A Wealth of Business Critical Software Solutions Propels Java into the Corporate Enterprise; New Java-Enabled Applications From Business Productivity to Industry-Specific Suites.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 29, 1996--In an unprecedented show of support for a new computing paradigm, 65 independent software development companies today announced 85 new products and applications designed to run on Sun Microsystems, Inc.'s Java(TM) Enterprise Computing platform.

Thirty-five companies demonstrated their software at Sun's Java Enterprise Solutions launch event today, including industry leaders such as: The BAAN Co.; IBM; Computer Associates International; Informix, Corp.; Oracle, Corp.; SAP AG; SAS Institute; and Sybase, Inc./Powersoft.

Java-enabled software solutions announced and demonstrated here address every facet of the corporate enterprise, from mission- critical middleware and development tools to personal productivity applications, such as word processing and e-mail.

Sun estimates that nearly 450 ISVs are currently developing Java enterprise applications, which can be written once and will run on any platform, whether it's Microsoft Windows, MacOS, OS/2, UNIX or a 3270 terminal. The platform independence of Java technology allows ISVs to develop products that zero-in on the most pressing issue facing CIOs: how to manage the spiraling cost and administrative complexity of heterogeneous computing environments.

"Java is exciting to ISVs because of platform independence," said Tracy Corbo, senior analyst, International Data Corp. "Up to this point, interoperabililtiy has been a major obstacle in the timely deployment of business critical applications. Java technology's platform independence opens the door to a whole new approach to application development with the Internet as the backbone for creating and deploying intranet and extranet applications."

"It's amazing that Java technology was only introduced about 18 months ago, and already it's being seen as the next great wave in computing," said Mark Tolliver, vice president of market development for Sun Microsystems Computer Company.

"All of the major operating systems will have it and hundreds of ISVs are either adapting their best-selling products to the Java enterprise platform or they're creating new mission critical business applications for it. Java has become ubiquitous at a record clip, and we'll continue assisting independent software developers to keep the momentum going."

To support the unprecedented growth for new solutions, Sun in August 1996 opened testing centers on the East and West coasts to closely tie ISV support with engineering and market development resources.

Contact Sun Microsystems for a contact list of independent software vendors who announced new products or demonstrated Java enterprise computing solutions at the launch event.

With annual revenues of more than $7 billion, Sun Microsystems, Inc., provides products and services that enable customers to build and maintain open network computing environments. Widely recognized as a proponent of open standards, the company is involved in the design, manufacture and sale of products, technologies and services for commercial and technical computing. Sun Microsystems was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California. -0-

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CONTACT: Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Larry Lettieri, 415/786-8152

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Burson Marsteller for Sun

Michael Fay, 212/614-4000

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