NEWS: KROGER STORES CHOOSES INFORMIX PARALLEL PROCESSING DATABASE TECHNOLOGY FOR CLIENT/SERVER IMPLEMENTATION

NOTE: Is this information appropriate for comp.databases.informix? --Bill KROGER STORES CHOOSES INFORMIX PARALLEL PROCESSING DATABASE TECHNOLOGY FOR CLIENT/SERVER IMPLEMENTATION MENLO PARK, Calif., (May 2, 1994) -- Informix Software, Inc., (NASDAQ: IFMX) the leading provider of parallel processing database technology, today announced that The Kroger Co. will begin moving several critical applications used within its marketing and manufacturing operations for 1,100 supermarkets from a mainframe system to a client/server environment based on INFORMIX(R)-OnLine Dynamic Server(TM) and IBM RS6000 AIX hardware. Kroger's decision to move to client/server was based on business-critical efficient consumer response (ECR) demands of today's retail industry. The new system will reduce costs and increase productivity by distributing data across multiple CPUs. Initial applications include a category management project and a risk management "paperless" project. Reengineering its category management application for client/server will enable Kroger to be more competitive. Category management involves "delivering the right product at the right time to the right place at the best possible cost for our customers," according to Randy Agee, general manager of technical architecture and planning at Kroger. Informix technology will enable category managers to better manage store product through quick and easy access to large amounts of data. In the past, Kroger's risk management departments tracked personal injury claims in large reports located on the mainframe. The new system will enable users throughout the company to more easily query information at a substantially reduced cost by distributing data to local computing platforms. "We selected OnLine Dynamic Server because it provides the functionality and performance needed by our decision support applications to meet our future business demands," said Agee. "In this industry we must build systems that can more quickly adapt to shrinking business cycles and move products from the manufacturer to the consumer more efficiently." "The power and versatility of OnLine Dynamic Server will provide Kroger with a cost-effective, efficient alternative to its existing data management systems," said Frank Bergandi, vice president of North American sales at Informix. "Many of the nation's leading retail organizations have chosen Informix database software because it provides the best solution to turn sales data into effective information and that creates a competitive advantage." INFORMIX-OnLine Dynamic Server is a next-generation database server which incorporates the company's first implementation of its new parallel processing database technology -- the Informix Dynamic Scalable Architecture(TM) (DSA). DSA was designed to enable organizations to manage increasingly larger, more complex databases on open systems while also substantially improving overall system performance. About Informix Informix Software is the leading supplier of high performance, parallel processing database technology for open systems. The company's database servers are the number one choice of computer hardware manufacturers for publishing Transaction Processing Council (TPC) benchmarks for UNIX-based systems. Informix products also include application development tools for creating client/server production applications, decision support systems, and ad-hoc query interfaces, and connectivity software that allows information to be shared transparently from PCs to mainframes within the corporate computing environment. With corporate headquarters in Menlo Park, California, Informix has its Europe/Middle East/Africa headquarters in the United Kingdom, and Asia/Pacific headquarters in Singapore. Informix's 1993 record revenues of $353 million featured 83% growth in database server sales. ### INFORMIX is a registered trademark, and Dynamic Scalable Architecture and OnLine Dynamic Server are trademarks of Informix Software, Inc. All other companies mentioned or other names indicated by (R) or (TM) are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective manufacturer. -- %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% William Daul Advanced Support INFORMIX SOFTWARE INC. 4100 Bohannon Dr. (415) 926-6488 - wk Menlo Park, CA. 94025 uunet!infmx!billd or billd@informix.com