Open Horizon Brings Enterprise Connection to Mainframe-Quality Services on HP's 9000 Server Platform.

BELMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 18, 1995--Open Horizon, Inc. and Hewlett-Packard (HP) today announced an alliance to provide customers with an easy, cost-effective path from legacy or departmental applications to enterprise client/server solutions.

Joining HP's Middleware Engineering Initiative, Open Horizon provides HP customers with the means to transparently link their client/server applications with heterogeneous databases and enterprise services such as DCE Security, DCE Directory and online transaction processing (OLTP) monitors such as CICS for HP 9000 and Encina/9000.

Furthering this commitment, HP is actively marketing Open Horizon's "Enterprise Accelerator" program which enables HP 9000 users to rapidly integrate their existing client/server applications with mainframe-quality enterprise services provided by DCE/9000 in just five days.

Using Open Horizon's standards-based connectivity product Connection, customers can take their existing client/server applications and progressively add support for key HP middleware and enterprise services such as OLTP, user authentication, data encryption, central administration and directory services as business requirements evolve -- without reprogramming their applications.

"Open Horizon believes that the success of enterprise computing rests on leading vendors working together to provide integrated, coherent solutions to customers," said Nicholas Zaldastani, president and CEO of Open Horizon, Inc. "Our partnership with HP is an excellent example of how we are helping customers easily migrate to enterprise computing and enabling other vendors to deliver on their core strengths."

"We regard Open Horizon's Connection as an important element in our open systems strategy," said Nigel Ball, systems planning and delivery marketing manager, HP's general systems division. "Now, for the first time, we can go into a customer site and quickly demonstrate the benefits provided by DCE/9000 with the customer's existing applications. Open Horizon's Connection will enhance our customers' ability to rapidly deploy business-critical applications across the enterprise."

Connection

Connection is comprised of object-oriented libraries that reside on client and server platforms to form a connectivity foundation. With Connection in place, organizations can "snap-on" Connection Enterprise Service Modules to provide transparent access to market-proven enterprise services such as DCE Security, DCE Directory, distributed application logic, TP monitors like CICS, Encina, Top End and Tuxedo, and heterogeneous databases.

Connection's communications infrastructure, based on RPCs (remote procedure call) and POSIX Threads to provide both synchronous and asynchronous support, was designed to easily incorporate any of the leading distributed computing standards. Today, Connection supports DCE (Distributed Computing Environment) and future releases will incorporate CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) and Microsoft's Network OLE and COM (Object Linking and Embedding/Common Object Model) as they gain market acceptance.

Enterprise Service Modules

Open Horizon's suite of Enterprise Service Modules include the Connection Database Module for accessing information in heterogeneous databases. Connection supports any ODBC-compliant database, including ORACLE, SYBASE, INFORMIX, SQL Server and DB2/6000 through the ODBC Database Module. Connection Database Modules provide direct support for the following native database APIs: ODBC, OCI for ORACLE, CT-Lib for SYBASE, and Information Builders' gateway using EDA/SQL.

Other key service modules include a Security Module for encryption, authentication and single sign-on services, and a Directory Module for central directory and administration services. The current Connection Security Module provides transparent access to the DCE Security based on Kerberos and DES Encryption. The Connection Directory Service Module provides transparent access to the DCE Cell Directory Service based on the X.500 specification. Additional options are currently under development.

Connection also allows popular GUI front-end tools to invoke distributed business rules on a separate server platform or request services that are managed by TP monitors. Connection Application Service Modules to provide transparent access to distributed business rules and support TP monitors such as Encina and CICS are currently in development and will be available in Q4 1995.

Platforms Supported

Connection for the client runs on Windows 3.1, Windows NT and most major UNIX platforms. Future plans include support for Macintosh, OS/2 Warp and Windows 95 clients. Connection for the server runs on Windows NT, Solaris, AIX, HP/UX 9000 and OpenVMS. Porting is underway to other UNIX platforms and MVS. Connection can be used with all of the major network protocols supported by DCE including TCP/IP, UDP/IP and SPX/IX.

About Open Horizon, Inc.

Open Horizon, Inc. is a leading provider of standards-based connectivity software that assists organizations in moving from departmental to enterprise-wide client/server solutions. The company builds and markets Connection, the first product to provide new or existing applications with plug-and-play access into enterprise services, such as heterogeneous databases, user authentication, data encryption, directory services and transaction processing monitors, for both 2-tier and 3-tier client/server architectures.

Open Horizon was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Belmont, California. For more information about Open Horizon send email to [e-mail], call [phone], or visit the Web site at http://www.openhorizon.com.

"Enterprise Accelerator" Program Deliverables and Costs

Open Horizon's Enterprise Accelerator program offering includes Open Horizon's standards-based connectivity product Connection, full on-site installation and deployment, and one year of maintenance, support and software upgrades.

HP is marketing this program along with a free thirty (30) day evaluation copy of the DCE Directory, DCE Security and DCE Runtime components for the HP 9000 server. Open Horizon is offering the Enterprise Accelerator program for $9,500 -- which is completely refundable if the five day exercise is not 100% successful.

Pricing and Availability

As an introductory offer, Connection comes bundled with one Database Module, the DCE Directory Module and the DCE Security Module, priced at $295 per user. -0-

Note to Editors: Open Horizon acknowledges all trademarks as belonging to their respective owners.

CONTACT: Niehaus Ryan Haller PR

Becky Snape, 415/615-7903

[e-mail]

or

Open Horizon, Inc. (sales/marketing information)

415/598-1200

[e-mail] or http://www.openhorizon.com