UK-Based AppsCo Software Launches U.S. Operations.

BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 12, 1999--

Leading BI/OLAP Vendors Announce Support for AppsCo's Data Mart 

Design and Analytic Application Development Environment

for Microsoft SCL Server 7.0

AppsCo Software Limited, a UK-based provider of data mart design and analytic application development solutions for Microsoft(R) SQL Server(TM) 7.0, announced today its move into the U.S. market by establishing its North American base of operations in Bellevue, Washington.

In addition, many of the leading business intelligence and OLAP solution providers today announced their support for AppsMart, AppsCo's application development environment that makes it easy to design and build data marts and analytic applications for SQL Server 7.0.

Using AppsMart it is possible to start your design using a best-in-class analytic application template, iterate the application design to meet your requirements, and deploy the solution to Microsoft SQL Server 7.0. AppsMart will automatically populate the data mart with sample data and integrate OLAP Services, data transformation services (DTS) and Microsoft(R) Office2000. This gives developers a rapid start, and consistent methods and techniques when implementing a data mart on the Microsoft platform.

AppsMart offers solution providers the combined benefits of lower cost and risk through enabling a repeatable process and method of delivering data mart solutions, and enabling the rapid creation of analytic applications, significantly reducing the time-to-market for solution provider products.

AppsMart is fully integrated with Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 and the Microsoft Data Warehousing Framework. This ensures organizations can put together an integrated data warehousing solution from AppsCo and different vendors knowing that they have been designed to work together. In addition, AppsMart 1.5, which AppsCo introduced today, boasts unparalleled integration with Microsoft Repository, a component of SQL Server 7.0 that provides life-cycle management services to store and share software components along with their descriptive information.

"AppsMart's unparalleled integration with Microsoft Repository ensures it can be seamlessly integrated with leading business intelligence and OLAP tools to provide highly targeted decision support solutions for SQL Server 7.0 customers," said Steve Murchie, data warehousing group product manager, SQL Server marketing, Microsoft Corp. "It is this integration with Microsoft Repository which will prove key as organizations begin to realize the benefits of lower cost and accelerated deployment of systems which share meta data and re-use business information."

Leading BI/OLAP Vendors Support AppsMart

Leading BI/OLAP vendors Brio (Nasdaq:BRYO), Business Objects (Nasdaq:BOBJ), Knosys, Maximal Innovative Intelligence, OLAP@Work and Sagent (Nasdaq:SGNT) announced they are working with AppsCo to deliver high-end analytic and data mining applications over and above those provided by Microsoft Office2000. The benefit to the customers will come in the form of seamless, rapidly deployed, highly targeted, powerful analytic applications for SQL Server 7.0 installations.

Brio

"The combination of AppsCo and Brio.Enterprise enables developers to build custom, Web-enabled analytical applications that deliver prepackaged business content to decision makers," stated Jannell Wei, director of channel and partner marketing at Brio Technology. "Supporting AppsCo's solution provides customers the fastest time to deployment of their data marts and analytic applications and leverages our combined strengths in the Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 environment."

Business Objects

"We are pleased to be working with AppsCo to deliver highly focused, ROI driven business intelligence solutions to our customers running SQL Server 7.0," said Tony Heyworth, UK marketing director, Business Objects. "AppsMart is an excellent development environment that is highly complementary to Business Objects in designing analytic applications that derive maximum business benefit."

Knosys

"Microsoft's release of powerful, low-cost OLAP technology has created a ready market for 'out-of-the-box' OLAP client tools to help decision makers analyze data, as well as a rapidly growing demand for custom analytical applications," said Clay Young, vice president of marketing for Knosys. "AppsCo's AppsMart, in conjunction with the Knosys ProClarity Analytical Platform, makes the delivery of domain-specific analytical applications to our SQL Server 7.0 customers much easier and less expensive."

Maximal

"Maximal Innovative Intelligence's Max (www.maxsw.com) is the first business intelligence solution that delivers unparalleled Time to Knowledge by displaying multidimensional information in a single screen," said Yoram Meriaz, president of Maximal. "Working with AppsCo, we look forward to delivering powerful analytic applications that enable organizations to quickly and easily extract valuable information from SQL Server 7.0-based data marts and warehouses for strategic business analysis."

