Continuus' All-Microsoft Change Management Suite Boosts Application Development Productivity; Continuus/CM 4.3 Brings Task-based Simplicity and Power to Windows NT Server.

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 21, 1997--Continuus Software Corporation has shipped an all-Microsoft implementation of its Change Management Suite.

The new Windows NT Server release of Continuus/CM (Version 4.3) allows software development shops based on Windows NT Server hardware to achieve the improved productivity and higher software quality enjoyed by the current Continuus customer base, which runs Windows and Unix clients against a Unix server.

"It was hard to believe the beta of Continuus 4.3 was just a beta," said Steve Hicks, Manager of Developer support for a Texas Instruments Information Systems Group that tested a prerelease version in October. "Our experience is that the Continuus change management suite is reliable and dependable. Unlike the other choices on NT, Continuus provides a real software configuration management solution that gives us role-based security and comprehends our life-cycle, yet makes things easy with a task-based approach."

Continuus/CM's new Task-Based CM capability assumes the burden of tracking and operating on related sets of changes, which means it:

-- eliminates the need for developers to maintain lists of which files they've edited to complete each enhancement and bug fix.

-- frees the developer from checking in files one at a time and eliminates the failed compilations common in file-based CM systems when programmers forget to check in all of the files edited to complete a task.

-- allows changes related to an enhancement or bug fix to be backed out of a software release with a mouse click, useful when incomplete tasks are holding up software delivery.

-- enhances software quality through detection of incomplete or inconsistent sets of changed files. This "safe and smart" SCM eliminates problems such as recurrence of bugs fixed in a previous release.

Scalability Tailored to Windows Development

Besides bringing the efficiency and usability of Task-Based CM to Windows NT Server, Version 4.3 of Continuus/CM provides all the scalability and robustness of the earlier Unix releases of the Continuus change management server. In addition, close integration with Microsoft's software development tools including Visual C++, Visual J++ and Visual Basic gives Windows developers the benefit of Continuus' superior change management capabilities without leaving the familiar integrated development environments (IDEs) they work in today. The Continuus Change Management suite is therefore ideally suited to teams developing complex enterprise applications in an all-Microsoft environment as they find version control products like Visual SourceSafe or PVCS simply cannot satisfy their needs.

"Large development teams using Microsoft's tools can benefit by using Continuus/CM, particularly if they need remote or parallel development capabilities," said Jon Roskill, Visual Basic Director of Marketing for Microsoft Corp.

Pricing

Client pricing for the full Version 4.3 suite (Continuus/CM, /OM, and /PT) is $2495 per seat (quantity one). Individual per seat client licenses (quantity one) are also available for CM at $1995, /OM at $595, and /PT at $995. The price of the server license for the Continuus Change Management Suite is $9,995. Site licenses and quantity discounts are available.

Availability

Continuus/CM, /OM and /PT Version 4.3 for Windows NT is currently available. Version 4.2, which offers identical functionality and pricing with support for Unix servers, shipped in September 1996. The two versions cover the following platforms:

UNIX (both Server and Client)

HP/UX 

SunOS and Solaris

IBM AIX 

SGI IRIX 

DEC Digital UNIX 

Windows Server

Windows NT 3.51

Windows Clients

Windows NT

Windows 95

Windows 3.1 and 3.11 for Workgroups

About Continuus Software

Based in Irvine, California, Continuus Software is the leading provider of change management solutions for software development. The company develops and markets Continuus/CM, /OM and /PT, a suite of change management technologies that manage the entire process of software development and on-going maintenance. The products feature a predefined, customizable workflow-management model for rapid implementation. Additionally, the company offers extensive consulting, training and integration services.

With these products and services, Continuus leads the industry in providing the ease-of-use, flexibility and scalability needed to help software developers increase team productivity, improve product quality and speed software creation, upgrades and new releases.

Continuus is a privately-owned, venture-backed corporation. Products are sold direct in North America, France, Germany and the UK as well as through distributors in other countries. Customers include: BMW, Bell Atlantic, British Telecom, Chemical Bank, Dresdner Bank, Lehman Brothers, Lockheed, Motorola, Novell, Rockwell, Texas Instruments and Tandem Computers.

Continuus Software is located at 108 Pacifica, Irvine, CA 92618; phone [phone]; fax [phone]. More information is available from the Continuus Software site on the World Wide Web at http://www.continuus.com -0-

NOTE TO EDITORS: Continuus/CM, Continuus/OM and Continuus/PT are registered trademarks of Continuus Software Corporation.

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Kevin Strehlo, 714/453-2200

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Mary Lindsay, 408/984-7242