FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MICRO FOCUS LAUNCHES ACADEMIC CONNECTIONS TO POWER SKILLS IN ENTERPRISE APPLICATION MANAGEMENT

- New initiative designed to provide colleges & schools with the latest training and technology for critical industry demands-

NEWBURY, England and ROCKVILLE, Md., May 1, 2007- Micro Focus®(Micro Focus; LSE: MCRO.L), a leader in enterprise application management and modernization solutions, today announces a new initiative designed to provide students around the world with the latest technology and tools for enterprise applications development. The new Micro Focus ACademic ConnecTIONs (ACTION) program is designed to provide universities and students with free access software, support, books and courseware and research engagements to train and support the next generation of enterprise IT systems specialists.

The Micro Focus ACTION program aims to create and enhance strong partnerships with universities worldwide to bring together academic knowledge and industrial experience as well as further research and real-world projects in management and modernization of enterprise applications. In fact, in a recent research paper from Gartner, Inc, the analyst house recommends that "companies that choose to maintain their current legacy portfolios must develop a proactive plan for modernization and training." [1]

"The teaching of COBOL and related enterprise application languages and tools continues to be relevant in today's mixed programming and platform environment," said Dr. Zhenyu Huang, Assistant Professor of Business Information Systems at Central Michigan University. "Micro Focus is taking an important leadership role in ensuring that universities continue to have the latest technology at their fingertips to train the next generation of IT professionals."

The ACTION program is already underway in Micro Focus' Center of Excellence for Software Development in Bulgaria. The University of Sofia is among the first schools to join the new program and will utilize the full range of Micro Focus' academic edition software, including Net Express® Academic Edition for developing critical applications on the Windows platform, and Mainframe Express® Enterprise Edition Academic Edition, the leading PC-based development tool for mainframe applications. In USA, the New York City College of Technology, University of New York higher education system, will take advantage of the new software and courseware offerings.

Micro Focus currently has more than 300 colleges and universities receiving software and support to ensure Enterprise Application Modernisation, core language skills and architectures including SOA are available - supporting students to connect directly with the needs of Industry.

"I am very excited about this key initiative. It is the first time Micro Focus has provided free software online with supporting training, documentation, books and access to the broad community. It is part of Micro Focus's responsibility as a market leader and innovator. ACTION is a crucial step in ensuring that industry is supplied with the best and brightest in enterprise IT systems professionals for years to come," said Stephen Kelly, chief executive officer at Micro Focus. "Expanding our current academic programs is a critical component to the continued success of our corporate customers and partners."

About Micro Focus
Micro Focus, a member of the FTSE 250, provides innovative software that allows companies to dramatically improve the business value of their enterprise applications. Micro Focus Enterprise Application Modernization and Management software enables customers' business applications to respond rapidly to market changes and embrace modern architectures with reduced cost and risk. For additional information please visit www.microfocus.com.

###

Micro Focus, Net Express and Mainframe Express are registered trademarks of Micro Focus. All other products and companies mentioned in this announcement are trademarks of their respective organizations.