OLAP@Work

"OLAP@Work is very pleased to be working with a dynamic young company like AppsCo," said Robert Lendvai, vice president of marketing, OLAP@Work. "Our integration with AppsMart benefits our mutual customers by enabling us to accelerate the delivery of powerful analytic applications that are fully integrated with Microsoft Excel 97/2000 and the entire Microsoft Office Platform."

Sagent

"AppsCo provides a unique and powerful capability for companies building analytic solutions on top of SQL Server 7.0," said Mike Venerable, vice president of financial applications for Sagent. "AppsMart's ability to rapidly speed implementation and simplify the management of applications once deployed are powerful enablers for developers and users of data marts and analytic applications."

AppsCo Establishes U.S. Sales Distribution

AppsCo also announced today its first U.S.-based distribution partners. They are CEP Systems, Inc., Norwalk, Conn., which specializes in software development for manufacturing, accounting and distribution systems; Diversified Computer Strategies Bedford, Texas, which develops prepackaged data marts; and Solutions Consulting Group, San Diego, Calif., a leading information technology services firm.

CEP Systems

"Our partnership with AppsCo has helped us to quickly create sales analysis data marts using Microsoft SQL Server 7.0," said John J. Pavain, president of CEP Systems. "AppsMart allows our business intelligence consultants to custom tailor a data mart for the specific needs of our customers in hours instead of weeks. AppsMart will allow us to standardize our approach to data mart creation and optimize the use of the best practice business intelligence consulting methodologies that we have created. We look forward to developing a successful business intelligence practice using AppsMart."

Diversified Computer Strategies

"Every data mart we implement requires extensive customization on all aspects of the system, including extraction rules, schema design, OLAP design and end user query and reporting," said Dennis James, president of Diversified Computer Strategies. "AppsMart has enabled us to keep this development time to a minimum, allowing us to pass on cost savings to our customers as well as increasing our profitability. Everyone wins."

Solutions Consulting Group

"Our extensive experience in implementing highly targeted business intelligence solutions has taught us that the scope of a data mart must be focused on answering key business questions," said Bill Edmett, Jr., chief technology officer for Solutions Consulting Group. "AppsMart helps us do that with SQL Server 7.0. We use it to model and deploy all of our data marts."

AppsCo is also partnering with Arthur Andersen LLP to deliver SQL Server 7.0 solutions to Arthur Andersen clients. "At Arthur Andersen, we assist our clients in prioritizing their business intelligence needs, identifying the appropriate technology and process solutions, and tailor them to meet client-specific requirements, enabling them to transform change into a competitive advantage," said Douglas W. Irwin, Business Intelligence Group Leader, Finance Business Solutions, Arthur Andersen LLP. "AppsCo's data mart development environment is highly consistent with our view of a key business issues, top-down design of the data model, a critical component of our framework for CFO excellence. We have found tremendous synergy between the two firms in working together to rapidly deliver targeted SQL Server 7.0-based data mart solutions."

"We've had great success with AppsMart in Europe, and with the massive number of SQL Server 7.0 installations here, we felt the time was right to establish our U.S. presence," said Brian Burnett, CEO of AppsCo Software. "AppsMart will provide a cutting-edge way for integrators and developers to quickly build data mart and analytic applications on SQL Server 7.0. We see the market for our products here as unlimited, and with the support of our partners we look forward to delivering advanced business intelligence solutions to SQL Server 7.0 customers."

About AppsCo Software Limited

AppsCo Software Limited, founded in 1998, is a leading supplier of data mart and analytic application development tools. AppsCo provides AppsMart, an analytic application development environment. A patent pending technology, AppsMart enables data mart application builders to design data marts based on vertical market solution templates, and standard methods and processes. Backed by venture capital firms 3i, Vertex Management Group, Scottish Equity Partnership and Grampian Enterprise Limited, AppsCo is a privately held company. AppsCo is based in Surrey, United Kingdom, and has U.S. operations in Bellevue, Washington. More information on the company and its AppsMart solution is available on the Web at www.appsco.com, or by calling 425/957-4528.

AppsCo, AppsMart and the AppsCo and AppsMart logos are registered trademarks of AppsCo Software Ltd. Other products mentioned in this document are registered, trademarked, or service marked by their respective owners.

Note to Editors: Copies of previous AppsCo press releases and corporate and product information are available on AppsCo's Web site at http://www.appsco.com