AmberPoint Delivers .NET Release of Web Services Management Solution.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 11, 2002

Collaboration with Microsoft Key to Delivering New Release of

AmberPoint Management Foundation Optimized for Performance and

Functionality on Microsoft Platform

AmberPoint(TM), Inc., a leader in Web services management, today announced that it is collaborating with Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq:MSFT) to produce a .NET release of AmberPoint Management Foundation(TM), the first in the company's suite of comprehensive management solutions for Web services. AmberPoint's .NET solution will deliver rich management capabilities to applications built using .NET, while also offering significant performance advantages over other approaches to managing Web services. With this release, AmberPoint will become the first Web services management vendor to deliver optimized versions of its product suite for both .NET and Java.

In other news, the company also today announced the close of a $13.6 million funding round (see related release, "AmberPoint Closes $13.6 Million in Series B Funding" on Business Wire).

"Virtually every company deploying an enterprise Web services system will require cross-platform interoperability, particularly as those systems reach out beyond the four walls of the company," said Daryl Plummer, group vice president and research general manager of Software Infrastructure at Gartner. "To be truly 'enterprise-class,' Web services management solutions must work natively with both J2EE and .NET-based implementations."

Visual Studio .NET is the solution of choice for millions of developers. Surveys show that 63% of all developers will use .NET within the next year (Evans Data Survey, Sept. 2002). With its management solution running natively in the .NET environment, AmberPoint will help customers quickly turn their Web services systems into production-ready business assets by delivering greater management capabilities than previously possible. Any company deploying Web services will now be able to take full advantage of AmberPoint's industry-leading management capabilities.

"We're glad to be working with AmberPoint to help them provide compelling Web services management services using .NET technologies," said Dan'l Lewin, Microsoft's corporate vice president of Platform Strategy Group. "This combination will allow users to quickly and efficiently produce Web services with the assurance that they can be managed in an enterprise-class environment. AmberPoint's latest offering leverages .NET's unique advantages in the areas of performance, security and end-to-end integration."

Product Benefits

The .NET version of AmberPoint Management Foundation features components that execute in native C#. It offers enhancements made possible by fully utilizing the XML Web services system libraries of Microsoft's Common Language Runtime (CLR). Benefits of the new release of AmberPoint include:

-- Faster Performance: AmberPoint's performance will be optimized for .NET environments

-- Improved Security: Customers of both companies can immediately apply .NET authentication and encryption capabilities to secure the Web services they manage with AmberPoint

-- Integrated Platform Advantages: Customers benefit from tightly integrated functionality across all .NET system components

-- Upgrades: Improvements to .NET are immediately available to the AmberPoint Management Foundation

"Our .NET release is a significant milestone for AmberPoint," said Paul Butterworth, AmberPoint's chief technical officer. "To fully meet market requirements, Web services solutions must deliver performance that's optimized for both .NET and J2EE. Through our close collaboration with Microsoft we're able to create significant advantages for our customers, in terms of better performance, faster rollouts and smoother upgrades to Web services projects."

Availability

The .NET version of AmberPoint Management Foundation will be available in December 2002. Thereafter, AmberPoint will simultaneously release both Java and .NET versions of its products.

About AmberPoint

AmberPoint, Inc., a pioneer in Web services management, offers the most comprehensive solutions for making Web services production-ready, business-ready and easily manageable. With its modular, architecture-independent design, AmberPoint radically simplifies the management and evolution of business solutions built on Web services. AmberPoint's Customer Experience Group delivers services to ensure successful deployment and use of all AmberPoint software. Founded in 2001, AmberPoint is privately held with venture backing from Sutter Hill Ventures and Norwest Venture Partners. AmberPoint corporate headquarters are located in Oakland, Calif. For more information, contact AmberPoint at 510/663-6300 or [e-mail], or visit the company website at www.amberpoint.com.