Open Horizon forms executive management team; computing industry executives team to deliver next generation client/server connectivity software.

BELMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 28, 1994--Open Horizon Inc., a software start-up, Monday announced the formation of its executive management team.

The team comprises: Nicholas Zaldastani, president and chief executive officer; George Chung, chief technology officer; D. Kurt Dahm, vice president of sales and marketing; and Dipak Basu, vice president of product development. Collectively the Open Horizon management team has more than 50 years of experience in the management of successful open computing technology companies.

Open Horizon is developing distributed computing software that will allow users to transparently access all of their information regardless of the databases, hardware platforms, operating systems, networks or transaction processing monitors being used. To achieve this goal, Open Horizon's technology has been integrated to work with such standards as the Open Software Foundation's (OSF) distributed computing environment (DCE) as well as ODBC. DCE is a distributed architecture that provides such features as security and naming services allowing interoperability across heterogeneous environments.

"Our executive management team members come from leading client/server technology companies and bring to Open Horizon a broad range of knowledge in operations, development, manufacturing, sales and marketing," said Zaldastani, the company's president and chief executive officer. "With this combination of expertise in place, we are well positioned to address our customers' demands for standards-based technologies that provide next generation database access and we are excited about pursuing this exciting market opportunity."

Nicholas Zaldastani, president and chief executive officer

As president and chief executive officer of Open Horizon, Zaldastani, 38, is responsible for the company's overall management, product success and financial growth. Prior to joining Open Horizon, Zaldastani held several positions at Oracle Corp. in Redwood Shores, Calif., including strategic accounts manager for the company's U.S. Channels Division and director in Oracle's Applications Division.

As strategic accounts manager, he was responsible for initiating 41 new strategic partnerships and managing more than 100 leading Value Added Reseller, System Integrator and consulting accounts. In addition, as director in the Applications Division, Zaldastani managed a $2.4 million budget and led product development, marketing and consulting for Oracle's EDI Solutions Group.

Previous to Oracle, Zaldastani worked in a variety of marketing, engineering and system development positions for companies such as Ogilvy & Mather Advertising Inc., in New York, where he effectively managed two General Foods accounts that totaled $16 million, and FMS Design, a Boston high-end audio equipment start-up.

He earned a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering and economics from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina and a master's in business administration from Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in Boston.

George J. Chung, founder and chief technology officer

Open Horizon's founder and chief technology officer, George J. Chung, formed the company in August 1993. Chung, 30, is responsible for setting the long term technology vision of the company. Most recently, he was director of technology for Patrol Software Inc., Redwood Shores, Calif., where he managed the design, testing and support of DDS/Patrol.

Before joining Patrol Software, Chung held senior technical positions with Ochre Development and Oracle Corp., in both Australia and the United States, where he was responsible for the support of ORACLE relational database products on all platforms. Chung earned a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics and computer science at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

D. Kurt Dahm, vice president of sales and marketing

D. Kurt Dahm, 32, the company's vice president of sales and marketing, oversees the company's entire sales operations and is responsible for product marketing and strategic relationships. Dahm comes to Open Horizon from Oracle Corp. where he managed the technical sales of Oracle's database and tools suite. He also served as Pacific Telesis account manager and CASE and Consulting sales representative at Oracle, where he is credited with generating more than $1 million in revenue per quarter.

Prior to Oracle, Dahm served as manager of sales and support at Computer Task Group Inc., San Francisco, and National Account Division marketing representative at IBM Corp. in San Francisco and New York. At IBM, Dahm was responsible for the sale of the entire product line to several large accounts including MONY Financial Services and Pacific Gas & Electric. Dahm holds a bachelor of science degree in mechanical and industrial engineering from Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York.

Dipak Basu, vice president of product development

As Open Horizon's vice president of product development, Basu, 45, is responsible for managing the development process and ensuring product quality control. Basu joined Open Horizon from The Santa Cruz Operation (SCO), where he served as product line manager and managed 25 percent of the company's existing business and positioned SCO to exploit downsizing trends in enterprise computing markets. Before SCO, he spent seven years as co-founder and chief consultant at Informatica Inc., a worldwide consultancy service for network-based computer systems.

Basu also worked as department manager at GTE Corp., where he managed several software development teams. Basu's work at GTE led to a corporate refocus from manufacturing to systems integration and to significant improvements in efficiency of the company's telephone operations. He earned a bachelor of technology in electronics and communication from the Indian Institute of Technology and a master's in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California at Los Angeles.

About Open Horizon

Open Horizon Inc. is located in Belmont and develops distributed computing software that allows users to transparently access all of their information regardless of the databases, hardware platforms, operating systems, networks or transaction processing monitors being used. Open Horizon's technology has been integrated to work with such standards as the Open Software Foundation's (OSF) distributed computing environment (DCE) as well as ODBC. The company is currently completing its financing as well as development of its initial suite of products, both to be announced shortly.

CONTACT: Open Horizon Inc.

Ken McDonald, 415/593-6178