Informix Business Solutions Emerges as Ascential Software - Leading Software Company Announces Name Change and Expanded Executive Team -

WESTBORO, January 16, 2001 (ots) - Informix BusinessSolutions, an independent operating company of Informix(r)Corporation (Nasdaq: IFMX), today announced it has changed itsname to Ascential(tm) Software, Inc. Ascential Software, theleading provider of platform and database-independent InformationAsset Management solutions, was created as the result of thestrategic realignment into two independent operating companiesthat Informix Corporation announced on September 9, 2000. "Like other corporate assets, information has value. But itmust be analyzed, transformed, organized and delivered in ameaningful way to be a true asset to any business - this is thejob of Information Asset Management," said Pete Fiore, president,Ascential Software. "The challenge for virtually every companytoday is to successfully pull together large amounts of disparateinformation from many different sources, including the Internet,enhance its value, and deliver it, in a usable format, to peoplewho can put it to good use. Ascential Software's products and services will allow ourcustomers to put their information to work for them." Ascential's product line is designed to enable customers toeasily collect, validate, organize, administer and deliverinformation. The company's offerings include: DataStage(r) XE, acomplete set of components to manage the collection, validation,organization and administration of information assets of anytype; Media360(tm), an end-to-end media asset managementsolution; Axielle(tm) Portal, a corporate portal that organizesand delivers relevant business information to users enterprise-wide; and i.Decide(tm), a series of integrated, component-basedanalytic solutions that address specific, customer-centricbusiness problems. "We are witnessing leading enterprises becoming increasinglyaware of information's tangible value," said Doug Laney, vicepresident, Application Delivery Strategies, META Group."Companies with a novel strategy, such as Ascential's, that focuson assisting these enterprises in evolving from treatinginformation merely as a business by-product, to managing it as atrue corporate asset, offer real potential as a partner forsuccess." The new company name combines two words: "ascent," apurposeful progression and elevation; and "essential," connotinga basic yet indispensable element. "Our new name reflects ourexpanded strategy to lead the market in Information AssetManagement-that is, to provide superior technology and servicesto elevate raw data to corporate intelligence that deliversmeasurably increased value," said Fiore. With more than 1,500 customers globally, and annualizedrevenue in excess of $115 million, Ascential Software is alreadya dominant provider of data integration infrastructure andcontent management software that powers applications in high-growth markets including data warehousing and businessintelligence, CRM analytics, and media asset management. Thecompany's roster of customers includes: Insurance/Financial Services: Fleet Financial, Merrill Lynch,Commerce Bank, Britannia Building Society, Juniper Bank, DresdnerBank, Towers Perrin, Credit Lyonnais, UBS Warburg, BankBoston,Suncorp Metway, Aspecta and Strong Capital Management Media/Entertainment: The Weather Channel; British BroadcastingCorporation; Canadian Broadcasting Corporation; XM SatelliteRadio; Televisa and Sistema Brasileiro de Televisăo Healthcare: Pfizer, Inc.; CareGroup Healthcare System;Premera Blue; Regence BlueShield; Humana, Inc; Sunderland NHSTelecommunications: OneLink; Airtel; NE&T; NexTel Communications,Inc.; Telestra.com and NTT DoCoMo Retail: BizRate.com; JC Whitney; Sears Roebuck and Co.;Wegmans Food Markets; Benetton Group; LVMH; Kinko's, Inc.; ThingsRemembered and HomeRuns.com Transportation: Railpart (UK) Ltd.; Subaru of America, Inc.;Hertz Lease; EuroTunnel; General Motors; International Truck andEngine Corp.; Ferrari Racing Team; Northwest Airlines, Inc. andThe Boeing Company The company complements its strengths in Information AssetManagement with a growing list of global product and servicespartners including Arthur Andersen; Business Objects; Cap GeminiErnst & Young; Compaq; EMC Corp.; First Logic; Hewlett-Packard;Kasenna; Meridium, Inc.; Microstrategy; PricewaterhouseCoopers;Primix Solutions, Inc.; Seagate; SGI; SPSS; Sun Microsystems;Trillium; USoft and Virage, among others. New Appointments Ascential Software also announced additions to the managementteam. Daniel Sapir as vice president of corporate businessdevelopment and Eileen Bergquist as vice president of humanresources join other seasoned veterans including Pete Fiore,president; Mikael Wipperfeld, vice president of marketing; AlanKerr, vice president of worldwide sales; Joanne Protano, chieffinancial officer; Carolyn Layne, vice president and generalmanager of media management; Jason Silvia, vice president ofworldwide client services; Lee Scheffler, chief technologyofficer; Gary Lloyd, vice president and general counsel; andLaurent Mayer, vice president of product development. "This management team has an outstanding track record in thesoftware industry, and with over 1,000 employee resourcesworldwide and a proven offering validated by our many partnersand customers, Ascential is uniquely positioned to be thepreferred vendor to the growing number of enterprises seeking toturn their raw data into strategic information assets," saidFiore. About Ascential Ascential Software, Inc. is the leading provider ofInformation Asset Management solutions to the Global 2000.Customers use Ascential products to turn vast amounts ofdisparate, unrefined data into reusable information assets thatdrive business success. Ascential's unique framework forInformation Asset Management enables customers to easily collect,validate, organize, administer and deliver information assets torealize more value from their enterprise data, reduce costs andincrease profitability. Headquartered in Westboro, Mass.,Ascential has offices worldwide and supports more than 1500customers, including Fujitsu-Siemens; Towers Perrin; Pfizer,Inc.; BizRate.com and Subaru of America, Inc., in such industriesas telecommunications, insurance, financial services, healthcare,media/entertainment and retail. Ascential is an independentoperating company of Informix Corporation (NASDAQ: IFMX) and canbe found on the Web at www.ascentialsoftware.com. (c) 2001 Ascential Software, Inc. All rights reserved.Ascential is a trademark of Ascential Software, Inc. and may beregistered in other jurisdictions. The following are trademarksof Informix Corporation or its affiliates, one or more of whichmay be registered in the U.S. or other jurisduictions:Informix(r), DataStage(r), Media360(tm), Axielle(tm) andi.Decide(tm). Safe Harbor Statement This public announcement contains forward-looking statementswhich are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties. Theseforward-looking statements include those as to: * The extent to which the company can maintain its status as aleading provider of software products to particular segments ofthe software market, * The extent to which the company's software products willenable its customers to realize more value from their enterprisedata, reduce costs and increase profitability, * The extent to which the CRM, financial services,telecommunications, media/entertainment and healthcare marketsfor the company's software products continue to experience highgrowth rates, and * The extent to which the company can maintain and grow itscurrent group of product and service partners. Any statements that are not statements of historical factshould be considered forward-looking statements as a result ofcertain risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertaintiescould cause actual results and events to differ materially fromhistorical or anticipated results and events. Investors andpotential investors should review carefully the description ofthe risks and uncertainties which, together with other detailedinformation about Informix Corporation, is contained in theperiodic reports that Informix Corporation files from time totime with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This public announcement contains information that is accurateas of January 16, 2001, the date of the public announcement. Thecompany disclaims any obligation to update or correct theinformation as a result of financial, business or any otherdevelopments occurring after January 16, 2001. Contact: Lothar Haenle Ascential Software ++49 / 89 / 99 61-0lothar.haenle@ascentialsoftware.com# www.ascentialsoftware.comCOMMcreativ Public Communications oHG ++ 49 / 89 / 502 27 55info@commcreativ.de www.commcreativ.de

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