CAI Introduces Impact!, A Next-Generation Message Broker.

PACHECO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 19, 1998--

Transaction-flow management; process automation;

global-monitoring facilities; non-invasive application access;

synchronous request-response; support for MQSeries, MSMQ, SAP and

SNMP; Web gateway and scaleable architecture address enterprise

environments

CAI (Century Analysis Inc., www.cainc.com), a leading provider of applications integration products, today announced the release of Impact!, CAI's next-generation message broker that redefines the role of a message broker from a behind-the-scenes data interchange engine to a run-the-business enterprise resource.

Impact! combines the traditional features of a message broker, such as data movement and transformation, with the unique ability to automate manual processes and manage the flow of business transactions through a variable number of steps across an enterprise. Examples of such business transactions include establishing new accounts, admitting new patients, processing complex orders, and processing loan applications. By automating manual procedures, monitoring the status of process flows and generating alerts when delays exceed specified limits, Impact! streamlines operations and has a direct measurable effect on the bottom line and on customer satisfaction, without modifiying existing applications.

CAI president Sara Lafrance said, "CAI customers and research analysts have identified a need to enhance message-broker functionality beyond delivering data to include managing process flows and automating business processes. CAI is the first to offer this capability in a message broker with Impact!, while leveraging the extensive experience and technology the company has already applied in this market through its former product, TDM. We see the enhanced features of Impact!, combined with CAI's expertise and core technologies, as key differentiators in this rapidly growing market."

At the heart of Impact! is the ability to manage the integration of a number of existing applications, such that their processing rules are electronically combined to process business transactions. The management of a business transaction begins when the application that receives a transaction generates a trigger to Impact!, which qualifies the transaction and drives it through a set of business rules that result in one or more actions. While actions can involve the simple delivery of the message to another application or the updating of a database, one of the key features of Impact! is the ability to produce triggers to yet other applications for processing, to e-mail the results to a manager for approval, then report back to the requester. Impact! directs and monitors the flow of the business transaction throughout the enterprise, and alerts administrators or other personnel if an application or an individual does not report back in the allotted time.

In addition to servicing traditional batch and near-realtime messages, Impact! incorporates a unique request-response facility that manages realtime interactions between applications for synchronous processing of mission-critical messages, such as accessing a shipping application's rules to determine if the shipment can make the afternoon truck during order entry. A powerful process broker manages concurrent paths to subservient applications to deliver excellent performance as the environment is scaled to meet even the largest enterprise requirements.

Impact! includes a powerful array of features that address enterprise environments and enable Impact! to perform a broad range of functions, from data movement and transformation to business-process automation. This unique combination of features positions Impact! as the next-generation message broker: -0-

--   Graphical PC-based object-based development tools reduce
     development time by eliminating the need for conventional
     programming.

--   A component-based distributed architecture allows individual
     Impact! components to be placed where needed for maximum
     throughput.

--   Non-invasive application access avoids the need to modify
     existing applications.

--   A global console provides a single consolidated view of a network
     of Impact! engines.

--   Synchronous request-response allows applications to interact
     directly thereby avoiding the overhead and delays caused by
     message queuing.

--   Process automation allows existing manual procedures to be
     automated.

--   Flow management provides timer and transaction-tracking
     functionality to manage the flow of business transactions through
     a variable number of steps.

--   An object control system manages object versions and allows
     multiple developers to work on the same object concurrently.

--   A Web gateway and related security engine accept and validate
     Web-based forms and transform them into Impact! triggers.

--   SNMP support provides a single SNMP-based consolidated view of
     processing.

--   MQSeries and MSMQ support allow Impact! to enhance IBM and
     Microsoft functionality through data transformation and process
     automation.

--   SAP support for data exchange between SAP and other enterprise
     applications

--   Message queuing, store-and-forward, data transformation and
     guaranteed once-and-once only delivery of messages throughout an
     enterprise

-0- More than a product -- A complete solution

While CAI offers Impact! as a product in conjunction with skills transfer services to enterprises that want to undertake their own implementation, CAI is also in a position to deliver a complete solution that includes both the Impact! product and the professional services necessary to complete the implementation for enterprises that want to tap into CAI's extensive experience in this arena. Even when CAI is contracted to develop an Impact! solution, CAI is ready to smoothly hand over the controls at any time.

Availability, platform support and pricing

Impact! is available immediately, and runs on major versions of UNIX and Windows NT. Pricing starts at $90,000.

About CAI (www.cainc.com)

CAI (Century Analysis Inc.) has been providing applications-integration solutions to commercial, financial, healthcare, industrial, telecommunications and utility enterprises since 1975. Its products include Impact! (message broker, business-process automation); Web-VA (Web integration server); CAI-Net (single sign-on, network security); Sentinel (data-quality engine); and CL/7 (task-based management, composite applications). The company is privately held, and is headquartered in Pacheco, California.

CONTACT: Century Analysis Inc. (CAI)

Todd Lane, 925/691-2596

[e-mail]

www.cainc.com