BEA Begins Shipping BEA M3 Middleware On Schedule to Enterprise
Customers Worldwide
Early Customer Test Shows Industry's First Production-Ready Object Transaction Manager
(OTM) Already Scales to Manage at Least 4,000 Concurrent Users
SUNNYVALE, Calif--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 28, 1998-- BEA Systems Inc., (NASDAQ:BEAS - news), a market
leader in distributed mission-critical middleware solutions for the world's largest enterprises, today announced that general
availability and on-time shipment of BEA M3(tm) began July 24. BEA M3 is now the industry's first and only generally
available, production-ready Object Transaction Manager (OTM), the next generation of middleware that is designed to
provide a scalable, mission-critical component management platform for the safe development and deployment of
component-based applications in the enterprise.
Along with the production availability of BEA M3, BEA is announcing several supporting programs for meeting the needs of its
enterprise customers worldwide to run mission-critical applications seven days a week, 24 hours a day (7x24). These
programs include an enterprise developers program, an object technology solutions center, and comprehensive professional
services offerings and partnerships.
''BEA has delivered on its commitment to deliver the first and only production-ready, 7x24 OTM, and we have delivered it on
time,'' said Alfred Chuang, executive vice president and chief technology officer of BEA. ''Early results from customers are
showing that BEA M3 - designed as a safe, easy software platform - is providing customers with the advantages of object
technology without giving up the scalability and reliability that are essential for mission-critical, client/server applications.''
''One of the most important requirements that we have for our component-based applications is scalability,'' said Neil
Miranda, information systems coordinator for the Department of Social Welfare in New Zealand. The department is a new
BEA M3 customer involved in redeveloping its core information systems using BEA's OTM. ''We need BEA M3 to perform
and scale in order to handle 100 transactions per second (TPS) and 5,000 users. We are very pleased to see that in the initial
tests of our applications the BEA M3 software has handled 100 TPS and 4,000 concurrent users. We are working to push
this number even higher as we continue to develop, test, and deploy these applications.''
''BEA's commitment in delivering production-ready technology to customers on time is yet another example of their leadership
in the middleware industry,'' said Ross Laughlan, executive vice president of product development for Mincom, an innovative
Sydney, Australia-based packaged application vendor that participated in the BEA M3 Early Adopter Program that began in
October 1997. ''We believe BEA M3 is well-designed to help us provide significant benefits to our EAM (Enterprise Asset
Management) customers. Through componentizing our applications, we can offer continuous upgrades and maintenance
without disrupting the entire operation.''
BEA Launches Extensive Programs to Support BEA M3 Customers and ISVs
BEA has launched an Enterprise Developer Program for independent software vendors (ISVs) interested in pursuing
component-based offerings using BEA M3. BEA's Enterprise Developer Program is an entry-level program for supporting
software developers for ISVs, value-added resellers (VARs), and other solution providers that are interested in working with
or developing business-critical applications built on BEA's middleware technology. By providing low-cost, high-touch access
to BEA technology, BEA is helping developers more easily use BEA technology to provide enterprise application solutions.
Members receive low-cost development software and documentation, hands-on technical training, technical support and
consulting services for resolving system issues, and marketing support. Through this extensive program, BEA is helping to
facilitate the use of its three-tier middleware technology to assist companies worldwide successfully develop, deploy, and
manage distributed business-critical applications.
In addition, BEA customers now have access to BEA's new worldwide Distributed Object Solutions Center based in Denver,
Colorado, which serves as a worldwide resource for customers designing, developing, and deploying mission-critical
component-based solutions based on BEA's industry-leading middleware products.
Beginning with the release of BEA M3, BEA is offering a comprehensive suite of services for component-based middleware,
including consulting services, educational services, and a support program optimized for mission-critical applications. BEA also
offers an Authorized Server Partner program with leading professional services companies, including Component Systems,
Concept5, Gamma, Genesis, ISG, Object Space, PSW Technologies, Tanning Technologies, and Visual Edge, all of which
are trained to provide customer solutions based around BEA M3 for mission-critical object applications.
Using BEA M3 to Make Objects Safe for Mission-Critical Applications
''In the past, many object-oriented projects successfully designed their business processes using objects but discovered
problems as they tried to deploy highly scalable systems,'' said Patti Dock, vice president of product marketing for BEA.
''That was not because objects were too difficult to use but, in large part, because customers lacked a sufficiently reliable
software infrastructure that could scale for enterprise client/server applications and leverage existing computing environments.
''BEA M3 is a production-ready software platform that is designed to enable IT managers to use new component technology
to safely and reliably develop, deploy, and manage object-based, mission-critical applications while incorporating and building
upon their existing environments and applications,'' Dock said. ''Some of the benefits of using component-based technology
include significantly shorter application development and deployment cycles because customers can reuse technology
components they have already created, reduced lifetime application cost, and increased flexibility.''
BEA M3 is built to provide the same robust, highly scalable, and proven infrastructure as BEA TUXEDO(R), BEA's
market-leading distributed transaction processing (TP) monitor.
Availability
BEA M3 became generally available worldwide on Digital UNIX, HP-UX, IBM AIX, Microsoft Windows NT (Intel and
Alpha), and Sun Solaris (SPARC) platforms starting July 24. BEA is offering both BEA M3 and BEA TUXEDO for the same
price, allowing customers to choose the programming model they prefer using to write, deploy, and manage applications. An
existing BEA TUXEDO customer can move to an integrated BEA TUXEDO/BEA M3 environment for an additional cost.
BEA has also announced that it will launch its Early Adopters Program (EAP) for building Java-based component applications
with the support of the Enterprise Java Beans (EJB) specification in the fall.
BEA Systems, Inc.
BEA Systems, Inc., is a leading provider of cross-platform middleware solutions for enterprise applications. BEA's products
and services enable mission-critical, distributed applications that work seamlessly in client/server, Internet, and legacy
environments. BEA provides transactional, messaging, and distributed object-based software for developing and deploying
these enterprise applications. In addition to its product line, BEA provides complete solutions through its extensive partner
network, and a full range of services including consulting, training, and support. BEA is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., and
has 50 offices in 24 countries around the globe. The company's common stock trades on the Nasdaq National Market under
the symbol ''BEAS.'' Additional information on BEA is available on the Internet at beasys.com
Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding
beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Forward-looking statements in this release include but are not
limited to statements regarding BEA launching its Early Adopters Program in the fall. All forward-looking statements included
in this release are made as of the date hereof, based on information available to BEA as of the date hereof, and BEA assumes
no obligation to update any forward-looking statement. It is important to note that actual outcomes could differ materially from
those in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual outcomes to differ materially include risks and
uncertainties, such as unforeseen technological difficulties and any failure in the market for Java-based component application
tools to adequately grow. Readers should also refer to the risk disclosures outlined in BEA's Registration Statement (No.
333-29961) filed in connection with its July 1997 follow-on offering and BEA's quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed from
time-to-time with the SEC.
NOTE TO EDITORS: BEA is a registered trademark of BEA Systems, Inc. BEA TUXEDO is a registered trademarks in the
U.S. and other countries., BEA M3 is a trademark of BEA Systems, Inc. All other company and product names may be
trademarks of the company with which they are associated.
Contact:
BEA SYSTEMS, INC.
Birdie Fenzel, +1-408-542-4081
birdie.fenzel@beasys.com
OR
Burson-Marsteller
Pamela Sufi, +1-650-287-4026
pamela_sufi@bm.com |
