PRESS: Microsoft and Informix Sign Marketing Agreement To Offer Client/Server Package

Microsoft and Informix Sign Marketing Agreement To Offer Client/Server Package REDMOND, Wash. -- (November 2, 1993) -- Microsoft (R) Corporation and Informix Software Inc. today announced a worldwide sales and marketing agreement to expand client/server offerings for the Windows NT (TM) platform. Available in January 1994, Informix will offer a promotional package consisting of the Windows NT Advanced Server operating system and the INFORMIX(R)-SE Client/Server Software Developers Kit (SDK) for Microsoft Windows NT, a developers kit containing InformixUs database server for Windows NT and a complete set of Informix Windows client connectivity modules. Targeted at corporate developers and value added resellers (VARs), the promotional package will be sold through distributors and the Informix direct sales force worldwide. A special introductory suggested retail price (SRP) of $1795, offered in the U.S. for a six-month period, will allow developers to create Windows NT Advanced Server database solutions at a substantially reduced cost. Sold separately, all the products in the package would cost approximately $5,000 (SRP). The product promotion is being offered as part of the Microsoft Solution Provider program. In addition to the product offering, the agreement includes cooperative advertising, direct mail and other supportive marketing efforts. Training and technical support programs will be provided to Microsoft Solutions Providers and InformixUs VARs and its direct sales force. Also, as part of the aggressive training program, Microsoft and Informix will provide regional kick-off meetings to introduce the package and its relationship to VARs and Solutions Providers throughout the United States. Available later in 1994, Informix also plans to offer its enterprise on-line transaction processing server, INFORMIX-OnLine, for the Windows NT Advanced Server environment. "The Microsoft and Informix business strategies are very synergistic, " said Dwayne Walker, director of the Worldwide Solution Providers program at Microsoft. "Both companies are committed to working with a variety of third-party partners to bring more high-end line-of-business solutions to the marketplace. Microsoft is the world's leading supplier of PC operating systems, while Informix is the leading supplier of UNIX relational database management systems and has the largest UNIX installed base with more than 700,000 licenses worldwide, as well as 3500 UNIX VARs with more than 10,000 existing applications. This powerful combination opens up a whole new world of options to users. "The combination of Windows NT Advanced Server with the Informix database products opens up a pool of very knowledgeable developers and Solution Providers who have proven experience in offering a wealth of mission-critical applications on UNIX," Walker said. "Together, INFORMIX-SE and Windows NT Advanced Server offer a great solution for client/server business applications on the NT platform, " said Steve Sommer, vice president of marketing at Informix. "INFORMIX-SE is ideally suited to this environment because it is exceptionally easy to install, configure, and deploy; has low database administration demands; and is proven, reliable technology. For customers who have transaction-intensive computing environments, applications developed with INFORMIX-SE are easily migratable to INFORMIX-OnLine for online transaction processing." "Deciding to begin development with the INFORMIX-SE SDK and Windows NT Advanced Server is an important business decision for us," said Bob Bearden, CEO at Munics Information Systems, Inc., an Informix VAR. "We want to offer application solutions to customers that are on the cutting edge of technology, giving these customers the flexibility to choose the best computing environment for their needs. Offering our customer more choices makes us more competitive." Product Details Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server 3.1 provides a client/server platform that brings the enterprise to desktop computer users. The product serves as an ideal open platform for business solutions. It features powerful, 32-bit pre-emptive multitasking; access to gigabytes of memory and terabytes of disk storage; built-in networking; and scalability to run on Intel(R) RISC and symmetric multiprocessing systems. Also included in the package is a complete set of products users need to begin relational database management system (RDBMS) development with confidence on the Windows NT platform. INFORMIX-SE version 5.01 is a low-overhead RDBMS ideal for early development on the Windows NT platform. The product requires minimum database administration expertise yet provides reliable performance and sophisticated features that assure data consistency in multiuser configurations. INFORMIX-SE takes advantage of client/server features such as stored procedures, triggers, and ANSI SQL-89-compliant declarative integrity constraints. In addition to INFORMIX-SE, the package will include INFORMIX-ESQL/C, a tool which allows C-based Windows applications to access Informix databases; INFORMIX-SQL, a database application development tool that provides database administration facilities to the server; and INFORMIX-NET PC, a tool that provides communication between an Informix database server and a client PC. Also included in the Informix client/server kit is an Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) Informix driver that will allow customers to use any ODBC-enabled third-party client tool and link it to the Informix server running on Windows NT Advanced Server. Customers also have a choice of more than 250 third-party tools that support the Informix database servers from companies such as Powersoft, Gupta Technologies and Uniface Corporation . For developers who already have the Windows NT Advanced Server operating system, Informix will make available, as a separate product, INFORMIX-SE Client/Server SDK for Windows NT at a special introductory SRP of $995. This bundle is also scheduled for availability in January 1994. The Microsoft Solution Provider program consists of independent organizations working with Microsoft to help customers successfully implement business solutions. The program incorporates a wide range of companies and individuals such as value-added resellers, developers, consultants, technical support and training organizations who are engaged in one or many aspects of applying technology and services toward helping customers solve business problems. Informix Software Inc. (NASDAQ: IFMX) provides the most complete and productive database technology to build, deploy, run, and evolve applications. Informix products include powerful distributed database management systems, robust application development tools, and graphical- and character-based productivity software for delivering information to every significant desktop platform. With corporate headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., Informix has European headquarters in London and Asia/Pacific headquarters in Singapore. Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offe