MICRO FOCUS EXTENDS REACH OF COBOL APPLICATIONS TO JAVA AND UNIX WITH NEW VERSION OF SERVER EXPRESS

-- Expanded solution allows users to e-enable legacy applications, define Web business strategies while capitalizing on previous technology investments --

NEWBURY, United Kingdom and ROCKVILLE, Md., Oct. 2, 2001 - Micro Focus International Ltd. (Micro Focus®), a leading global enterprise development company for legacy systems, today announced the latest version of its Server Express™ solution, an environment for integrating, developing and deploying COBOL applications on Web-enabled open platforms. Providing industry-leading Java and UNIX interoperability with COBOL, Server Express 2.0.11 is available now from Micro Focus and its value added resellers.

"One of the primary products in our legacy development and extension program, this latest version of Server Express allows companies to take full advantage of the money and time they've invested in developing legacy applications over the years," said Ian Archbell, vice president and director of product development for Micro Focus. "By using Server Express, companies can see dramatic savings by being able to quickly and securely 'Webify' their COBOL applications and transform them into Java for use on any open platform."

Server Express also enables companies to take advantage of their existing legacy applications and move their valuable data from the mainframe to newer platforms such as Compaq's 32/64-bit UNIX environment TRU64 v5.1, Sun Solaris and HP/UX.

"For many businesses running critical COBOL applications, Micro Focus is the leading firm for COBOL compiler products," said Tyler McDaniel, director of application strategies for Hurwitz Group. "This next generation of Server Express will give users the robust, reliable solution that ensures maximum performance from their legacy systems."

This latest version of Server Express offers expanded Java/COBOL interoperability, allowing customers to deploy new Web applications created using the wizards in Micro Focus Net ExpressÒ. This Java/COBOL support is currently provided on the following platforms: AIX 4.3.3 32 bit, Solaris 7/8 sparc, HP/UX 11.x 32/64 bit, Solaris 7/8 Intel, and UnixWare 7.1.1 UDK.

About Micro Focus

Micro Focus is the industry leader in COBOL development solutions spanning traditional maintenance and program understanding to business rule mining, Web-enablement and user-interface transformation. With 70,000 licensed users at more than 7,000 sites around the world, Micro Focus offers unsurpassed breadth of platform support, performance and scalability, and the most comprehensive suite of development and integration environments to help customers succeed in taking full advantage of the power of their legacy systems. Founded in 1976, Micro Focus is a global company that employs more than 450 people worldwide, with principal offices in the United Kingdom and United States. For more information, visit www.microfocus.com.

###

Micro Focus and Net Express are registered trademarks of Micro Focus International Ltd. All non-Micro Focus products mentioned in this announcement are property of their respective owners.