Information Builders Integrates Mobile and Wireless

For Immediate Release:
Company Contact:
     Michael Ventriello
(917) 339-6099
michael_ventriello@ibi.com                                                                                                                                                                                                www.informationbuilders.com

Information Builders Integrates Mobile and Wireless
With Enterprise Data and Applications

Mobile Computing Server Connects Mobile E-Business Applications                                         With Existing Databases, Files, Applications and Transaction Systems

New York, NY- (May 1, 2000) - Information Builders, a global leader in the combined Web reporting and enterprise integration solutions known as i-business, today announced the introduction of the Mobile Computing Server, an application hosting and integration platform for mobile and wireless applications that utilize popular wireless computing devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), cellular telephones and text pagers. Mobile Computing Server extends and enhances these applications by providing seamless integration and real-time synchronization with critical back-end" information assets such as production data sources, legacy applications and transaction systems.

We are taking our i-business strategy to the next paradigm shift -- the convergence of enterprise computing and wireless communications, " said Information Builders CEO and president Gerald Cohen. Our ability to easily integrate virtually any front-end application with any back-end database, file, application, or transaction system gives us the ability to dynamically deliver valuable, up-to-the-minute business information to todays demanding mobile workforce."

A fully portable server available across all Java environments, Mobile Computing Server allows organizations to fully leverage existing systems and provides IT professionals with the tools they need to manage, deploy and connect personal digital assistants (PDAs) within the Palm OS and Windows CE environments, as well as sophisticated WAP-enabled cell phones, beepers and any other mobile device capable of receiving and displaying information over the Internet.

Information Builders provides a variety of connectors that integrate mobile and wireless applications hosted on the Mobile Computing Server with the rest of the enterprise. All told, these connectors enable data-level integration of more than 85 data sources including relational, non relational and legacy databases and files, as well as application-level integration of custom-developed applications, transaction systems and ERP solutions via MQ Series, IMS/TM, CICS, SAP BAPIs and terminal emulators such as 3270, 5250 and VT100.

According to John Senor, vice president of Information Builders Middleware Technology Group, We have extended the unmatched strength of our enterprise integration middleware far beyond the wired enterprise. In doing so, weve developed a complete solution for mobile e-business applications which require integration with existing databases, files, applications and transaction systems."
   
Senor explains that the addition of mobile computing capabilities to the Information Builders Middleware Technology Group product line is one of several important enhancements recently introduced for the purpose of providing comprehensive i-business integration capabilities. i-business solutions require back-end integration if they are going to improve business speed and efficiency." Senor adds, Up until now, integration was too hard and took too long. Our objective is to provide a scalable and extensible integration solution that can be installed once, then reused across multiple i-business initiatives, eliminating the need to invent and re-invent integration for each and every individual i-business application."    

Mobile Computing Server is shipping now. Pricing starts at $45,000 per 100 users on NT or UNIX.

About Information Builders

Information Builders supplies the market-leading Web business intelligence and enterprise integration solutions. The combined strengths of these core technologies provide organizations with the ability to dynamically transform all of their data into valuable business information. This information can be distributed immediately via the Web to customers, employees and partners throughout the world. This unique and comprehensive solution, known as i-business, makes dynamic, scalable and cost-effective e-business applications possible.

Headquartered in New York City, Information Builders is one the largest independently owned software companies in the world with more than 5,000 customer sites, including 90 of the Fortune 100, currently using its core technologies. The company employs more than 2,000 professionals worldwide and generated revenues exceeding $340 million in 1999.

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