MICRO FOCUS OPENS COBOL APPLICATIONS TO SOA TO SAVE ORGANIZATIONS TIME AND MONEY

-Company introduces Micro Focus Server for SOA and Server Express 5.0 to help companies reuse, extend existing business logic to latest technologies-

ROCKVILLE, Md. and NEWBURY, England, Nov. 8, 2006 -Micro Focus® (LSE: MCRO.L), a leading provider of core system application development and deployment solutions, today announces the general availability of Micro Focus Server™ for SOA and Server Express™ 5.0. The new release gives organizations a real choice to reuse critical business logic and extend their core COBOL systems to a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) without having to replace or redesign proven, stable business applications.

This announcement builds further on the momentum Micro Focus has created in recent weeks, as the company unveiled the latest in distributed COBOL-based solutions for modernizing critical mainframe COBOL applications. [1]

Organizations like Title Guaranty of Hawaii, the Aloha State's leading provider of Title and Escrow services, are benefiting greatly from the cross-platform development solutions powered by Micro Focus, enabling them to modernize, extend and add functionality to existing business systems. Title Guaranty is using Server Express for development on UNIX, and Net Express® for development on Windows, for cross-platform deployment using Micro Focus Server for SOA as it exposes UNIX based COBOL business logic as Web services. By using direct COBOL Web services to bridge key UNIX systems with the latest third-party software, Title Guaranty estimates it will save an estimated 75 person-years in future development costs. These savings are already being channelled into new projects to enhanceIT's contribution to Title Guaranty's overall bottom line.

Micro Focus Server Express 5.0 provides a UNIX- and Linux-based COBOL development environment for creating scalable, high-performance business applications which allow companies to reduce costs and improve efficiency by extending COBOL business processes as Web services. Companies can deploy those COBOL Web services directly with Micro Focus Server for SOA or integrate them into strategic SOA and J2EE solutions from Oracle, IBM, BEA and others.

"Micro Focus is clearly aligning COBOL applications with major technology changes in our industry," said Jerry Opedal, vice president of computer support at Title Guaranty of Hawaii. "With the ability to now integrate the latest third-party software into our core COBOL systems using a standard Web service interface, we are improving our data quality, data access, product development, turnaround time and cost effectiveness."

Micro Focus Server for SOA allows for the deployment of core business applications created with Server Express as well as with the Net Express product line. Applications developed using these leading-edge tools can be deployed to Windows, UNIX or Linux, providing robust cross-platform support. The deployed applications can be extended to a SOA, through Web services, or by taking advantage of COBOL/J2EE integration using the Java Connector Architecture.

"The ability to quickly deploy COBOL applications within SOA facilitates the development of modular business services that can easily be integrated and reused with Oracle® Fusion Middleware," said Lance Knowlton, vice president, Modernization Solutions at Oracle. "Micro Focus not only brings Oracle® Database 10g solutions to our joint customers, but also supports a complete solution for modernizing proven COBOL applications into Oracle's full Fusion Middleware SOA Suite to easily and safely extend and evolve their IT investments."

"Server Express and Micro Focus Server are helping organizations better manage their application portfolio by allowing them to reuse crucial business logic in new and innovative ways," said Stuart McGill, vice president of worldwide marketing at Micro Focus. "Our COBOL technology is helping organizations modernize and extend core applications and integrate with the latest technologies, enabling the strategic reuse of existing assets saving money and reducing risk."

About Micro Focus

Micro Focus provides innovative software that helps companies to dramatically improve the business value of their enterprise applications. Micro Focus Enterprise Application Modernization software enables customers' business applications to respond rapidly to market changes and embrace modern architectures with reduced cost and risk. For more information please visit www.microfocus.com.

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Micro Focus and Net Express are registered trademarks and Server Express and Micro Focus Server are trademarks of Micro Focus. Oracle, JD Edwards, PeopleSoft and Siebel are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. All other products mentioned in this announcement are trademarks of their respective owners.

[1]EDITOR'S NOTE: Please see recent product press releases at http://www.microfocus.com/AboutMicroFocus/pressroom/releases/pr20061024133000.asp and http://www.microfocus.com/AboutMicroFocus/pressroom/releases/pr20061030130000.asp