| To: SemiBull who wrote (144) | 8/26/2003 9:04:04 PM | | From: SemiBull | | | | Ascential Software Corporation to Present at SG Cowen 31st Annual Fall Technology Conference
Tuesday August 26, 7:30 am ET
WESTBORO, Mass., Aug. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ascential Software Corporation (Nasdaq: ASCL - News), the enterprise data integration leader, today announced that Peter Gyenes, Chairman and CEO, will present at the SG Cowen 31st Annual Fall Technology Conference on Wednesday, September 3, 2003 at 2:30 PM (EDT). The presentation will be broadcast live over the Internet. To listen to the webcast, please visit Ascential's Investor Relations Web site at www.ascential.com/investors, and click on the web cast link entitled "Ascential Software at SG Cowen 31st Annual Fall Technology Conference." Mr. Gyenes will provide an overview and update of the company. Replay of the web cast will be available at this location for 30 days following the presentation.
About Ascential
Ascential Software Corporation is the leading provider of enterprise data integration solutions to organizations worldwide. Customers use the Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite to integrate and leverage data across all strategic analytic and enterprise applications with confidence in the accuracy, completeness and timeliness of critical information. Ascential Software's powerful data profiling, data quality, data transformation, parallel processing, meta data and connectivity solutions enable customers to reduce total cost of ownership and increase return on IT investment. Headquartered in Westboro, Mass., Ascential Software has offices worldwide and supports more than 2,200 customers in such industries as financial services, telecommunications, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, consumer goods, retail, and government. More information on Ascential Software can be found on the Web at www.Ascential.com.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This release contains forward-looking statements based on current expectations or beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions about future events, and these statements are subject to important factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements: the ability of Ascential Software to expand its market share; growth rates for the enterprise data integration software market; general business conditions in the software industry, the technology sector, and in the domestic and international economies; rapid technological change in the markets served by Ascential Software; dependence on international operations; global and geopolitical instability; and difficulties that Ascential Software may experience integrating technologies, operations and personnel of completed or future acquisitions. For a detailed discussion of these and other cautionary statements, please refer to the filings made by Ascential Software with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, the most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Ascential Software disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements made herein to reflect any change in Ascential Software's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which such statements are based.
Ascential Software Corporation. All rights reserved. Ascential is a trademark of Ascential Software Corporation or its affiliates and may be registered in the United States or other jurisdictions. Other marks are the property of the owners of those marks.
Source: Ascential Software Corporation |
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| To: SemiBull who wrote (145) | 9/3/2003 8:41:48 PM | | From: SemiBull | | | | Small Caps for Growth -- and Value
Century Small Cap Select Fund's Kevin Callahan hunts for both qualities
"...Among the small caps Callahan likes are FLIR Systems (FLIR ), which provides imaging systems primarily for the military; insurance brokerage Hub Group (HUBG ); specialty retailer Cato (CTR ); and life insurer Universal American Financial (UNCO ). He also mentions a few tech stocks, including Ascential Software (ASCL) and Serena Software (SRNA )..."
yahoo.businessweek.com |
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| To: SemiBull who wrote (146) | 9/9/2003 9:03:11 PM | | From: SemiBull | | | | Ascential Software Corporation Announces 88.6% of Outstanding Shares Tendered By Mercator Software Shareholders
Tuesday September 9, 9:44 am ET
Tender Offer Extended as Ascential Seeks 90% Required for Short-Form Merger
WESTBORO, Mass., Sept. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ascential Software Corporation (Nasdaq: ASCL - News), the enterprise data integration leader, announced that Ascential, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, has extended its tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Mercator Software, Inc. (Nasdaq: MCTR - News) until Thursday, September 11, 2003 at 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time), unless further extended. The purchase price per share is $3.00, net to the seller in cash without interest thereon. The offer was originally scheduled to expire at 11:59 p.m. on September 8, 2003.
Based on information provided by The Bank of New York, the depositary for the offer, 32,105,069 shares, or approximately 88.6 % of Mercator's outstanding shares, were validly tendered in the offer. This includes approximately 1,059,624 shares, or approximately 3% tendered by notice of guaranteed delivery.
