FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MICRO FOCUS, IBM TEAM TO DELIVER LATEST IN MAINFRAME AND COBOL EDUCATION RESOURCES

-Joint program provides students and programmers with latest training resources for professional advancement in key enterprise-system IT initiatives-

ROCKVILLE, Md. and POUGHKEEPSIE, NY, May 2, 2007 - Micro Focus (Micro Focus®, LSE: MCRO.L, a leader in enterprise application management and modernization solutions, and IBM, today announces that they will team up to deliver together the latest training for mainframe systems and application programmers. Micro Focus and IBM will deliver a complete set of training and courseware materials, in joint academic programs implemented through partner colleges and universities. The joint programs will enable organizations and their staffs to easily obtain the latest basic and advanced training in business-critical mainframe and COBOL skills.

IBM's Academic Initiative for System z includes more than 300 participating educational institutions that currently provide mainframe training to some 23,000 students worldwide. Micro Focus', recently announced Academic Connections (ACTION) program will support the IBM initiative by providing its leading mainframe development environment, Mainframe Express® Enterprise Edition, to students enrolled in IBM-supported courses. Students in these courses will have access and resources learn the intricacies of mainframe application programming, without needing a direct link to the resources of a remote mainframe system as they develop, debug and test Assembler, COBOL, CICS, IMS, DB2, JCL and SOA applications on their PCs.

"IBM and Micro Focus, working together, are continuing to provide what the industry demands in terms of enterprise system skills training," said Don Resnik, Program Manager, IBM Academic Initiative for System z. "Incorporating our courses with the latest tools for mainframe development from Micro Focus, will go a long way to ensure that a new generation of mainframe experts are able to tackle the business of IT for many years to come."

According to a recent Gartner report, "one of the greatest growing risks for

[mainframe] systems is not the applications themselves, but rather the skills necessary to continue to develop, maintain and operate them." [1] With some 70 percent of current business applications written in COBOL and other "legacy" languages, the need for trained IT professionals in this specialty has never been greater. Today's announcement is a direct response to ensure that the industry continues to replenish and enhance the skills pool needed for enterprise application development.

The New York City College of Technology (NYCCT), part of the City University of New York system, is leading the way in offering courseware designed to integrate mainframe technology into the latest computer science curriculum.

"We have long associated with Micro Focus to deliver the latest COBOL training as part of our curriculum," said Harrison Simmons, professor of computer science at NYCCT. "By collaborating with the joint initiative and having direct access to IBM mainframe technology and courseware support, we will deliver seven courses on the specific skills needed for today's large-system, enterprise computing."

"Our ACTION program is a key initiative to provide the latest in tools and training for future IT professionals," said Stephen Kelly, chief executive officer at Micro Focus. "Many of our joint customers have strategies to expand and modernize their mainframes and our increasing the skill pool is fundamental to their continued success."

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.

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