Bluestone Software Licenses SequeLink 5.0 from Merant

Extending its commitment to deliver robust distributed transactioning systems, Bluestone Software Inc, a leader in business-to-Web and wireless technologies, announced that it has licensed SequeLink 5.0 data access technology from MERANT, a leading global e-business software solutions company.

Under the agreement, Bluestone dramatically expands the number of data sources that can participate in e-business applications by bundling MERANT's industry-leading Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) 2.0 drivers with the just-released Bluestone Java Transaction Service Release 2.0. The first commercially available version of Bluestone's pure Java distributed transactioning system, Bluestone Java Transaction Service Release 2.0 is the industry's first and only OMG approved, commercial transactioning system developed entirely with Java technology and based on Sun Microsystems' Java Transaction Service (JTS).

MERANT's SequeLink will enable Bluestone Java Transaction Service Release 2.0 to support over 70 different database versions, including current and older databases from IBM Corp, Informix Corp, Microsoft Corp, Oracle Corp, and Sybase Inc. SequeLink also supports multiple server platforms, including Windows NT/2000, Sun Solaris, HP-UX, several other flavors of Unix, and IBM OS/390.

"Many databases still do not have JDBC 2.0 drivers, and many companies still rely on older databases that do not work with the database vendor's latest JDBC drivers," said Bob Bickel, executive technology officer and executive vice president of products for Bluestone Software. "That's unacceptable to organizations that want to include critical but unsupported databases and data stores in e-business applications requiring distributed transaction integrity. With MERANT, we're overcoming this obstacle for our customers by partnering with a leader in standards-based data access technologies that has hundreds of thousands of installations and a reputation second to none."

Continued Michael Consoli, senior vice president at MERANT, "In delivering its pure Java distributed transactioning system, Bluestone finds itself on the leading edge of e-business solutions with a technology set that lets people include multiple, distributed data stores in a single, secured e-business transaction. Of course, access to those data stores is paramount, and our SequeLink technology opens the doors to data resources stored on a wide range of databases running in many operating environments."

Bluestone's Distributing Transactioning Makes the Data Access Link

Access to databases in the Java programming environment is typically handled through JDBC. Sun's J2EE (Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition) specifications require JDBC 2.0, including extensions to support distributed transactions. Bluestone Java Transaction Service Release 2.0 drives databases in a distributed transactioning environment using these JDBC facilities. However, building and supporting JDBC drivers is a specialized business. For Bluestone's customers, partnering with MERANT ensures world-class data access while expediting the delivery of a complete distributed transactioning solution.

Concluded Bluestone's Bickel, "Database vendors have been very slow to produce their own fully functional JDBC 2.0 drivers. By bundling MERANT's SequeLink with Bluestone Java Transaction Service, our customers can access almost any database they might wish to include in an e-business application utilizing distributed transactions."

About MERANT

MERANT is a leading global e-business software solutions company. Founded in 1976, MERANT has approximately $350 million in annual revenues, 2,000 employees and more than 500 technology partners. More than 5 million professionals use MERANT technology solutions at 35,000 customer sites, including the entire Fortune 100, the majority of the Global 500 and over 400 leading dotcoms. MERANT uses its Egility framework, a comprehensive set of solutions combining expertise, market-leading technology, best practices and an extensive network of partners, to deliver an e-business application infrastructure. Building on MERANT Egility, MERANT also provides comprehensive enterprise-strength e-business solutions for companies, including e-business strategy, creative design, application development and legacy integration. For additional information, visit www.merant.com.

About Bluestone Software

Bluestone Software Inc is a leader in business-to-Web and wireless technologies. Companies deploying e-business applications, like Avnet, CDNow, Food.com, MCI WorldCom, Planalytics, Reliance National, and Time Inc, rely on Bluestone's Total-e-Business platform to provide comprehensive e-business platforms, Internet-class infrastructures, and robust integration services that e-business success demands. Bluestone is headquartered at 300 Stevens Drive, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19113-1597. For more information, please call 888-Bluestone or 610-915-5000, info@bluestone.com or visit www.bluestone.com.