IONA and PROGRESS SOFTWARE ANNOUNCE LICENSING and DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT Submitted By: Saffron Communications (Hertfordshire) Tuesday, 4 April 2000

IONA AND PROGRESS SOFTWARE ANNOUNCE LICENSING AND DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT Submitted by: Saffron Communications (Hertfordshire) Tuesday, 4 April 2000

Progress® SonicMQ Internet Messaging Server to be integrated in IONA’s iPortal Application Server; Progress Software to license IONA’s iPortal Application Server Technology IONA Technologies (NASDAQ: IONA) and Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ: PRGS), have announced the signing of a multi-million dollar agreement in which the companies will engage in joint development efforts and exchange best-of-breed Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) technologies. Under the license agreements, IONA will integrate Progress® SonicMQ Internet messaging server into the iPortal Application Server, and Progress Software will license IONA’s iPortal Application Server technology and incorporate it into Progress Software’s next-generation application server. Progress Software’s SonicMQ licensed by IONA Technologies SonicMQ is an award-winning, standards-based scalable messaging infrastructure for Internet application interoperation. Together with key standards beyond the JMS specification such as eXtensible Markup Language (XML), SonicMQ provides Internet resilient messaging, which is essential for effective B2B enterprise integration. SonicMQ is the first standalone Java Messaging Server (JMS) server from a major software vendor and has won several awards, including Best Java Middleware from attendees at the SIGS Conference for Java Development and a World Class Award from the magazine Java Developer's Journal. IONA’s iPortal Application Server is the only application server based on Enterprise JavaBeans technology and the Java 2 Platform that combines 'Xtreme Scalability' with an easy-to-use graphical development tool for the assembly, deployment and administration of EJB components. iPortal Application Server utilises IONA's patent-pending Adaptive Runtime Technology to deliver the most scalable EJB-based server on the market today. "The incorporation of Progress’ SonicMQ into IONA's iPortal application server is good news for companies looking to build highly distributed, Internet-centric applications," said Steve Garone, Program vice president for application development & deployment at International Data Corporation. "Progress Software's leadership in Internet messaging infrastructure and IONA's EJB/J2EE-based server is a potent combination

Page 1 in the highly competitive Java application server market." IONA will integrate SonicMQ into IONA’s iPortal Application Server allowing the development of a new class of highly distributed, Internet-centric applications for business-to-business e-commerce. "The Java Message Service, or JMS, is an important component of the Java 2 Platform and this agreement further extends the market-leading capabilities of our iPortal Application Server," said Dr. Christopher Horn, chairman and CEO of IONA Technologies. "We evaluated several JMS implementations and found Progress SonicMQ to be the most complete, best performing JMS server in the market." iPortal Application Server Technology Licensed by Progress Software Progress Software is licensing various J2EE technologies from IONA’s iPortal Application Server and will incorporate them into Progress’ next generation application server. Unlike other application servers based on Enterprise Java Beans technology, IONA's iPortal Application Server has been built from the ground up to leverage EJB 1.1 standards. It includes an EJB 1.1-compliant container, a Java 2 platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) standards-based Web container that supports Java Server Pages, servlets and other enterprise technology specifications included in J2EE. "This agreement allows both Progress and IONA to accelerate the delivery of our product offerings by licensing each other’s best-of-breed Java technology," said Progress Software co-founder and president Joseph Alsop. "We selected IONA’s iPortal Application Server technology based on its proven scalability, performance and adherence to Java standards." About IONA Technologies IONA Technologies, the Enterprise Portal Company, is a leading provider of e-business infrastructure that helps organisations build and deploy enterprise portals, Internet commerce sites, and other large-scale distributed applications. IONA supports the full diversity of languages -including Java and C++ - and distributed computing technologies - including XML, Enterprise JavaBeans, CORBA, Microsoft's Windows DNA 2000 and IBM OS/390, CICS and IMS - used by today's development organisations. Founded in 1991, IONA Technologies is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. The company had revenues of $105 million in 1999 and employs more than 625 people in 25 offices worldwide. For more information, please see www.IONA.com.

Page 2 About Progress Software Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ: PRGS) is a global supplier of software products and services for developing, deploying and managing business solutions across all computing and network environments. Progress Software products which are installed in over 60% of Fortune 100 companies, include application servers, databases, development tools and application management products for Internet/Web, extranet and intranet applications. Progress Software’s customers operate in 100 countries, are supported by more than 1,300 employees worldwide, and deploy annually over $2 billion in Progress®-based applications built by more than 2000 independent software vendors (ISVs). For more information, visit www.progress.com Progress is a registered trademark of Progress Software Corporation. SonicMQ and other products of Progress Software referenced herein are trademarks of Progress Software Corporation. IONA is a registered trademark of IONA Technologies. The Enterprise Portal Company and IONA iPortal Application Server are trademarks of IONA Technologies. Java is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners. For further information please contact Karen Hiscock, marketing manager, Progress Software - UK Tel: 44 (0)1753 216300 Fax: 44 (0)1753 216301. Press enquiries to: Salli Roskilly, Saffron Communications. Tel: 44 (0)1763 208708 Fax: 44 (0)1763 208813 email: [email protected]

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