Harland Acquires Modelware Americas

John H. Harland Company is expanding its presence in the area of business intelligence for financial institutions with the acquisition of Modelware Americas, a leader in the emerging field of data stores and data marts.

Modelware Americas is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sydney-based Modelware International. The acquisition gives Harland distribution rights in North and South America for Modelware's business intelligence solution for financial institutions, which was developed in conjunction with IBM.

"This represents a unique opportunity to significantly expand our business intelligence solutions and take advantage of an industry shift toward business intelligence applications running off enterprise-wide data models," said Timothy C. Tuff, president and chief executive officer of Harland. "These institutions already use our database marketing, modeling for direct marketing and survey solutions to make decisions. They'll now be able to drive enterprise-wide sophisticated decision making through the integration of vertical business intelligence applications."

According to John O'Malley, vice president and general manager of Harland Software, the Modelware Americas solution provides an effective alternative to traditional data warehouses, which can be expensive and cumbersome propositions for financial institutions.

"Through data stores and data marts, financial institutions not wanting or not being able to afford a traditional data warehouse can develop an entire warehouse infrastructure by creating and populating the warehouse one application at a time," he said. "Accessing information through data stores and data marts also enables them to demonstrate a quick return on their investment."

Harland's distribution rights extend to Modelware Americas' EZStore, which is where information is stored in the data warehouse, and EZMart, which encompasses a suite of turnkey applications, such as bankruptcy models and MCIF systems. IBM's Banking, Finance and Securities Group, which endorses the Modelware Americas solution, will also market the solution, as well as associated applications to financial institutions. MAX$ELL, Harland's marketing customer information file (MCIF) system, is expected to be among the applications also sold through IBM.

O'Malley added that business intelligence and this particular product will drive future development efforts and product offerings. "As our customers continue to utilize their data warehouses, we will develop or partner with other industry leaders to offer additional applications and uses," he said. "Our objective is to help our customers improve their decision-making capabilities."

About Harland

Atlanta-based John H. Harland Company www.harland.net is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "JH." Harland is a leading provider of checks, database marketing software www.harland-orlando.com direct marketing campaign management and loan and deposit origination software to the financial institution market. Scantron Corporation www.scantron.com, a wholly owned subsidiary, is a leading provider of software services and systems for the collection, management and interpretation of data to the commercial, financial and educational market.

Contact investors, Victoria P. Weyand vice president of communications 770-593-5127 or vweyand@harland.net.