BEA and SELECT Software Tools Announce Agreement; Cooperation For Easier Enterprise Application Development.

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 26, 1998--BEA Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:BEAS) and SELECT Software Tools (Nasdaq:SLCTY) Wednesday announced an agreement to help facilitate the close integration of SELECT's component based development toolset, SELECT Component Factory(TM) (SCF) with BEA's cross-platform middleware product, BEA TUXEDO(R) and Object Transaction Manager, BEA M3(TM).

"This agreement demonstrates the importance BEA places on working cooperatively with the software development tools industry," said Alfred Chuang, executive vice president of product development and chief technology officer for BEA.

"We believe SELECT is a key player for BEA in component-based development products. By integrating BEA and SELECT products together we help smooth the business application development process for our joint customers to facilitate the creation of reliable and highly scalable business systems."

"As component-based technology, including middleware, has entered the mainstream, easeof development has become a more critical issue," said Stuart Frost, chairman and chief executive officer for SELECT.

"Customers expect to realize the benefits of higher application maintainability and software reuse to lower overall development costs and increase the ability to react to new business conditions. We believe the integration of the SELECT and BEA product families is a large step toward realizing these goals."

SELECT plans to soon release a new version of its SELECT Enterprise(R) modeling toolset for users of BEA TUXEDO and BEA M3, as announced at the BEA M3 launch June 2. SELECT Enterprise for BEA(R) will enable the automatic generation of calls into BEA TUXEDO and BEA M3 environments from the SELECT Enterprise modeling environment.

Together, SELECT and BEA's complementary technologies allow customers to design and run applications in a robust and reliable execution environment that scales well to meet changing user needs.

About BEA TUXEDO

BEA TUXEDO is the most widely deployed transactional middleware for building high-performance and reliable distributed applications in heterogeneous environments. With BEA TUXEDO, developers can successfully develop, manage, and deploy transactional applications completely independent of the underlying communications, hardware and database environment.

About BEA M3

BEA M3 is the first and only generally available production-ready Object Transaction Manager (OTM), the next generation of middleware that can serve as a scalable, mission-critical application platform, answering the need for the safe development and deployment of component-based applications in the enterprise.

BEA M3 is standards-based, providing maximum flexibility and easy interoperability with other applications. Customers will be able to use the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) standard and Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) as component models for C++ and Java-based development within BEA M3. BEA M3 also supports clients that use Microsoft's ActiveX and COM-based technologies.

About SELECT Enterprise

SELECT Enterprise is taking the lead in a new generation of modeling tools, offering UML support, multi-tier architecture and round-trip code generation. SELECT Enterprise is the only modeling toolset that also offers integrated business process modeling, component management and an enterprise-scale repository.

This means models and components can be catalogued, stored and re-used across a project, enterprise or the Web. SELECT Enterprise is the cornerstone of SELECT Component Factory (SCF) -- an integrated product suite focused on enabling the rapid development of component-based systems that meet evolving business needs.

About SELECT Component Factory

SELECT Component Factory (SCF) helps organizations successfully implement a supplier/consumer model of component-based development (CBD). Component suppliers can access and leverage existing IT assets and build new components. Component consumers can assemble applications from pre-supplied components.

Providing the communication between suppliers and consumers is SELECT's unique component management capability. Using SCF enables the rapid development of component-based systems that meet evolving business needs.

About BEA Systems

BEA Systems is a leading provider of cross-platform middleware solutions for enterprise applications. BEA's products and services enable mission-critical, distributed applications that work seamlessly in client/server, Internet and legacy environments. BEA provides transactional, messaging and distributed object-based software for developing and deploying these enterprise applications.

In addition to its product line, BEA provides complete solutions through its extensive partner network, and a full range of services including consulting, training and support.

BEA has headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif., and 50 offices in 24 countries around the globe. The company's common stock trades on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol "BEAS." Additional information on BEA is available on the Internet at http://www.beasys.com.

About SELECT Software Tools

SELECT Software Tools provides a business-driven solution to organizations adopting component-based development. SELECT's product line, SELECT Component Factory (SCF), helps meet evolving business needs by integrating software, services and a model-driven approach to distributed component-based development.

SCF enables the rapid development of flexible and scalable business applications at lower overall cost and reduced risk. Founded in 1988, SELECT has direct operations in North America, Europe and Australia and distributors covering 35 countries throughout the world.

Additional information on SCF, including SELECT Enterprise, SELECT SE(TM), SELECT Component Manager(TM) and SELECT's component wrapping tools, can be found by visiting SELECT's home page at http://www.selectst.com, or contacting SELECT Software Tools in the United States at 714/477-4100, in the United Kingdom at [phone], in Germany at [phone] or in Australia at [phone].

Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this news release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Forward-looking statements in this release include but are not limited to statements regarding the release, functionality and marketing of the SELECT Synchronizer product. All forward-looking statements included in this release are made as of the date hereof, based on information available to BEA as of the date hereof, and BEA assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement. It is important to note that actual outcomes could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual outcomes to differ materially include risks and uncertainties, such as unforeseen technological difficulties related to the integration of the SELECT toolset products with BEA's TUXEDO and M3 products and unforeseen shifts or declines in the markets for code generator products such as SELECT Synchronizer. Readers should also refer to the risk disclosures outlined in BEA's annual report on Form 10-KSB for the year ended Jan. 31, 1998, BEA's Registration Statement (No. 333-29961) filed in connection with its July 1997 follow-on offering and BEA's quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed from time-to-time with the SEC.

Note to Editors: BEA is a registered trademark of BEA Systems Inc. BEA TUXEDO is a registered trademark in the U.S. and other countries. BEA M3 is a trademark of BEA Systems Inc. SELECT Enterprise is a registered trademark of SELECT Software Tools. SELECT Component Factory, SELECT SE and SELECT Component Manager are trademarks of SELECT Software Tools. All other product and company names are trademarks of their respective owners.

    CONTACT:  SELECT Software Tools
               Julie M. Bassett, 949/477-4100
               [e-mail]
               Web site:  www.selectst.com
                     or
               Samluk Communications Inc.
               Donna Samluk, 925/736-8166
               [e-mail]
                     or
               BEA Systems Inc.
               Angie Rodriguez, 408/542-4354
               [e-mail]
                     or
               Burson-Marsteller
               Pamela Sufi, 650/287-4010
               [e-mail]