PRESS - NEXT RETAIL STORES IMPLEMENTS COMPLETE DATA WAREHOUSE STRATEGY WITH INFORMIX

NEXT RETAIL STORES IMPLEMENTS COMPLETE DATA WAREHOUSE STRATEGY WITH INFORMIX INFORMIX-OnLine Dynamic Server And INFORMIX-NewEra Chosen Over Competition MENLO PARK, Calif. (September 18, 1995)-- Informix Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: IFMX), the leader in parallel processing database technology, today announced that NEXT, the UK-based clothing, interiors and home shopping retailer, has implemented a data warehousing strategy based on software from Informix. The full-scale data warehouse is to be installed at NEXT's Leicester headquarters in the UK, after an initial Informix pilot has been completed. The pilot data warehouse is currently recording every sale from Next's 300 stores, for inventory management purposes and is based on INFORMIX(R)-OnLine Dynamic Server(TM) version 7.1 parallel processing RDBMS running on a Sequent SE20 SMP server. INFORMIX-NewEra(TM) is the graphical development environment being used to development the data warehouse application. By acting as a central repository for all corporate data and linking NEXT's previously disconnected operational systems, the data warehouse offers NEXT managers access to highly accurate and up-to-date information. This will provide support for business decisions that include: analysis of customer orders, cross-selling of synergistic products, measuring the effectiveness of marketing activities and television advertising, and the "awareness-to-purchase" conversion rates, as well as sales, profit and other financial analysis. Informix was selected from an initial short list that included database products from the following vendors: Computer Associates; IBM; Oracle; Software AG and Sybase. "In the end we chose Informix," said Tony Peachey, business development manager at NEXT. "It was clear that only OnLine Dynamic Server offered a truly parallel and scalable architecture with parallel data query technology as the standard. We were also impressed with how well the INFORMIX-NewEra client/server tools were integrated into the database environment, and the ability of Informix technology to work with our existing systems." "Competition in this business is intense and unrelenting," said David Armitage, a NEXT business development manager. "To stay ahead you have to be able to move very quickly. Making the right decisions means having access to huge amounts of information relating to all aspect of the business, and being able to analyze this information in real time. NEXT's data warehouse has already delivered tremendous benefits in terms of the quality of information we are able to supply directly to business managers and this information is being turned into innovative retailing initiatives that are designed to keep us at the forefront of the industry." "MCI, American Stores and now NEXT -- this contract is further proof that far from simply talking about data warehousing, Informix is delivering powerful and scalable technology to leading companies in the consumer/retail environment," said Steve Sommer, vice president of marketing for Informix. About OnLine Dynamic Server INFORMIX-OnLine Dynamic Server is Informixs powerful multithreaded, database server designed to exploit the capabilities of both symmetric multiprocessor (SMP) and uniprocessor architectures to deliver breakthrough database scalability, manageability and performance. OnLine Dynamic Servers core technology is based on Informixs Dynamic Scalable Architecture (DSA), the goal of which is to provide the most effective parallel database architecture available to help organizations manage increasingly larger, more complex databases, while substantially improving overall system performance and scalability. 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. The companys corporate headquarters is in Menlo Park, California. More information about Informix is available via the World Wide Web: http://www.informix.com/. ### Informix is a registered trademark, OnLine Dynamic Server and NewEra are trademarks of Informix Software, Inc. All other companies mentioned are trademarks of their respective owners. -- %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 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