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To: Mark Finger who wrote (10939)	5/22/1998 5:32:00 PM
From: Robert Graham	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 14631

Good observations here, particularly about the position of other companies with respect to the new accounting rules for the software industry. But I think it is important for us to keep in mind what has motivated the change in accounting policy at Informix. IMO it was not the existence of a new revenue recognition standard outside of Informix. It was internally motivated by their need to adopt conservative accounting practices in light of the damage the "creative bookwork" of the previous management did to the company's credibility. This was a necessity for Informix and its future. I still think the products are marketable and the current management is capable of much more than they have recently demonstrated. So I am giving Bob F some latitude here, reluctantly and with some concern on my part. I hope to see a different "presence" from him with respect to the public, and particular his shareholders. This is what can help him recreate the public's view toward his company which IMO will be necissary to move the negative sentiment that has been generated behind the company into the past. A good earnings report of course would help here, but I still think the major part of his effort right now relates to credibility. Without this important ingredient to his turnaround effort, even a good earnings report as the result of his hard work that has paid off will be greeted with skeptacism. I wonder what would be a good way in dealing with this situation? Bob Graham

To: Mark Finger who wrote (10939)	5/22/1998 9:33:00 PM
From: Dave Yenne	Respond to of 14631

Mark, Sybase is in full compliance with the new standards. That's exactly why the pre-announcement of short-commings and the Japan errors came out in Q4.

To: Mark Finger who wrote (10939)	5/23/1998 12:16:00 PM
From: investorgal	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 14631

Mark, Please point me to where you see that most vendors are not in compliance. Or to make it easier, how about pointing me to where Oracle, Sybase or Microsoft have restated earnings because they couldn't figure out how to account for revenue. You mentioned them specifically. Other points of consideration. The public press put out by Informix implies that the IM revenue is unusual in some way. Now isn't this the type of industry that just about ALL of the senior management comes from? As a matter of fact, gee, wasn't the CFO the former CFO of Octel, the IM that the $6m is supposed to have been recognized from? I guess I'm just dumb. So far the NEW Informix doesn't understand the new accounting rules, doesn't understand the IM industry (where most of them worked) and didn't even understand the particular company the CFO formerly ran the financial organization of. Something smells here. BTW, I'm still looking forward to finding out if they'll have the annual shareholders meeting. All the "credibility" they are generating from restatements has me really interested. I can't wait for more "credibility" in the upcoming quarters. Cheers. PS. Thank you bobf and company for the credibility boost. We needed it.