Visigenic Unveils New Database Application Connectivity Architecture and
Suite of Products

OpenChannel Server-Centric Architecture Moves ODBC Data Access From Client
To Server To Simplify Client/Server Computing

SAN MATEO, CALIF., - APRIL 1, 1996 - Visigenic Software, Inc., the industry
experts in cross-platform database connectivity, today unveiled
OpenChannel - a next generation database connectivity architecture, that
simplifies client/server data access and secures data within all
enterprise and Internet computing environments. OpenChannel, based on the
ODBC standard, provides data access through a common infrastructure that
supports multiple systems, applications and databases. With the release of
OpenChannel, Visigenic introduces the first complete server-centric
architecture that shifts ODBC application administration and processing
from the client to the server.

"Last year Visigenic achieved its first goal: providing open,
standards-based multi- platform database connectivity. As a result,
Visigenic became the leading provider of cross- platform ODBC solutions
for open computing," said Roger Sippl, founder and CEO of Visigenic
Software. "Although open systems provides choice, it also involves many
components which can result in a complex client/server infrastructure that
is costly to deploy and difficult to manage and maintain. Without
sacrificing our commitment to open, standards-based database independence,
we are delivering a new connectivity architecture that dramatically
simplifies the client/server infrastructure, reduces costs to develop and
deploy applications, and provides advanced control and management
functionality."

Kyle Geiger, ODBC Architect at Microsoft Corporation added, "The ODBC
standard was intended to provide an efficient means of accessing databases
while reducing the coding efforts of application developers. To date,
nearly all ODBC implementations have been focused on the client. For large
organizations, that can mean complexity in distribution, configuration and
support of ODBC across hundreds or thousands of client machines. By moving
the administrative burden and processing load for ODBC applications from
the client to the server, OpenChannel reduces complexity which will
further the universal acceptance of ODBC as the standard for database
connectivity across all major platforms."

Visigenic's OpenChannel Architecture

PLATINUM technology, Inc., a leading provider of open enterprise management
tools, is one of the organizations that beta tested the OpenChannel
product. "PLATINUM's intention is that OpenChannel will become the basis
for database connectivity across our product line, " said Paul Humenansky,
chief operating officer at PLATINUM. "The server- centric OpenChannel
architecture has proven to be easy to install, configure and deploy - we
have confidence in delivering this to our customers. Furthermore,
Visigenic offers the industry's most reliable, high-performance ODBC
drivers for the major databases and server platforms. The company is
focused on and committed to truly open and standards-based data access
solutions."

OpenChannel is the first database connectivity architecture that is open,
flexible and significantly reduces the costs of building and maintaining
client/server environments. Key components of the OpenChannel architecture
are the OpenChannel Client, the OpenChannel Server, the OpenChannel
Manager and the Visigenic ODBC Drivers. Additional modules are available
including the OpenChannel Client for Java that provides support for Java
applications and applets as well as the OpenChannel Secure module that
provides encrypted client/server communication, especially important for
Internet communications. Combined, these components provide the only
complete solution for client-to-server database connectivity across
multiple platforms.

The OpenChannel Client, which interoperates with both the ODBC API and the
JDBCT API, replaces multiple software components with a single client
driver on client machines. This provides a single, standard data access
component that replaces a multitude of database-specific drivers and
connectivity libraries.

* The OpenChannel Server, the foundation of the new Visigenic architecture,
centralizes data access control on the server and provides client machines
with DBMS location transparency and minimal impact of server-side database
or driver-specific version changes.

* The OpenChannel Manager, included with the OpenChannel Server component,
provides a complete picture of all OpenChannel activity resulting in
streamlined resource management and greatly improved system
administration.

* The Visigenic ODBC Drivers provide reliable, high-performance data access
to leading SQL databases including CA-Ingres, IBM DB2, Informix, Microsoft
SQL Server, Oracle, Sybase SQL Server, and Sybase DBLib.

The OpenChannel Server Software

The cornerstone of Visigenic's new architecture, the OpenChannel Server
connects to a data source through the ODBC Driver Manager and
database-specific drivers that now exist on the server. Organizations
designing and deploying ODBC-based solutions can use the Visigenic ODBC
Driver bundled with OpenChannel, substitute other Visigenic ODBC drivers
or third-party ODBC drivers, or write their own drivers while still using
OpenChannel as the client-to-server connectivity infrastructure.

The traditional client-centric ODBC architecture requires that users have
an ODBC driver and database connectivity library on every client for every
data source accessed. When an upgrade to the database is performed, each
driver, each database connectivity library, and the ODBC .INI file require
individual updates, that can mean 100s or 1000s of clients in enterprise
environments. Visigenic's server- centric OpenChannel architecture
eliminates the cumbersome task of client-side ODBC adminstration.

Benefits of the Visigenic OpenChannel Product

OpenChannel promises a set of customer benefits that are fundamental to the
wide- spread deployment of client/server computing including Simplicity,
Choice, Control and Cost. The product offers a simpler computing model by
reducing the number of client software components needed to keep the
enterprise running. OpenChannel offers greater choice by allowing the use
of Visigenic-provided, third-party, or privately-developed ODBC drivers.
It improves control by centralizing data access on the server requiring
that data source definition occur only once for the entire network and
provides a graphical manager that allows monitoring of connections and
system parameters. The architecture reduces installation, system
maintenance, support and training costs. Finally, OpenChannel can be
deployed to existing ODBC applications without requiring any changes,
instantly simplifying and reducing your administrative burden.

Support For Internet Computing Infrastructure

As the Internet and corporate intranets become standard computing
platforms, IT developers and VARs are being required to provide an
Internet data access solution. To that end, Visigenic is providing support
for both Java applications and the JDBC application programming interface
(API) via the OpenChannel Client for Java. The Java API support will
provide Java developers cross-platform database access to the leading SQL
databases. In addition to Internet-enabling OpenChannel, Visigenic has
also developed the OpenChannel Secure option that enables private,
encrypted Internet communications. The company made a separate
announcement today about its database connectivity solution for Java
applications and the Internet.

Pricing, Availability and Platform Support

Visigenic has developed a user-based pricing model, which is based on the
number of concurrent server-side users. Pricing for OpenChannel, which
includes an ODBC Driver, starts at $3,925 for five concurrent users. Free
downloadable OpenChannel evaluation software is available via the
company's Website. Visigenic OpenChannel is available immediately. The
OpenChannel Server will initially support Windows NT with OpenChannel
Clients supporting Windows 3.1, Windows NT and Windows 95. OpenChannel
Clients and Servers for Solaris, HP-UX and IBM AIX platforms are currently
in beta and will be available soon.

About Visigenic Software, Inc.

Visigenic Software, Inc. is the industry expert in cross-platform database
connectivity solutions. A unique combination of products, tools and
services makes Visigenic the only complete database connectivity solution
provider. The company develops and markets a suite of software products
for enterprise-wide database connectivity across Windows, UNIX, Macintosh
and OS/2 platforms, including the Visigenic OpenChannel products,
Visigenic ODBC DriverSets, Visigenic ODBC Software Development Kits, and
Visigenic ODBC Test Suites. Founded by Roger Sippl in 1993, the company is
headquartered in San Mateo, California. Additional information about
Visigenic may be obtained via the World Wide Web at
http://www.visigenic.com.
 
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