A common stock option granted by Mercator to Ascential enables Ascential to reach the 90% ownership required to effect a short-form merger upon becoming the owner of at least 88.1% of the outstanding Mercator shares, a level that would be reached upon delivery of the shares tendered by notice of guaranteed delivery. Ascential intends to effect the short form merger as soon as practicable following the consummation of the offer, as extended. No additional stockholder action will be required in connection with the "short- form" merger.
Shareholders desiring to tender their shares should contact Innisfree M&A Incorporated, 501 Madison Avenue, 20th Floor, New York, New York 10222 or by calling toll-free (888) 750-5834.
About Ascential Software
Ascential Software Corporation is the leading provider of enterprise data integration solutions to organizations worldwide. Customers use the Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite to integrate and leverage data across all strategic analytic and enterprise applications with confidence in the accuracy, completeness and timeliness of critical information. Ascential Software's powerful data profiling, data quality, data transformation, parallel processing, meta data and connectivity solutions enable customers to reduce total cost of ownership and increase return on IT investment. Headquartered in Westborough, Mass., Ascential Software has offices worldwide and supports more than 2,200 customers in such industries as financial services, telecommunications, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, consumer goods, retail, and government. More information on Ascential Software can be found on the Web at www.ascential.com.
About Mercator Software
Mercator delivers its customers and partners The Advantage Inside Integration(TM), providing Industry-Ready Integration Solutions(TM) that solve critical business problems in real-time, while leveraging current technology investments and maximizing ROI. Mercator's core integration technology, MERCATOR Inside Integrator(TM) 6.7, features a Solutions-Oriented Architecture(TM) which easily and seamlessly automates high-volume, complex transactions. Over 1,100 enterprise customers leverage the power, speed and flexibility of Mercator's proven integration technology and industry expertise to build better business value and faster ROI. To hear why our customers and partners believe Mercator is the advantage inside integration, visit our Web site at www.mercator.com.
This announcement is for informational purposes only and is neither an offer to buy or a solicitation of an offer to sell any shares. The tender offer is being made pursuant to an Offer to Purchase (and related materials) which has been sent to all Mercator stockholders. The Offer to Purchase contains important information and should be read by all Mercator stockholders. In connection with such tender offer, a statement on Schedule TO, as amended, which includes the Offer to Purchase and other exhibits, was initially filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on August 8, 2003. All documents filed with the SEC can be examined for free at the SEC web site (http://www.sec.gov.).
The tender offer statement and related materials may be obtained for free by directing a request by mail to Innisfree M&A Incorporated, 501 Madison Avenue, 20th Floor, New York, New York 10222 or by calling toll-free (888)750-5834. They are also available without charge by calling Ascential's Investor Relations department at (508) 366-3888 or by sending a written request to Investor Relations, Ascential Software Corporation, 50 Washington Street, Westborough, Massachusetts 01581.
This announcement may include predictions, estimates, or other forward- looking statement including statements regarding the benefits that propose tender offer and merger, integration plans, and expected synergies, effects on the business of the combined company, anticipated future financial and operating performance, and results including estimates per growth and market reach and expectations for a price. These statements are based on the current expectations of our management team. There are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. For example stockholders may not tender the shares or go in favor of the merger. The integration may involve substantial cost and difficulties that may arise in successfully integrating the business. Our business may suffer as a result of the uncertainties surrounding the transaction. In addition, results may be effected by the ability to expand our market share, growth rates in the enterprise data integration software market; rapid technological change, difficulties we may experience integrating technologies, operations, and personnel of completed or future acquisitions, in general business conditions. For more detailed review of the risks and uncertainties associated with each company's business activity, see our respective reports filed with the SEC. Neither company undertakes any obligation to update its forward-looking statements as a result of any change in events, conditions, or circumstances.
