Ibm & Cap Gemini Reinforce Cooperation in Middleware

IBM & CAP GEMINI REINFORCE COOPERATION IN MIDDLEWARE FOR NON-IBM PLATFORMS Submitted by: Pleon Thursday, 7 January 1999

IBM and Cap Gemini today announced reinforced cooperation in IBM middleware for non-IBM platforms. As part of thecooperative agreement, Cap Gemini will open a Centre of Competence that will specialise in IBM VisualAge* application development tools. Today's agreement marks a strengthening of the cooperation first announced in 1997 by IBM and Cap Gemini for IBM middleware. The new Centre of Competence, based at Cap Gemini in Utrecht, Netherlands, will offer customers fast prototyping, application development, and other support using IBM VisualAge Generator* and VisualAge for Java* application development tools. Jean-Paul Figer, Chief Technology Officer, Cap Gemini, said, "As customers transform their companies, they need powerful, flexible and open application development tools. The VisualAge tools from IBM, combined with advanced services from Cap Gemini's new Centre of Competence, will give our customers the very best support possible." Currently, as part of its cooperative agreement with IBM, Cap Gemini offers customers across Europe advanced skills on IBM's industry-leading MQSeries* transaction processing software. In the future, Cap Gemini plans to offer similar skills on IBM's Component Broker* application development tools. "We are delighted to reinforce cooperation with Cap Gemini on middleware for non-IBM platforms," said Charlie Ill, Vice President Sales & Marketing, IBM Software EMEA. "More than ever today, there is a need to develop applications that perform in a heterogeneous environment, particularly where access to existing data is necessary. IBM's VisualAge family offers companies a highly effective, scaleable solution to develop e-business-ready applications." VisualAge Generator* is a rapid application development tool for building scalable applications that can run on a wide variety of workstation, midrange, and host servers. It provides a Fourth-Generation language application development solution, support of Java clients, Web browsers, and access to existing data on IBM as well as on non-IBM databases. IBM's award-winning VisualAge for Java* is an application development environment for building Java applications, applets, servlets and JavaBean* components. VisualAge for Java connects Java clients to existing server data, transactions and applications, and thus allows programmers to extend these applications to the Internet or intranet rather than rewriting the application from scratch. IBM and Cap Gemini first announced their cooperative agreement in June 1997 to provide large customers with a wide range of reliable and advanced IBM middleware software on non-IBM platforms (HP**, Sun**, Windows NT**) and with high-level related support skills. About IBM IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping

Page 1 businesses innovate. IBM software offers the widest range of applications, middleware and operating systems for all types of computing platforms, allowing customers to take full advantage of the new era of e-business. The fastest way to get more information about IBM software is through the IBM software home page at http://www.software.ibm.com. About Cap Gemini Cap Gemini Group is a leading European computer services and business consultancy company. Founded nearly 30 years ago, Cap Gemini employs around 35,000 people in 15 European countries, the US and the Far East, and has provisional 1998 revenues of $4 billion. Find Cap Gemini at http://www.capgemini.com * Indicates trademark or registered trademarks of International Business Machine Corporation. ** Indicates trademarks of respective companies. Ref:99/004 Contact:Tim Keeley, IBM Tel: 00 331 4188 6211 E-mail: tkeeley@fr.ibm.com Or: Florence Mairal, Cap Gemini Tel: 00 331 4754 5076 E-mail: [email protected] This release and other information from IBM are available electronically on NEWSdesk, the online IT news network. If you are not currently accessing the service, it can be reached on the Internet at: http://www.newsdesk.com, or dial-up software can be obtained by calling +44 (0) 115 9 405300.

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