NEON Systems Delivers J2EE Connector Architecture Adapters for BEA WebLogic for OS/390 Mainframe Data and Transactions.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SUGAR LAND, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 28, 2002

NEON(R) Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:NESY), a leading provider of data access, legacy renewal, and OS/390 enterprise system management solutions, today announced additional support and functionality for J2EE(TM) (Java(TM) 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition) with the introduction and certification of Shadow(R) Direct JCA (J2EE(TM) Connector Architecture) adapters to support BEA WebLogic Integration(TM).

Shadow Direct is an open, standards-based solution for integrating mainframe data sources and transaction environments to client/server and N-tier computing environments. BEA WebLogic Integration is BEA's solution for integrating an enterprise's applications and technologies, business processes and partner-based interactions, leveraging the industry's leading application server, BEA WebLogic Server.

Shadow Direct JCA adapters allow application developers to create next-generation applications that transparently incorporate OS/390 data and transactions using the new J2EE Connector Architecture application programming interface. The Shadow Direct JCA adapters will allow businesses using BEA WebLogic Integration 2.1 direct and transparent access to OS/390 mainframe data and transactions, including DB2 and non-relational database formats, VSAM, IMS/DB, ADABAS/Natural, as well as transactions within CICS/TS and IMS/TM -- and to do so with a single infrastructure.

"We are committed to supporting seamless integration with industry-leading J2EE application and integration servers, particularly from a leader like BEA Systems," said Mark Cresswell, vice president and general manager of NEON Systems' Shadow Division. "Over the years, we have worked closely with BEA to provide solutions to extend the business value of existing legacy systems, delivering interoperability for mainframe platforms without compromising the underlying integrity connecting into Web-enabled environments. That same partnership and principle now extends to driving the evolution of the JCA specifications," said Cresswell.

"Enterprises are increasingly motivated to use the integration solutions that rely on the same standards that the business has chosen for its application platform," said Robert Duffner, director of product marketing, BEA Systems. "The demonstrated support of BEA, NEON and other software vendors behind the J2EE Connector Architecture is important to driving standards which benefit the market by adding a layer of efficiency, stability and reliability to application integration. Ultimately the customer is the winner, benefiting from accelerated time to market and reduced deployment and maintenance costs."

Using JDBC (Java Database Connectivity) and JCA, developers can now use Shadow Direct and BEA WebLogic Integration to develop J2EE applications featuring JNDI (Java Naming and Directory Interface(TM)), connection pooling, two-phase commit, in-bound communication, XML and Metadata.

Shadow Direct adapters provide rapid, turnkey integration of IBM mainframe data sources with BEA WebLogic Integration applications and BEA WebLogic Server transactions. Shadow Direct supports DB2(TM), CICS/TS(TM), IMS/TM(TM), IMS/DB(TM), VSAM(TM), ADABAS(TM), Natural/ACI, flat files, IDMS and many other IBM mainframe data and transactional sources found on OS/390(TM) and Z/OS(TM).

Shadow adapters support industry standard open APIs like JCA, JDBC, ODBC, SQLJ, HTML and XML. Shadow Direct JCA adapters for BEA WebLogic Integration 2.1 support the Final Draft of the JCA 1.0 specification, providing JCA system contracts like connection management and transaction management, and features of the proposed JCA 1.5 specification.

NEON Systems and BEA are committed to supporting the evolving J2EE, JCA and JDBC standards and the additional functionality described in the next JCA specification. Both companies have senior developers working within Expert Groups of the Java Community Process(SM) (JCP) to help define and evolve the J2EE Connector Architecture Specification.

About NEON Systems

NEON Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:NESY) is a leading provider of powerful data access, legacy renewal, and OS/390 enterprise system management solutions. Today, more than 40 of the Fortune 100 are using NEON Systems solutions to enable transparent access to System/390 data and transactions from the Internet or distributed computing environments -- all without custom coding. NEON's IMS/CICS utilities enhance and maintain high availability, integrity, and performance while consistently outperforming competitor products. NEON's iWave(R) Helpdesk Integrator product provides a powerful integration solution for organizations with multiple helpdesks. For more information, visit www.neonsys.com or call 800/505-NEON.

NEON, Shadow and iWave are registered trademarks and the NEON logo, Shadow Direct, and Shadow Web Server are trademarks of NEON Systems Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

BEA, Tuxedo, WebLogic, BEA WebLogic Server, BEA WebLogic Personalization Server, BEA WebLogic Portal, BEA WebLogic Integration, BEA WebLogic M-Commerce Solution, and BEA WebLogic E-Business Platform are trademarks or registered trademarks of BEA Systems Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the company with which they are associated.