Source: Ascential Software Corporation |
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| To: SemiBull who wrote (147) | 9/9/2003 9:03:37 PM | | From: SemiBull | | | | IDC Says Ascential Software Could 'Reorient the Way We Think About Data Integration'
Tuesday September 9, 11:09 am ET
Premier Analyst Firm Cites Ascential QualityStage's Unique and Scientific Approach To Data Integrity for Important Business Applications
WESTBORO, Mass., Sept. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ascential Software Corporation (Nasdaq: ASCL - News), the enterprise data integration leader, today announced that one of the industry's most respected IT analyst firms has recognized Ascential QualityStage(TM), the company's data quality and cleansing solution, for delivering a unique data matching capability that allows companies to execute successful strategic initiatives such as ERP, CRM, direct marketing campaigns and mergers with better results. In a new report, IDC commends Ascential Software's commitment to a class of technology that the research firm believes will revolutionize the way complex IT problems are approached. Ascential QualityStage is available separately or as a component of the Ascential(TM) Enterprise Integration Suite.
Data quality is a growing challenge as data volume expands exponentially and spreads across more databases and systems, according to IDC analysts Kathleen and Stephen Hendrick in their new report, "Ascential Introduces QualityStage." "A clear picture of a customer, product, or buying trend can be practically impossible to ascertain," the analysts state. "This is a significant problem."
Specifically, Ascential QualityStage surpasses all competitors in the ability to improve data quality by consolidating customer files and other records scattered across multiple enterprise systems, according to IDC. Ascential QualityStage is "one of the few products that has the ability to completely reorient the way we think about data integration," IDC says in the report.
Ascential QualityStage has continued to evolve to meet the changing needs of the industry, according to the report. "Its ability to successfully provide data investigation, standardization, matching, and survivorship makes it a strong product to address a multitude of needs, from data integration to CRM. Ascential QualityStage delivers a scientifically justified methodology, producing an audit trail that can be easily validated and verified by organizations."
Ascential Software's Unique Approach to Data Quality
The report zeroes in on the key advantage of Ascential QualityStage, its probabilistic matching approach. "While the word probability can make IS managers run screaming from the room, IDC believes QualityStage may well be the only justifiable way to address sophisticated matching problems," states the report.
Competing offerings use a decision table methodology governed by vendor- set rules. This technique compromises completeness and accuracy for the sake of manageability, according to IDC. "This contrasts with Ascential QualityStage, which doesn't stagger under the weight of multiway matches or shy away from adding criteria that generally results in better match results than other approaches," says IDC.
The specific characteristics that IDC says differentiate QualityStage from
other competitive offerings include:
1. Frequency analysis, referring to how often a value appears in a field.
For example, male or female would appear often in a gender field. A
particular string would appear rarely in a tax ID field.
2. Numeric match weight, versus the imprecise A-F matching scale
competitors use.
3. Significance, referring to QualityStage's ability to let companies
assign a higher value to a matching field that is more pivotal in the
matching process.
Ascential Software estimates that, conservatively, it can improve match accuracy by two to five percent over competing approaches - a huge difference for a company trying to clean up its records. "The reason that slight increases in matching accuracy matter is that each unmatched record has the potential to taint the integrity of any records to which it should have been directly matched, as well as any records that are subsequently matched to these records," says IDC. "Therefore, since there can be instances where even one unmatched record is responsible for propagating significant errors, a small increase in methodological matching accuracy can drive major positive benefits."
Ascential QualityStage will become increasingly valuable as companies grapple with more data. "In fact, the unique attribute of Ascential QualityStage that truly sets it apart is its increasing ability to orchestrate better matches as the complexity of data increases," the IDC report states. "While we understand that this statement runs contrary to the behavior of virtually every other IT experience, remember that our experience in IT systems to date and our frame of reference has only been with deterministic systems. Ascential QualityStage is one of the first and one of the few products that has the ability to completely reorient the way we think about data integration."
Ascential QualityStage is a key component of the Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite, which combines Ascential Software's industry-leading solutions for data profiling, data quality and data transformation on a shared platform of software services for unlimited scalability through parallel processing, management of meta data, any-to-any connectivity and real-time data integration.
"IDC's evaluation of our product mirrors the experience of our customers, including Bristol-Myers-Squibb, Sprint and Premera Blue Cross, who have used Ascential QualityStage and its predecessor products to dramatically improve the quality of their data," said Bob Zurek, Ascential Software vice president of advanced technology. "Ascential QualityStage ensures that strategic business systems contain accurate, complete information on which to base better business decisions. And as IDC suggests, Ascential QualityStage will continue to emerge as the clear choice in data quality as the volume of data companies contend with continues to increase."
