Borland Takes Lead in Industry Standard Benchmarking of J2EE Application Servers.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 29, 2001

Industry Standard ECperf(TM) Enables Companies to Evaluate Standards

Compliance and Performance of J2EE(TM) Application Servers

Borland Software Corporation (Nasdaq NM: BORL) today announced the immediate availability of the Borland(R) AppServer(TM) Kit for the ECperf(TM) 1.0 benchmark to enable companies to measure the real-world performance and scalability of the Borland AppServer. ECperf is the official performance benchmark that was created through the Java Community Process(SM) program, the open community-based process for developing Java(TM) technology specifications, to test the scalability and performance of Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE(TM)) application servers. Borland is the first company to provide an ECperf benchmark kit from its Web site at http://www.borland.com/appserver/ecperf. Today's announcement reinforces Borland's technology leadership and adherence to industry standards that enable Borland customers to maximize the performance of their applications while achieving a lower total cost of ownership.

"All users should demand their application server vendors provide official ECperf results prior to making a purchase," said John Meyer, senior industry analyst, Giga Information Group. "Giga recommends that organizations adopt the ECperf Specification/Benchmark Kit as the foundation for all of their J2EE application server benchmarking efforts. In doing so, they will guarantee that their J2EE application server benchmarking results portray an accurate apples to apples comparison."

The ECperf Benchmark specification was developed in collaboration with industry leading J2EE application server vendors, including Borland. The benchmark tests several key attributes of Enterprise JavaBeans(TM) (EJB(TM)) technology, including scalability and distributed transactions. By requiring that the source code cannot be changed, the ECperf Benchmark specification takes advantage of the portability of Java and J2EE technologies and provides a rigorous comparison of J2EE-based server performance. It is a powerful test benchmark of the scalability and performance of J2EE application servers.

"We're pleased to see Borland assume a leadership role in providing customers a kit for ECperf to easily and quickly determine the performance of the Borland AppServer," said Rick Saleta, group marketing manager, Enterprise Java Technologies, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "We encourage other vendors to provide their customers with a kit for ECperf. ECperf benchmark based testing will help users make an informed purchase decision that will subsequently maximize their return on investment and will best fit their specific enterprise needs."

The primary goal of the ECperf Benchmark is to model the workload of a real-world system that would include manufacturing, supply chain management, and order/inventory. The ECperf Benchmark specification was created to test the performance of business objects in the middle tier -- a critical determining factor when choosing a server for the best price performance for current and future business demands. The Borland AppServer Kit for ECperf 1.0 Benchmark is being provided for customers to test for themselves the scalability and performance available from Borland AppServer. The kit features a step-by-step guide for customers to install, run, and analyze ECperf results for Borland AppServer.

"Companies who want to gain the best performance for their investment can turn to Borland for a high performance application server at the lowest total cost of ownership," said Alan Shoap, vice president of Enterprise Solutions at Borland. "In fact, we encourage companies to use the ECperf benchmark to test the performance of Borland AppServer. Since the ECperf results for many highly scaled applications can vary dramatically, Borland also encourages companies to compare benchmarks and request analytical tools from other vendors."

A whitepaper entitled the "Eight Reasons ECperf is the Right way to Evaluate J2EE Performance" has been developed by Sun Microsystems and CustomWare. It is another useful tool for customers to evaluate J2EE application servers using the ECperf Benchmark. The whitepaper is available for download from http://www.customware.com.

Borland also announced today that it has joined TheServerSide.com partner program, dedicated to providing a J2EE community web site and the official repository for ECperf results, available at http://ecperf.theserverside.com/ecperf/. Borland expects to publish results of the Borland AppServer ECperf benchmark during the fourth quarter on both www.theserverside.com and www.borland.com.

About ECperf

ECperf, composed of the Specification and the Kit, is a benchmark designed to measure performance and scalability. Prototyped and built in conjunction with Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition server vendors, it was developed under the Java Community Process. The audience is both the J2EE user and server vendor. ECperf can assist the J2EE user in understanding J2EE scalability and tuning. The J2EE server vendor can use ECperf to improve and showcase product performance. The ECperf Specification Benchmark is available at http://jcp.org/jsr/detail/4.jsp.

For more information on ECperf, see java.sun.com/j2ee/ecperf.

About Borland AppServer

Borland AppServer provides an industrial strength infrastructure for an e-business platform solution. The Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE platform) 1.2.1 certified Borland AppServer provides clustering, load balancing and back-end integration, to enable customers with a powerful platform-independent application server that serves the rigorous needs of global e-business customers. Built upon Borland VisiBroker(R), the most deployed CORBA(R) solution on the market, Borland brings this technology innovation and heritage to the J2EE platform. For more information, visit http://www.borland.com/appserver.

About Borland

Borland is a leading provider of high performance e-business platform solutions designed to increase developer productivity and reduce time to market for enterprise software projects. E-business platform solutions consist of software products that allow businesses to develop, deploy and manage e-business applications. Borland is the vendor of choice for professional e-business solution providers who demand a vendor-independent platform that supports rapid time to market, high productivity, performance and availability. Founded in 1983, Borland is headquartered in Scotts Valley, California, with operations worldwide. To learn more, visit Borland at http://www.borland.com, the community site at http://community.borland.com or call Borland at [phone].

Safe Harbor Statement

This release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined under the Federal Securities Laws, including the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements that are not historical are forward-looking. Forward-looking statements may relate to, but are not limited to, Borland's future financial performance, capital expenditures, revenues, acquisitions, earnings, costs, product development plans, global expansion plans, estimated size of potential customer markets, demand for Borland's products, the projected acceptance by existing or potential customers of new technologies and the potential features of, or benefits to be derived from, the products developed, marketed or sold by Borland, market and technological trends in the software industry and various economic and business trends. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations that involve a number of uncertainties and risks that may cause actual events or results to differ materially. Factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially include, among others, the following: general economic factors and capital market conditions, general industry trends, the potential effects on Borland of competition in computer software product and services markets, growth rates in the software and professional services markets that Borland participates in, rapid technological change that can adversely affect the demand for Borland's products, shifts in customer demand, market acceptance of new or enhanced products or services developed, marketed or sold by Borland, delays in scheduled product availability dates, actions or announcements by competitors, software errors, reduction in sales to or loss of any significant customers, the ability to successfully integrate acquisitions, Borland's ability to protect its intellectual property rights, the dependence of certain of Borland's business units on licenses from third parties, Borland's ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, Borland's failure to reduce costs and unanticipated further deterioration of economic and financial conditions in the United States and around the world resulting from the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. These and other risks may be detailed from time to time in Borland's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, its latest Annual Report on Form 10-K and its latest Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained from www.sec.gov. Borland is under no obligation to (and expressly disclaims any such obligation to) update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Note to Editors: All Borland brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of Borland Software Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun Logo, Java, J2EE, Enterprise JavaBeans, EJB, Java Community Process and ECperf are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.