U S WEST Communications Inc. calls on Viasoft for ESW Technology to improve maintenance productivity.

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 27, 1997--

Announces "c.era" -- a new cooperative approach to solving the

year 2000 problem 

Viasoft Inc. (NASDAQ/NM:VIAS) has received an Existing Systems Workbench(R) contract to help increase software productivity and maintenance efforts at U S WEST Communications Inc., Denver.

U S WEST will be using Viasoft's ESW(R), an integrated suite of software development tools, in conjunction with Viasoft professional services to deploy the toolset in an Insourcing solution. The total project is expected to be completed in 1997.

Viasoft's Insourcing(SM) is a business solution that combines ESW technology with project management support of Viasoft's consultants to help large organizations improve productivity in the management and enhancement of their mission-critical applications.

Organizations have experienced significant productivity gains from Viasoft's Insourcing, allowing them to redeploy staff to new projects, reduce the cost of maintaining applications, shrink enhancement backlogs and reduce the overall costs of supporting applications.

U S WEST has already begun deployment of ESW to users at multiple locations to initiate the training process. Concurrent with the ESW training will be application assessment and proactive maintenance planning activities which will be consolidated into an enhanced maintenance process for the U S WEST team. This process will ensure U S WEST's ESW skills are applied for optimum productivity enhancement.

U S WEST Communications (NYSE:USW) provides telecommunications services to more than 25 million customers in 14 western and midwestern states. The company is one of two major groups that make up U S WEST, a company in the connections business, helping customers share information, entertainment and communications services in local markets worldwide.

U S WEST's other major group, U S WEST Media Group, is involved in domestic and international cable and telephony, wireless communications, and directory and information services.

Viasoft is a leading provider of business solutions, consisting of integrated technology and specialized professional consulting services, designed to enable customers worldwide to cost effectively manage and automate the evolution of their enterprise applications.

With headquarters in Phoenix, Viasoft provides sales and services through regional offices in the United States and a network of subsidiaries and distributors internationally. For more information on Viasoft's products and services, visit the company's World Wide Web site at http://www.viasoft.com .

The statements made in this news release that are not historical facts contain forward-looking information that involves risks and uncertainties.

Important factors that may cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to, risks associated with technology development and commercialization, market demand and acceptance, the impact of competitive products and services, the company's ability to manage growth and to successfully complete and manage acquisitions of technology or businesses, the effect of economic and business conditions including risks inherent in international operations and other risks detailed from time to time in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. -0- NOTE: Viasoft's Insourcing is a service mark and Existing Systems Workbench is a trademark of Viasoft Inc.

CONTACT: Viasoft Inc., Phoenix

Linda Vande Vrede, 602/952-0057, ext. 1309

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