To view the full report, please visit ascential.com .
About Ascential Software
Ascential Software Corporation is the leading provider of enterprise data integration solutions to organizations worldwide. Customers use the Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite to integrate and leverage data across all strategic analytic and enterprise applications with confidence in the accuracy, completeness and timeliness of critical information. Ascential Software's powerful data profiling, data quality, data transformation, parallel processing, meta data and connectivity solutions enable customers to reduce total cost of ownership and increase return on IT investment. Headquartered in Westboro, Mass., Ascential Software has offices worldwide and supports more than 2,200 customers in such industries as financial services, telecommunications, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, consumer goods, retail, and government. More information on Ascential Software can be found on the Web at www.ascential.com.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This release contains forward-looking statements based on current expectations or beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions about future events, and these statements are subject to important factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this release address a variety of subjects including, for example, the functionality, characteristics, quality and performance capabilities of Ascential Software's products and technology; results achievable and benefits attainable through deployment of Ascential Software's products; anticipated innovation and product development; customer requirements and expectations as well as benefits to customers from Ascential Software's products and services; impact of the combination of Ascential Software products with third party products; impact on execution of successful strategic initiatives; expansion and dispersion of data and the importance of data quality; extent of improvements in accuracy by using Ascential Software's products; increasing customer preference for Ascential QualityStage; and reduction of cost of ownership by customers and return on IT investment. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements: the ability of Ascential Software to expand its market share; growth rates for the enterprise data integration software market; general business conditions in the software industry, the technology sector, and in the domestic and international economies; rapid technological change in the markets served by Ascential Software; dependence on international operations; global and geopolitical instability; and difficulties that Ascential Software may experience integrating technologies, operations and personnel of completed or future acquisitions. For a detailed discussion of these and other cautionary statements, please refer to the filings made by Ascential Software with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, the most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Ascential Software disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements made herein to reflect any change in Ascential Software's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which such statements are based.
Ascential and Ascential QualityStage are trademarks of Ascential Software Corporation or its affiliates and may be registered in the United States or other jurisdictions. Other marks are the property of the owners of those marks.
Contact:
Chas Kielt Jeff Aubin
Ascential Software Corporation Beaupre & Co. Public Relations, Inc.
(508) 366-3888, ext. 3256 (603) 559-5838
chas.kielt@ascential.com jaubin@beaupre.com
Source: Ascential Software Corporation |
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| To: SemiBull who wrote (148) | 9/22/2003 7:48:08 PM | | From: SemiBull | | | | Ascential Software Highlights Web Services to Meet Real-Time Integration Challenges of the Active Data Warehouse
Monday September 22, 5:45 pm ET
Ascential Software VP of Advanced Technology Details Data Enrichment and Transportation Solutions at 2003 Annual Teradata Partners User Group Conference
SEATTLE, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The problem has haunted data warehouse administrators for years: How do I make massive volumes of constantly changing corporate data available at a moment's notice without spending inordinate time implementing and supporting real-time integration technologies? The short answer is Web services, and an Ascential Software Corporation (Nasdaq: ASCL - News) executive elaborated on them yesterday at the 2003 Annual Teradata Partners User Group Conference and Expo in Seattle.
"Active data warehouses require that massive volumes of detailed, accurate and reliable data be available with near zero latency," said Robert Zurek, Ascential Software's vice president of advanced technology. "But the technologies associated with integrating data in real-time and loading/updating these high-performance warehouses have often been difficult to implement and support. Web services capabilities now make it easy for Teradata users to integrate data in real-time from any source, such as Siebel, PeopleSoft, SAP, other enterprise applications, message brokers, databases and mainframes. Combined with the right platform, Web services transform data into 'intelligent information' by profiling, cleansing, validating and re- engineering data via a service-oriented architecture, all with unlimited scalability."
Zurek used examples to illustrate how business and technical users can benefit from a Teradata warehouse whose data is enriched and transported by Web services. Attendees also learned how to contend with the "data deluge" Web services can bring.
