Central Virginia Utility Company Selects Boole & Babbage Command MQ to Manage New Message-Queuing Middleware.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 8, 1999--

Utility Company Needed Management Solution to Support a Complex,

Heterogeneous IT Infrastructure

and the Anticipated Growth of its MQSeries Environment

Boole & Babbage(R) (Nasdaq:BOOL), a leader in application service level management for distributed systems, today announced that one of the largest utility companies in the United States has selected Command MQ as the preferred management solution for its new IBM MQSeries message-queuing middleware (MQM). In a strategic two-year project, the Virginia-based company will integrate and manage the availability of its numerous business-critical applications using MQSeries and Command MQ.

Command MQ provides the crucial management functions necessary to maintain the availability of MQSeries applications, as well as tools to quickly and easily implement, configure, administer, monitor and automate MQSeries. With Command MQ, the company can take central command and control of the MQSeries applications environment from an enterprisewide perspective. It will be a strategic solution in enabling uninterrupted business processes and upholding customer service levels.

The IS team at this utility company, knowing that their MQM implementation project would be a very large one, set out to establish the best management support system possible. "We conducted an extremely in-depth evaluation of all vendors and offerings and selected Command MQ based upon its ability to provide out-of-the-box, scalable, end-to-end management," said Michelle Hayman, the MQSeries project lead. Leading industry analysts advise that MQM should not be managed in isolation but, rather, in the context of the entire enterprise. Command MQ is the only solution that can provide enterprisewide availability and service level management from a single console, as well as very specialized management for MQSeries.

Hayman continued: "Also, in the final analysis Command MQ had more depth of functionality, was easier to use, and was up-and-running within two days compared to the closest competitor at two weeks. Right away we were more impressed with the Boole & Babbage organization, solutions and customer focus. The product demonstrations were good and they presented a roadmap of future directions and capabilities. The technical support has been excellent, the code has been very stable, and we've had access to very knowledgeable people, which makes a big difference. We couldn't ask for anything more."

The utility company's applications have historically been mainframe-centered. However, new Internet and client/server technologies have been incorporated to exploit new technological developments, vendor packages such as graphical tracking interfaces and SAP, and, at times, to resolve specific issues such as Y2K. This expansion has created an increasingly complex, heterogeneous IT infrastructure. As each of these applications was being custom fitted to their needs, the requirement to interface with existing mainframe applications became apparent. They finally brought in MQSeries to integrate - and Command MQ to simplify management of - these diverse applications which include:

1. A new distributed system, using SAP for finance, supply management and human resources. (Command MQ also provides a specialized management solution for SAP R/3.)

2. The customer billing management system, a central mainframe application that requires interfaces to all of these new projects.

3. A new system that incorporates dispatching, work management and a graphical system that provides mapping capabilities to improve work performed for customers.

4. Automated Meter Reading (AMR), a new client/server system that will remotely read meters.

5. Other key systems, such as trouble reporting, service restoration, customer Internet applications, etc.

"Command MQ will play a key role in bringing MQSeries to production quickly and smoothly - then it will handle the ongoing management," said Hayman. "MQSeries is expected to transport millions of messages per day for the company. Command MQ will maintain the availability of these critical applications."

"I'm delighted that Command MQ will meet the growing needs of our customer, particularly given the scope of this important MQM project," said John Haley, senior director of middleware product marketing. "Boole & Babbage is committed to delivering solutions to real problems, increasing service levels, decreasing costs and providing a fast return on our customers' investments. Command MQ makes it fast and easy to deploy MQSeries, and also provides the most scalable and robust set of management and automation tools in the industry."

About Command MQ

Boole & Babbage is the market leader in message-queuing middleware (MQ) management with Command MQ. The only solution available that delivers central management reaching all the enterprise elements that MQ applications rely on, Command MQ provides true end-to-end availability. Command MQ is also unmatched in its depth of capabilities, which include configuration, administration, performance monitoring, operations management and automation.

Command MQ is based upon the proven and robust Boole & Babbage technology. A modular architecture builds upon the ability of Command MQ to scale from very small pilot programs to full-scale implementations in the largest heterogeneous environments: agents technology provides local, "at-the-source" monitoring and platform-based automation; a mid-level console provides centralized management (distributed or host-based) and event-driven automation; the enterprise-level option enables users to manage their entire IT infrastructure, treating MQ as a part of their overall management strategy.

Easy to use, Command MQ offers proven, packaged "out-of-the-box" solutions that can also be custom-tailored. It is the most flexible management solution available, easily integrating into a customer's existing IT environment and providing the fastest implementation and ROI in the industry. Command MQ covers the broadest range of platforms, including MVS, HP-UX, Sun Solaris, DEC VMS, AIX, OS/400, OS/2 and Windows NT.

To make the Command MQ solution readily accessible to users, Boole & Babbage and IBM introduced a new product offering, Command MQ BonusPac. Available as a free download from the Web, Command MQ BonusPac is a full-functioning, fully-supported management offering that provides immediate value for users seeking to deploy and manage MQSeries. See www.boole.com/products/MQ/bonuspac.html for more information.

About Boole & Babbage

Boole & Babbage is a worldwide leader in application service level management for distributed systems. Its Enterprise Automation product lines provide a management solution for the entire IT enterprise that encompasses systems, applications, middleware, databases and Web technologies. The Boole & Babbage set of solutions is currently used by large manufacturing companies, domestic and international government agencies, the majority of the world's largest financial institutions, airlines, IT outsourcers and utilities to improve service levels and reduce IT management costs. Founded in 1967, Boole & Babbage is the oldest publicly traded software vendor in the systems management industry with revenues of $226 million in calendar 1998, 970 employees and 43 offices in 26 countries. Corporate headquarters are located in San Jose, California. For more information, visit us on the Web at www.boole.com, or call [phone].

Boole & Babbage, Inc. is a Tivoli (NYSE:IBM) premiere partner, a Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HWP) premier partner, an IBM (NYSE:IBM) BESTeam Member, and a Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) Solutions Developer.

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