Applix partners with Information Builders to deliver desktop OLAP to data marts.

WESTBORO, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 12, 1997--

Solution provides quick access, analysis of IBI data

for Lotus and Excel spreadsheet users

Applix, Inc.(NASDAQ: APLX) announced today a strategic relationship with Information Builders, Inc. (IBI), a world leader in client/server, business intelligence, reporting, and data warehousing solutions. Through a licensing agreement, IBI has incorporated Applix's desktop real-time analytical processing engine, TM1 Perspectives, into IBI's Fusion 2.0 multidimensional database. The resulting solution allows Fusion 2.0 users to perform distributed, online analytical processing (OLAP) on the desktop using Excel or Lotus.

Fusion 2.0 is a component of IBI's SmartMart solution, which provides the tools necessary for designing a data mart and transforming, cleaning, querying, analyzing and managing data.

"Spreadsheet users have long wanted a way to easily and quickly access and analyze data warehouse information," said Jay McGinley, vice president for the Applix TM1 unit. "IBI's leadership is well established in the data warehousing industry. Applix's partnership with IBI signifies our commitment to helping spreadsheet users make the most of their data warehouses via our robust TM1 OLAP engine."

Through formula linking, the TM1 engine becomes a natural extension of a spreadsheet and offers the following unique capabilities and competitive advantages:

-- Minimal learning curve - Lotus and Excel spreadsheet users can easily use TM1.

-- Intuitive data retrieval - users can write a formula, for example, "California, Net sales, January," to access information from the TM1 engine.

-- Spreadsheet data manipulation - users can move data and insert rows and columns and the link to TM1 will not be broken.

-- Standard report automation - users can easily automate reports using spreadsheet macros.

"Fusion 2.0's integration with TM1 enhances IBI's data warehousing solution, offering an elegant, easy way for spreadsheet users to access, analyze and query warehoused information," said Dan Ortolani, director of the Fusion program at Information Builders, Inc. "Applix TM1 pioneered the use of multidimensional OLAP databases linked to Lotus and Excel spreadsheets. By partnering with Applix, IBI is offering the best business solution for financial and management analysis of data marts."

Applix and IBI jointly developed the functionality needed to dynamically link Fusion 2.0 with Lotus and Excel spreadsheets via TM1. This functionality was incorporated in TM1's application programming interface (API), thus providing the ability to dynamically and seamlessly turn a Fusion SQL request into a TM1 cube that can be immediately accessed through Excel and Lotus. Rather than reporting against an entire data mart, this enables users to analyze slices of the warehoused data using their spreadsheet. Fusion 2.0 also offers intuitive data retrieval, flexible spreadsheet data manipulation that does not break the link to TM1, and easy automation of standard reports.

Applix Partnership Strategy

Applix's announcement with IBI is part of its strategy to leverage the data warehousing market through key partnerships. This relationship is Applix TM1's fourth strategic partnership in the past year. Other partners include Hyperion and Comshare, leaders in financial decision support solutions, and IQ Software, the leader in client/server and Web-enabled decision support tools.

"IBI can bring immediate value to prospective customers who are building data marts," McGinley said. "By offering desktop, spreadsheet OLAP, IBI will be an even more attractive solution."

About Applix

Applix, Inc., (NASDAQ: APLX) headquartered in Westboro, MA, is a leading provider of software for managing customer interaction, real-time decision support and office productivity across globally networked, extended enterprise environments. The company provides cross-platform client/server, network-centric, webtop and thin-client computing solutions throughout its core offerings: Applix Enterprise, customer satisfaction software; Applix TM1, real-time multidimensional analysis for financial decision support systems; Applix office automation solutions, including Applix Office for UNIX/NT and Anyware Office for Java-based desktops; Applixware, an open suite of desktop and development tools for accessing, analyzing and communicating information in real-time; and Applix Anyware, an application development and deployment solution that leverages Java to customize and deploy Applix's full suite of applications. Applix has offices worldwide and can be found on the world wide web at www.applix.com .

About Information Builders

Information Builders, a privately held company, was incorporated in 1975 and ranks among the top independent software vendors in the world, with 1996 revenues of $265 million. The firm's integrated products and services provide world-class client/server, business intelligence, and data warehouse solutions. These solutions incorporate FOCUS (world's leading 4GL), EDA (industry's top middleware), Cactus, and LEVEL5 expert systems technologies.

CONTACT: Applix, Inc. Neva Group

Lawson Abinanti Leah Goldman/Lisa Melsted

[phone] [phone] x. 222/245

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