Web services are at the heart of the new Ascential(TM) Enterprise Integration Suite 7.0, the most advanced version of the company's flagship enterprise integration solution, and Ascential Real-Time Integration Services (RTI Services). These breakthrough technologies extend the reach of Ascential Software's powerful data profiling, data quality, data transformation, parallel processing, meta data and connectivity solutions by enabling the seamless interoperability of Ascential Software's data integration solutions within an enterprise's service-oriented architecture (SOA).
About Ascential Software
Ascential Software Corporation is the leading provider of enterprise data integration solutions to organizations worldwide. Customers use the Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite to integrate and leverage data across all transactional, operational, and analytical applications with confidence in the accuracy, completeness and timeliness of critical information. Ascential Software's powerful data profiling, data quality, data transformation, parallel processing, meta data and connectivity solutions enable customers to reduce total cost of ownership and increase return on IT investment. Headquartered in Westborough, Mass., Ascential Software has offices worldwide and supports more than 3,000 customers in such industries as financial services, telecommunications, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, consumer goods, retail, and government. More information on Ascential Software can be found on the Web at www.ascential.com.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This release contains forward-looking statements based on current expectations or beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions about future events, and these statements are subject to important factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this release address a variety of subjects including, for example, the functionality, characteristics, quality and performance capabilities of Ascential Software's products and technology; results achievable and benefits attainable through deployment of Ascential Software's products; anticipated innovation and product development; customer requirements and expectations as well as benefits to customers from Ascential Software's products and services; impact of the combination of Ascential Software products with third party products; the impact of Web services; and reduction of cost of ownership by customers and return on IT investment. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements: the ability of Ascential Software to expand its market share; growth rates for the enterprise data integration software market; general business conditions in the software industry, the technology sector, and in the domestic and international economies; rapid technological change in the markets served by Ascential Software; dependence on international operations; global and geopolitical instability; and difficulties that Ascential Software may experience integrating technologies, operations and personnel of completed or future acquisitions. For a detailed discussion of these and other cautionary statements, please refer to the filings made by Ascential Software with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, the most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Ascential Software disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements made herein to reflect any change in Ascential Software's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which such statements are based.
Ascential is a trademark of Ascential Software Corporation or its affiliates and may be registered in the United States or other jurisdictions. Other marks are the property of the owners of those marks.
Source: Ascential Software Corporation |
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| To: SemiBull who wrote (150) | 9/25/2003 9:08:09 PM | | From: SemiBull | | | | Ascential Software Welcomes Mercator Customers to Ascential World 2003
Thursday September 25, 4:40 pm ET
Attendees Will Get First Look at Product Roadmap and Hear Customer Success Stories from Mutual of Omaha, ABN AMRO Bank and Others
WESTBOROUGH, Mass., Sept. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ascential Software Corporation (Nasdaq: ASCL - News), the enterprise data integration leader, today welcomed Mercator Software, Inc. customers to the Ascential Software family by adding several Mercator-focused sessions to the Ascential World 2003 agenda. Ascential Software completed its acquisition of Mercator on September 12, 2003.
The Mercator-focused sessions added to Ascential Software's inaugural user and partner conference will provide existing and prospective customers of the former Mercator products with information on product direction, tips and techniques, best practices, and customer success stories. This information is designed to help customers reduce risks, increase operational efficiencies and enhance business performance.
Ascential World 2003 will include three days of workshops, panel discussions, presentations and special events designed to build skills and share information for optimizing enterprise data integration. The event will be held Oct. 26 - 28 at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami, Fla. Visit www.ascentialworld.com for online registration and information.
The Mercator track includes these sessions:
1. Rapid Data Integration Through Deployment of Standards-Based Industry
Solutions, covering support of industry standards initiatives like
HIPAA for health care, SWIFT for financial services and EDI for cross-
industry integration.
2. Legacy to Web at Internet Speed, detailing Web services support that
delivers data integration with minimal development and integration
costs.
3. The Ascential Product Roadmap, previewing the future of Ascential-
Mercator technology.
4. Tips and Techniques to help customers accelerate and improve results
from Inside Integrator.
5. Customer Success Stories, featuring deployments by Mutual of Omaha to
address healthcare integration issues and ABN AMRO Bank to enable
straight-through processing in the financial services industry.
