upon Versant's Object Database Management System (ODBMS), providing robust enterprise-caliber middleware for multi-user distributed applications. Through this software initiative with IBM, Versant will receive co-marketing funds to support marketing and development of an integrated ODBMS and WebSphere solution. The agreement will enable Versant to offer customers, particularly those in the telecommunications and banking/financial industries, a mature, robust, and scalable solution for the creation, management, and retrieval of complex data. Integration with IBM's WebSphere will allow Versant's ODBMS and Enterprise Container to seamlessly communicate across a range of operating systems platforms. "As companies leverage software for competitive advantage, many are turning to Java and Enterprise JavaBeans. Versant is in a unique position to succeed in this green-field opportunity, as we've been satisfying the needs of enterprise object deployments for over 10 years," said Barry Wetmore, Executive Director, Worldwide Sales and Marketing for Versant Corporation. "With our strong customer base in telecommunications and financial services, Versant is ideally positioned to leverage IBM's WebSphere Application Server such that our mutual customers can for the first time deploy sophisticated n-tier enterprise solutions easily and cost-effectively using pure object implementations." The WebSphere/VEC integrated solution provides breakthrough development ease and deployment confidence for businesses building distributed n-tier, Java-based applications that require the utmost in performance and reliability. The Versant ODBMS offers many benefits in the context of enterprise application servers like transparent persistence based upon patented cache management facilities. On-line accessibility and management of commerce applications is further enhanced due to Versant's unique on-line schema evolution facility which maximizes uptime and revenue recognition processes. Versant's ODBMS also provides event notification for database events based on object updates and support for existing industry standards including ODMG and CORBA. "The telecommunications and finance industries share many of the same complex computing issues -- including leveraging massive amounts of complex data from multiple sources in a computing environment that includes a variety of distributed applications and platforms," said Paraic Sweeney, Vice President, WebSphere Marketing, IBM Software Group. "To be effective, an organization's data management system must be able to meet these challenges and solve real problems quickly and cost effectively. Combining IBM's WebSphere with Versant's ODBMS solution will allow us to offer high-end application servers with the muscle and integrity to address the most stringent performance, availability, and maintainability requirements." According to George Franzen, CTO Versant Corporation, "The Versant Enterprise Container could quickly become the preferred integration vehicle that extends existing enterprise data to access by new middle-tier object-oriented applications. In this solution, some EJB components can be accessing existing enterprise data while other components access object data. This illustrates both the strength and the flexibility of Versant's distributed computing architecture." About IBM WebSphere Product Line The IBM WebSphere Application Servers, along with Lotus Domino, represent the industry's most complete range of Web application server environments that support business applications from simple Web publishing through enterprise-scale transaction processing. IBM's WebSphere Application Server, Advanced Edition, expands on the capabilities of IBM's WebSphere Application Server, Standard Edition, by providing customers with support for the industry-standard Enterprise JavaBean programming model. IBM WebSphere Studio is a comprehensive tools environment for building Web applications that leverage existing enterprise systems and extend them to the Web, while running on multiple IBM and non-IBM platforms. WebSphere Performance Pack is a unique combination of caching, proxy and filtering functions; file content management and replication; and load balancing in a single Internet hosting infrastructure. www.software.ibm.com/websphere About Versant Corporation Versant Corporation is a leading provider of high-performance, enterprise database management systems in complex data and distributed computing environments. Versant solutions are used across a broad range of industries including telecommunications, financial services, health care, energy and the emerging market for intranet and transactional Internet applications. The Versant ODBMS and its related products offer distributed enterprises large- scale reliability, scalability and performance for mission-critical applications within existing computing environments. Versant is a member of the IBM Solution Developer Program. Versant customers include ADC Telecommunications, AT&T, Alcatel Network Systems, Banque Nationale de Paris, British Telecommunications plc., CalFP, Chase Manhattan Bank, Chicago Stock Exchange, Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, DSET, EDS, Equitable Insurance, Fleet Bank, GTE Data Systems, Hitachi Telecom, HNC Software, Lucent, National Westminster Bank, NationsBank, Northern Telecom, Sabre Decision Technologies, Samsung, Siemens, Sprint, Schweizerische Mobiliar Versicherung, Texaco, TRW, and MCI WorldCom. Versant is headquartered in Fremont, California. Additional information about Versant and its products may be obtained by phone at 510-789-1500 or via the World Wide Web at www.versant.com. This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the safe harbor created by those sections. These forward- looking statements include those related to the functionality of the Versant Enterprise Container and the partnership of Versant and IBM. Versant assumes no obligation to update the information contained in this press release. The matters discussed in this press release also involve risks and uncertainties described from time to time in Versant's filings with the securities and exchange commission (SEC). In particular, see "risk factors" in the most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC. These documents contain and identify important factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained herein. NOTE: Versant and Versant ODBMS are trademarks of Versant Corporation. All other company names and product names are trademarks of the individual companies. * Indicates trademark or registered trademark or International Business Machines Corporation. ** Indicates trademark or registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. *** Indicates trademark or registered trademark of Sun Microsystems. All other trademarks are the properties of their respective companies. ots Original Text Service: Versant Corporation Internet: http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact: Brian Cronkhite of JONA Group, 415-552-1515, or brian@jonagroup.com, for Versant Corporation; or Barry Wetmore, Executive Director, Worldwide Sales & Marketing of Versant Corporation, 510-789-1688, or barryw@versant.com Web site: http://www.versant.com Web site: http://www.software.ibm.com/websphere Subscribers please note that material bearing the slug "PROTEXT" is not part of CTK's news service and is not to be published under the "CTK" slug. Protext is a commercial service providing distribution of press releases from clients, who are identified in the text of Protext reports and who bear full responsibility for their contents. PROTEXT