Netron announces new re-architecting solution; Common sense process for mining legacy systems moves valuable assets to new technologies, helps build an application architecture.

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 14, 1996--Taking an architecture-based approach to development does not apply only to new systems. A re-architecting solution that helps companies extract valuable business rules and functions buried in legacy systems and redeploy them based on a pre-built application architecture was announced today by Netron.

"Re-architecting is Netron's practical, well-defined plan for future-proofing legacy systems. It comprises three integrated concepts: reuse, architecture, and approach," said Andy Staniewski, president of Netron. "The objectives are to capitalize on current technologies, position core systems for future changes, and greatly reduce the maintenance burden as these systems are moved forward."

Netron's solution utilizes a combination of powerful reuse tools. Netron Renovator, Netron's new re-architecting tool, leverages the code analysis capabilities of Micro Focus Revolve to identify reusable data definitions, business functions, and technical functions that have future value. Renovator extracts these candidates to create reusable classes and imports them into Netron Fusion, a component based development environment, where they are redeployed into host-based, client/server, or Internet-enabled applications using the well-defined architecture of Netron's flexible frameworks.

The legacy system, once re-architected, becomes modular, flexible, and maintainable because it was redeployed with the frameworks which define and automatically implement organizational standards. Frameworks free developers to focus on application specifics, instead of revisiting issues that can be solved with technology. The result is less time spent rewriting suitable business rules or applications, and the delivery of more consistent and higher-quality applications.

Dave Babson, assistant vice president at Micro Focus said, "We're very excited that Netron has chosen to leverage the Revolve database to create a new re-architecting solution. The combination of Netron's reuse expertise with the capabilities of Revolve will give organizations the ability to effectively modernize their legacy systems."

AT&T in New Jersey is currently using Netron's solution to re-architect a billing sub-system. The billing system, which processes millions of messages a day, has an error correction path called the Unbilled Message Investigation Unit (UMIU) that handles errored messages from the Message Processing System (MPS). UMIU attempts to determine and resolve the problem automatically or allow manual resolution by the Resolution Analysis Group.

After resolution, the previously errored messages are reintroduced into the billing stream. The objective is to make UMIU more modular, flexible, and maintainable. The ability to implement unique business requirements will be enhanced by allowing similar components to be reused among similar systems.

"Essentially, we're looking for reuse candidates in our current system and then Renovator will actually generate frames (reusable components) for us," said Larry Brummell, senior specialist, business customer service, at AT&T. "Typically today if we have to make a small change related to a service, we have to open most of the programs to accommodate it. We're trying to minimize that amount and looking at using Netron as a way to help us rewrite some of those pieces and, in the process, redesign some of our data stores we've converted from IMS to DB2."

Netron Renovator is available immediately, and is being shown in public for the first time this week at the Micro Focus user group meeting in Orlando, Florida. Netron Renovator is priced at $499 per copy. Netron Fusion is priced from $5,000 to $9,950 depending on the number of workstation copies purchased. Micro Focus Revolve is available from Micro Focus.

Netron Inc. helps Fortune 1000 companies solve complex system problems and bring core business systems into the future. It is a leading developer of application development tools that harness the power of software reuse utilizing flexible frameworks to achieve breakthrough results in development productivity. Netron is recognized by The Financial Post Magazine as one of the top 25 information technology providers in Canada, and has offices in the U.S., the U.K., and distributors worldwide. For more information, visit Netron's web site at http://www.netron.com. -0-

Netron is a registered trademark and Netron Fusion and Netron Renovator are trademarks of Netron Inc. Micro Focus is a registered trademark and Revolve is a trademark of Micro Focus Ltd.

CONTACT: Rick Strosberg, Netron Inc.

416/636-8334, ext. 266

[e-mail]

or

Ed Bride

413/442-7718

[e-mail]