AppsCo Software and Application PerforMart Announce Strategic Alliance and Reseller Agreement.

Business Editors, Technology Writers

TDWI Booth No. 301

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 9, 2000

Application PerforMart introduces health care analytic application it

developed using AppsCo's AppsMart development environment for

Microsoft SQL Server 

AppsCo(R) Software, Inc., a leading provider of data warehouse and analytic application development solutions for Microsoft(R) SQL Server(TM), announced today a strategic partnership and value added reseller (VAR) reseller agreement with Application PerforMart, Ltd. (APM), a provider of affordable, pre-packaged analytic applications and data marts for companies with immediate decision support needs.

The announcement was made today at The Data Warehousing Institute (TDWI) Spring Implementation Conference, currently taking place in Dallas, Texas.

Under the terms of the agreement, APM is using AppsMart(R) -- AppsCo's software development environment -- to build a family of highly customizable analytic applications that integrate systems, software and methodology for moving a client's data into a structured database which provides comprehensive analytical reporting capabilities. Called Application PerforMarts, these pre-packed solutions consist of an Intel-based server, Microsoft Windows NT and Microsoft SQL Server, Ardent DataStage, Informix's extraction, transformation and loading (ETL) tool, and AppsMart. APM's Application PerforMarts are targeted at small to medium sized companies that operate with minimal staffing and small budgets but need access to critical information about their business to make strategic business decisions.

According to APM CEO Dennis James, AppsMart's powerful version control features, as well as its template-driven approach to developing and customizing analytic applications, were key in APM opting to standardize on AppsMart. "AppsMart is providing a major infrastructure component of our PerforMarts," James said. "With each customer's requirements being slightly different, AppsMart provides us a great starting point for delivering customized business intelligence applications that provide our customers with immediate insights into their business."

APM's first analytic application for the health care field -- the Health Care PerforMart -- was introduced today. APM consulted with leading health care professionals, third party administrators (TPAs), health maintenance organizations (HMOs) in designing the Health Care PerforMart. The end result is a highly targeted, full-featured health care decision support system enabling organizations to quickly analyze how they are performing. The turnkey Health Care PerforMart accomplishes this -- in an automated way -- by mining an organization's data, cleansing it, and transforming it into an analytic application that enables organizations to answer critical business questions via an easy-to-use analytical interface. Equipped with this powerful analysis capabilities, organizations can quickly pinpoint positive or negative bottom line impacts, business performance problems and utilization trends.

SBPA Systems Purchases Health Care PerforMart

SBPA Systems, Inc., which develops software applications for health care system administrators, recently purchased APM's Health Care PerforMart as well as associated consulting services. SBPA, headquartered in Houston, Texas, plans to incorporate the Health Care PerforMart into its suite of integrated health care delivery systems it markets to managed care organizations, insurance companies, large employers and third party administrators nationally.

According to SBPA chairman and CEO Arnold Heinrich, the Health Care PerforMart is a perfect complement to SBPA's employee benefit software solutions for benefit plan administration, which includes modules for claims processing, claims adjudication, claims administration and managed care. "APM has developed an elegant solution for transparently extracting data out of claims systems and putting it into a format that lends itself to analysis and reporting," Heinrich said. "We have gone to great pains to capture the business requirements of our clients. The Health Care PerforMart will enable us to quickly deliver powerful reporting capabilities to our customers against those business requirements, greatly enhancing our solution."

Added AppsCo president and CEO Brian Burnett, "We are delighted that Application PerforMart has selected AppsMart as its development platform for building Microsoft SQL Server-based "out-of-the-box" analytical applications," Burnett said. "APM is bringing a whole new class of powerful analytical capabilities to smaller businesses that previously could not afford to develop or purchase a business intelligence solution."

About AppsMart

Using AppsMart it is possible to start your design using a best-in-class analytic application template, iterate the application design to meet your requirements, and deploy the solution to Microsoft SQL Server. AppsMart includes features for star schema design and deployment, automatic population of the data mart with sample data and OLAP Services cubes, data transformation services (DTS), as well as Microsoft Office2000 reports and documentation. This gives developers a rapid start, and consistent methods and techniques when implementing a data warehouse or analytic application on the Microsoft platform.

AppsMart also boasts unparalleled integration with Microsoft Repository, a key component of SQL Server that provides life-cycle management services to store and share software components along with their descriptive information. AppsMart's tight integration with Microsoft Repository ensures it can be seamlessly integrated with leading business intelligence and OLAP tools to provide high-end analytics and data mining over and above those capabilities provided by those in Microsoft Office 2000.

Pricing and Availability

APM's Health Care Application PerforMart has completed beta testing and is currently available. Pricing starts at $25,000. APM plans to introduce PerforMarts for the retail, supply chain, telecommunications and education marketplaces over the coming months.

About Application PerforMart, Ltd.

Headquartered in Bedford, Texas, Application PerforMart, Ltd. provides affordable, pre-packaged analytic applications and data marts for small-to-medium sized companies with immediate decision support needs. APM develops a family of analytic applications--marketed as PerforMarts--to the health care, retail, supply chain, telecommunications and education marketplaces. PerforMarts involve an integration of systems, software and methodology for moving a customer's data into a structured database model which provides analytic reporting capabilities. Current customers include PageNet, Bell South and Imperial Sugar. Application PerforMart can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.performart.com, or by calling 817/318-6278.

About AppsCo Software Limited

AppsCo Software Limited, founded in 1998, is a leading supplier of data warehouse design and analytic application development tools. AppsCo, a Microsoft Certified Solution Provider (MCSP) and partner member in the Microsoft Data Warehousing Alliance (DWA) 2000, develops and markets AppsMart, an analytic application development environment. A patent pending technology, AppsMart enables data mart application builders to design data marts based on vertical market solution templates, and standard methods and processes.

Backed by venture capital firms 3i, Vertex Management Group, Scottish Equity Partnership and Grampian Enterprise Limited, AppsCo is a privately held company. AppsCo is based in Surrey, United Kingdom, and has U.S. operations in Bellevue, Washington. More information on the company and its AppsMart solution is available on the Web at www.appsco.com, or by calling 425/451-9777.

AppsCo, AppsMart and the AppsCo and AppsMart logos are registered trademarks of AppsCo Software Ltd. Other products mentioned in this document are registered, trademarked, or service marked by their respective owners.

Note to Editors: Copies of previous AppsCo press releases and corporate and product information are available on AppsCo's Web site at http://www.appsco.com.