Applix and Industry Visionaries Found BPM Standards Group; Business Performance Management Analysts and Vendors Define and Develop Frameworks.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

WESTBOROUGH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 25, 2004

Applix, Inc. (Nasdaq: APLX), a global provider of Business Intelligence (BI) and Business Performance Management (BPM) software solutions, today announced it has joined industry visionaries to found the BPM Standards Group. Other founding participants include: BPM Partners, Hyperion (Nasdaq: HYSL), IBM (NYSE: IBM), IDC, META Group (Nasdaq: METG), SAP (NYSE: SAP) and The Data Warehouse Institute (TDWI).

The BPM Standards Group grew out of an Applix-hosted dinner for customers, vendors and analysts at DCI's Performance Management conference. Over the course of a dinner discussion, the like-minds came together and realized a need for a comprehensive, single definition of BPM and standards to help the industry better understand the tools and techniques that comprise BPM and how to achieve the greatest benefits from BPM.

"Key players at the founding firms gathered for a discussion on BPM," said David Menninger, vice president of worldwide marketing, Applix, Inc. "The analysts and vendors at the table felt the industry needed a guiding hand to help define the market and help end user companies have a better understanding of the components and benefits of BPM. Our initial discussion led to the creation of the BPM Standards Group."

The BPM Standards Group's goals are to:

-- Accelerate adoption of successful Business Performance

Management (BPM) practices.

-- Provide consistent thought leadership and establish standards

for vendors, service providers and consultants in the industry

as well as users of BPM.

The BPM Standards Group represents all the major categories in the BPM industry - application vendors, tools vendors, implementation consultants, IT/data warehousing experts, industry analysts, management consultants and system integrators. Companies who wish to participate in the group can contact Applix or one of the other founding participants. Additional participants will be recruited in order to assist in the creation and adoption of the group's standards.

As a founding member, Applix, along with the other founding companies, will help guide the group and facilitate the adoption of BPM.

As a first deliverable, the BPM Standards Group has established a common definition of BPM that provides appropriate context for performance management, including the following principles:

-- BPM as a set of integrated, closed-loop management and

analytic processes, supported by technology, the address

financial as well as operational activities.

-- BPM as an enabler for businesses in defining strategic goals,

and then measuring and managing performance against those

goals.

-- Core BPM processes include financial and operational planning,

consolidation and reporting, modeling, analysis, and

monitoring of key performance indicators (KPIs) linked to

organizational strategy.

For more information on the BPM Standards Group, see today's related release at www.bpmstandardsgroup.org.

According to figures recently released by the META Group, the BPM industry grew to approximately $1.1 billion in 2003 and is expected to grow 15 to 20 percent in 2004. A recent META Group study also shows that, within the next 18 months, 85% of firms surveyed will work on a BPM project.

According to IDC, the market for BPM and financial analytic application passed the $1B mark in 2003 and should grow to $1.6B by 2007, a compound annual growth rate of better than 10%. The major applications in this category are budgeting, planning, consolidation, activity-based management and cross-functional scorecarding.

In a survey conducted by BPM Partners, BPM initiatives are being driven by an internal demand for greater accuracy and accountability and transparency of financial reporting, including a focus on having "one version of the truth." Almost 40 percent of respondents questioned the accuracy and integrity of the financial data available to them from their existing systems.

About Applix

Applix (NASDAQ: APLX) is a global provider of Business Intelligence and Business Performance Management solutions. These solutions, based on Applix's TM1 analytics platform, enable the continuous management and monitoring of performance across the financial and operational functions within the enterprise. More than 1,700 customers worldwide use Applix's adaptable, scalable and real-time solutions, delivered by Applix and by a global network of partners, to manage their business performance and respond to the marketplace in real-time. Headquartered in Westborough, MA, Applix maintains offices in four countries in Europe, North America and the Pacific Rim. For more information about Applix, please visit www.applix.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this document are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements concerning future plans or results are only estimates and actual results could differ materially from expectations. Certain factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include without limitation, competitive pressures, changes in customer demands, adverse economic conditions, loss of key personnel, litigation, potential fluctuations in quarterly results, lengthy sales cycles, market acceptance of new or enhanced products and services, factors affecting spending by customers and other risks, uncertainties and factors including those described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2002 under the heading "Risk Factors" and its most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q under the heading "Factors That May Affect Future Results." The forward-looking statements provided by the Company in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this release. The Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments may cause the Company's views to change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so, and these forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of this release.