Peer-To-Peer:

Metaserver Partners with iWay Software

Information Builders Summit 2002 -- Metaserver Inc, developer of best-of-breed Business Process Integration (BPI) software, and iWay Software, an Information Builders company that accelerates business integration, announced a technology and OEM partnership agreement in which Metaserver will bundle iWay's connector technology into its BPI solution. The combination of Metaserver and iWay technologies creates a powerful cost-effective business integration platform that allows customers to exploit their IT investments to achieve business objectives at Internet speed.

The companies plan to work together to offer expanded connectivity capabilities for packaged applications such as CRM, ERP and SCM through iWay's extensive library of adapters, coupled with Metaserver's robust business process engine and modeling environment. Through the partnership, Metaserver's customers will have the ability to integrate 120 different application and data services into their business processes.

"This agreement allows our customers to gain immediate and seamless connectivity to leading packaged applications and leverage them within the context of their existing business processes," says Metaserver's director of business development, John Hopkins. "We're excited about how this partnership enhances our BPI solution and offers IT managers a faster and less expensive way of integrating their applications."

iWay adapters support several interaction mechanisms, including SQL and XML-based variants. Metaserver uses SQL to interact with iWay's adapters for database systems, while XML is used for packaged applications. Additionally, Metaserver supports connectivity to a wide range of whole applications and data using industry standard interfaces such as JDBC, JMS, EJB, COM and Web Services. These mechanisms provide a robust means to interact with the iWay server.

"Metaserver has very good technology for high-performance computing systems, which distinguishes it from other Business Process Integration solutions," says John Senor, president of iWay Software. "But in order to integrate business processes, BPI systems require connections to all of the production systems that are a normal part of those processes. Metaserver already had all of the basic connections, and iWay Software can provide a reusable and highly scalable set of plug-and-play adapters that take care of the rest."

"Business process integration is poised to revolutionize the way companies automate their business processes," said Michele Rosen, program manager for Business Process Automation and Deployment Software at IDC. "Solutions that offer intelligent, easy-to-implement connectivity to a wide variety of systems as well as the ability to model, manage and monitor long-running business processes will enable companies to improve internal efficiency, customer service and return on investment."

Metaserver targets the vertical industries of financial services, insurance and state and local government, though the Metaserver BPI solution can enhance business processes in any industry with disparate systems.

About Metaserver Inc

Metaserver Inc provides integration software solutions that enable companies to automate and manage business processes within the enterprise and across the Internet. Metaserver's best-of-breed Business Process Integration (BPI) software sets new standards for rapid value delivery and low implementation risk with a fully productized integration solution. The company's solution enables customers to reduce costs, accelerate business processes, and achieve agility with a reusable infrastructure that supports enterprise portals, customer relationship management (CRM) systems, and supply chain management applications. Metaserver Inc based in New Haven, CT., can be reached at 877-789-8090 or on the Web at www.metaserver.com.

About Information Builders Summit 2002 User Conference

Summit is Information Builders' annual developers and product education conference. It is the leading product education conference for Information Builders' WebFOCUS, FOCUS, EDA, and iWay Software. Summit provides an extensive educational forum on Information Builders' information delivery and enterprise integration solutions, giving attendees the opportunity to see and discuss Information Builders' future products. For more information, go to www.informationbuilders.com/summit.

About iWay Software

iWay Software, an Information Builders company, is a market leader in middleware that accelerates business integration. With facilities to integrate systems in real time, near-real time, or on a scheduled basis, iWay provides a complete reusable infrastructure for EAI, B2B, e-commerce, and mobile business. iWay's experience with complex information systems led to the development of prepackaged Intelligent Adapters to connect to more than 200 packaged applications, transaction systems, legacy data, relational databases, and e-business formats, without writing custom code. iWay Software integration solutions significantly reduce the time, cost, effort, and risk of integration projects throughout the enterprise.

Contact iWay Software, Jon Stotts, 917-339-5442, jon--stotts@ibi.com.