PRESS: ARBOR SOFTWARE AND INFORMIX ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP...

Thought you might find this interesting. -Dan FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contacts: Marguerite Padovani Arbor Software (408) 541-4053 Anne Lenaghan Informix (415) 926-6891 ARBOR SOFTWARE AND INFORMIX ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP TO DELIVER INTEGRATED WAREHOUSE SOLUTIONS Integrating Relational Database Data Warehouses With Multidimensional Database Data Marts Sunnyvale, CA., July 18, 1995 Arbor Software Corporation, the fastest growing provider of multidimensional database software, and Informix Software Inc., (NASDAQ:IFMX) the leading provider of parallel processing database technology for open systems, today announced a partnership to provide an integrated solution for corporate data warehousing strategies. The partnership will provide customers with the combined benefits of INFORMIX?-OnLine Dynamic Server as a core technology for data warehouse databases and Arbors Essbase multidimensional database server as an analytical data mart for planning and analysis applications. Under the new partnership, Arbor will develop an SQL link to OnLine Dynamic Server. This will enable administrators to use SQL to populate Essbase directly from an Informix database. Also planned is a SQL drill-through feature that will provide users with a direct link between the summarized, analytical data held in Essbase and the detail data stored in an Informix data warehouse database by automatically generating live SQL queries from Essbase to Informix. Arbor has joined InSync, Informixs partner program for independent software vendors committed to providing horizontal, Informix-compatible software tools. The companies will also collaborate on selected marketing activities designed to educate the market on the benefits of a warehousing solution combining OnLine Dynamic Server with Essbase. This announcement is significant, said Richard Finkelstein, president of Performance Computing, Inc. Informix is winning major data warehousing opportunities, most recently for a 3 Terabyte data warehouse at MCI. Arbor is clearly a major player in the OLAP server marketplace. I believe this partnership provides customers with a clear path for an integrated, best-of-breed data warehousing solution. (MORE) Page 2/Informix and Arbor Software Announce Partnership The marketplace wants integrated solutions, said James Dorrian, president and CEO of Arbor Software. This partnership enables customers to deploy a world class data warehouse by combining the benefits of both relational and multidimensional servers. Both Informix and Arbor are our strategic partners, said Steve Beitler, national manager of operational planning and information at Sears. This announcement affirms what we have discovered internally -- use the Informix data warehouse for querying, reporting, and data mining, and use Essbase for multidimensional planning and analysis applications. The strengths of the two products really complement each other. Data Warehousing and Multidimensional Databases A data warehouse stores corporate business data in an integrated relational database that provides a historical perspective of information for decision support applications. OnLine Dynamic Server enables end users to receive unmatched performance and scalability for data access and reporting against the very large databases of integrated information that data warehouses require. A multidimensional database server acts as an analytical data mart for the data warehouse, taking subsets of warehouse data and temporarily staging it to support applications like sales, forecasting, budgeting, financial reporting, product profitability, or margin analysis. Essbase enables business analysts and managers to combine warehouse data with spreadsheet information for a complete analytical picture of the business. Data warehousing is an architecture which blends several complementary technologies. No one vendor has the complete solution, said Marianne Elkholy, director of data warehouse marketing for Informix. Informixs data warehousing strategy offers a flexible framework through its partners. Essbase provides a strong integrated solution for these on-line analytical processing (OLAP) applications. About Essbase Essbase is used for planning and analysis applications which require a defined analytical structure, consolidated actual, projected and derived data, multi-user, read/write data access and consistently fast response time regardless of database size. Essbase operates effectively within a data warehousing strategy or as a standalone, departmental solution. Essbase operates on servers running Windows NT, OS/2 and UNIX across all major networks connected to Windows, Macintosh and UNIX clients. Pricing starts at $43,250 for a multi-seat, five concurrent user license. In two surveys conducted by META Group's Application Development Strategies Service, Arbor's Essbase topped the list as the multidimensional database server most under widely evaluated as part of a data warehousing strategy. The surveys queried MIS professionals attending the META Group/DCI Data Warehouse conferences in New York and Orlando, Florida held earlier this year. (MORE) Page 3/Informix and Arbor Software Announce Partnership About Informix Informix Software is the leading supplier of high performance, parallel processing database technology for open systems. The companys 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. Informixs corporate headquarters is based in Menlo Park, California. About Arbor Software Arbor Software Corporation develops and markets multidimensional database software for business planning, analysis and management reporting applications. Arbors products are used by more than 500 corporations spanning a broad range of industries and business analysis applications including Bank of America, Chemical Bank, Emery, Fidelity, Los Angeles Times, Neutrogena, Pennzoil, PEPSICO, and Prudential. Arbors products are sold direct, as well as through systems integrators and VARs worldwide. Arbor has alliances and partnerships with numerous companies, inclu