PLATINUM technology announces joint development and marketing agreement with PeopleSoft for Departmental-to-Enterprise OLAP solutions; PLATINUM InfoBeacon to integrate with PeopleSoft applications; Forest & Trees and InfoReports will support PeopleSoft Open Query API.

OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 15, 1996-- PLATINUM technology, inc., today announced a joint development and marketing agreement with PeopleSoft, Inc. in an initiative to offer Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) solutions for relational data warehouses and data marts using PLATINUM's InfoBeacon (formerly ProdeaBeacon) OLAP software in conjunction with PeopleSoft's software applications. The technology partnership will enable multidimensional analysis of PeopleSoft data, strengthening the decision support capabilities of PeopleSoft applications.

"Today's announcement for OLAP and repository integration marks the first milestone in PLATINUM/PeopleSoft's program to integrate their respective technologies," said Andrew Filipowski, president and CEO of PLATINUM technology. "We anticipate that as this relationship goes forward, there will be future integration in the areas of data warehousing, business intelligence, and systems management."

PLATINUM's InfoBeacon, the leading open, relational OLAP tool in the market today, will be integrated with the PeopleSoft applications to provide users with the means to effectively analyze the information generated by those applications. This will allow users to analyze data from a business perspective. Users can choose different variables, such as dimensions (products, geographies, channels, etc.), time frames (weeks, months, year-to-date, fiscal periods, etc.) and business measurements (sales, gross profit, percent change vs. last year, market share, etc.), by which they want to view and analyze their PeopleSoft data. A series of specialized reports and templates will be built into the integrated PLATINUM/PeopleSoft offering so users can achieve increased productivity instantly upon installation.

The joint development and marketing agreement also includes PLATINUM's Repository software for managing enterprise-wide metadata. The PLATINUM Repository will be integrated with PeopleSoft applications to provide a powerful metadata store for data warehousing implementations.

In conjunction with this agreement, PLATINUM also announced its support for PeopleSoft's newly announced published Open Query API. PLATINUM's business intelligence tools, Forest & Trees, InfoReports, and InfoBeacon, will work with PeopleSoft's application data through an ODBC driver. This will allow the users of PLATINUM's business intelligence tools to build EIS/interactive analysis applications, access information, and generate reports from PeopleSoft data on their desktop.

"PeopleSoft's market leading enterprise applications give users the ability to more efficiently run their business and help them stay ahead of the competition," said Frederick W. Rook, Ph.D., vice president of business intelligence at PLATINUM technology. "The partnership between PeopleSoft and PLATINUM will result in a turnkey OLAP solution that can scale from the department level to the enterprise for those PeopleSoft customers committed to open, relational technology."

"We welcome the opportunity to work with an industry leader like PLATINUM for enterprise OLAP and data warehousing. We believe that PLATINUM's InfoBeacon OLAP and Repository technology, combined with PeopleSoft's application expertise, will deliver superior applications and data management solutions. We look forward to a long- term relationship with PLATINUM to provide exceptional solutions to our mutual customers," said Jim Hopp, manager of technology strategy at PeopleSoft.

PLATINUM and PeopleSoft

PLATINUM and PeopleSoft announced a joint technology initiative in December 1995 to explore ways to enable products from the two companies to work together. This relationship is to support the needs of many customers who have licensed products from both companies and want to increase integration of PeopleSoft's client/server business applications with PLATINUM's data warehouse, business intelligence, and systems management products. Today's enterprise OLAP announcement is the first example of the benefits customers can expect to achieve through this technology sharing.

PLATINUM's Business Intelligence Strategy

PLATINUM's Business Intelligence operation offers an integrated toolset that enables organizations to better leverage their corporate data investments. Business intelligence enables end users to derive value and insight from corporate information by facilitating the access, analysis, reporting, and delivery of enterprise data.

PLATINUM's business intelligence tools address the entire spectrum of data access, reporting, and delivery needs. Each product offers powerful capabilities that can be used separately to meet specific needs, or as a part of an integrated business intelligence solution. The PLATINUM business intelligence solutions include InfoQuery, a powerful ad hoc query builder; InfoReports, an ad hoc query and reporting tool; Forest & Trees, an EIS/Interactive analysis tool; InfoBeacon, a relational online analytical processing tool, and PLATINUM Report Facility, a mainframe-based reporting tool.

PLATINUM's business intelligence operation is a critical component of the company's Open Enterprise Management System (POEMS). POEMS is an integrated, multi-tiered solution that encompasses business intelligence, data warehousing, database management, systems management, and application development across the scope of the entire enterprise.

About PeopleSoft

PeopleSoft, Inc., was established in 1987 to provide innovative software solutions that meet the changing business demands of enterprises worldwide. A client/server applications pioneer and market share leader, PeopleSoft develops, markets, and supports a complete suite of enterprise applications for accounting, materials management, distribution, manufacturing, and human resources. PeopleSoft's innovative use of technology empowers individuals to make informed decisions and manage constant change. With several hundred Fortune 1,000 customers around the world, the company had been recognized for both its award-winning customer service and remarkable growth. PeopleSoft was listed by Fortune as one of the fastest growing companies in America in 1994 and 1995. PeopleSoft product and service information can be located on the World Wide Web at http://www.peoplesoft.com. -0-

EDITOR'S NOTE: Additional information about PLATINUM technology, inc. is available via the World Wide Web at http://www.platinum.com.

PLATINUM technology, inc., delivers the payoff on information technology (IT) investments by providing tools that enable organizations to efficiently manage next-generation computing solutions while leveraging existing and legacy systems. The company provides application development, business intelligence, database administration, data warehousing, and systems management software solutions for the Open Enterprise Environment (OEE) -- the networked computing environment that incorporates mainframe, desktop, and open systems.

EDITORS NOTE: There is an "at" symbol between "greeley" and "platinum.com" and also between "julie.redard" and "cbpr.com" in the E-mail information below. There is also a double slash following "http:" in the World Wide Web address above and below. These symbols may not appear properly in some systems.

CONTACT: PLATINUM technology, inc.

Lisa Goldberg/Michael Greeley, 617/891-6500

[e-mail]

or

Copithorne & Bellows 

Julie Redard/Kathy Madison, 617/252-0606

[e-mail]