In addition to the Mercator sessions, Ascential World 2003 will also feature presentations from renowned technology journalist Maryfran Johnson, editor-in-chief of Computerworld; David Weinberger, an acclaimed technology author and commentator; industry analysts and IT professionals who are building tomorrow's enterprise data integration infrastructure today using solutions from Ascential Software. Networking and social activities include a salsa party at Bongos Cuban Cafe, one of Miami's hottest night spots, and the opportunity to golf on five championship courses. Ascential World 2003 sponsors include Brio, Cognos, DataDirect, HP, IBM, Lakeview Technology, MicroStrategy, Sun Microsystems and Teradata.
"Ascential World 2003 will drive home the strategic imperative for complete enterprise data integration by showcasing the successes of Ascential Software customers who have created measurable business value using our solutions," said Pete Fiore, president, Ascential Software. "The presence in one location of so many customers from a wide variety of industries, leading business partners, and Ascential Software representatives presents a dynamic opportunity for sharing experiences and ideas for enhancing the positive impact of IT on the enterprise."
About Ascential Software
Ascential Software Corporation is the leading provider of enterprise data integration solutions to organizations worldwide. Customers use the Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite to integrate and leverage data across all transactional, operational, and analytical applications with confidence in the accuracy, completeness and timeliness of critical information. Ascential Software's powerful data profiling, data quality, data transformation, parallel processing, meta data and connectivity solutions enable customers to reduce total cost of ownership and increase return on IT investment. Headquartered in Westborough, Mass., Ascential Software has offices worldwide and supports more than 3,000 customers in such industries as financial services, telecommunications, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, consumer goods, retail, and government. More information on Ascential Software can be found on the Web at www.ascential.com.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This release contains forward-looking statements based on current expectations or beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions about future events, and these statements are subject to important factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this release address a variety of subjects including, for example, the functionality, characteristics, quality and performance capabilities of Ascential Software's products and technology; results achievable and benefits attainable through deployment of Ascential Software's products; benefits of attending Ascential World 2003, anticipated integration of software products acquired through Mercator; and reduction of cost of ownership by customers and return on IT investment. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these forward- looking statements: the ability of Ascential Software to expand its market share; growth rates for the enterprise data integration software market; general business conditions in the software industry, the technology sector, and in the domestic and international economies; rapid technological change in the markets served by Ascential Software; dependence on international operations; global and geopolitical instability; and difficulties that Ascential Software may experience integrating technologies, operations and personnel of completed or future acquisitions, including the recent acquisition of Mercator Software, Inc.. For a detailed discussion of these and other cautionary statements, please refer to the filings made by Ascential Software with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, the most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Ascential Software disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements made herein to reflect any change in Ascential Software's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which such statements are based.
Ascential is a trademark of Ascential Software Corporation or its affiliates and may be registered in the United States or other jurisdictions. Other marks are the property of the owners of those marks.
Contact:
Chas Kielt
Ascential Software Corporation
(508) 366-3888, ext. 3256
chas.kielt@ascential.com
Jeff Aubin
Beaupre & Co. Public Relations, Inc.
(603) 559-5838
jaubin@beaupre.com
Source: Ascential Software Corporation |
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| To: SemiBull who wrote (151) | 10/2/2003 7:56:56 PM | | From: SemiBull | | | | Ascential Software Wins Software Industry Award For Best Enterprise Integration
Thursday October 2, 12:14 pm ET
Software Business Magazine Selects Enterprise Data Integration Leader From Hundreds of Nominees
WESTBORO, Mass., Oct. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ascential Software Corporation (Nasdaq: ASCL - News), the enterprise data integration leader, today announced it has won the Software Industry Award for Best Enterprise Integration from Software Business magazine. The company will be honored at a ceremony in Boston on October 22 during the Software Business 2003 Conference, billed as the premier conference on business and technology for executives and managers of software companies.
"With the release of the Ascential(TM) Enterprise Integration Suite 7.0 and its new Real-Time Integration Services, the company offers new capabilities that confirm its status as an enterprise integration leader," said John G. Cargile, managing editor for Software Business. "The Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite is unique in the integration landscape because it provides the only complete, comprehensive data integration solution. Competing solutions overlook data profiling and quality, focusing primarily on transformation ... and no company moves data faster."
Ascential Software was among hundreds of nominees and 10 winners the magazine's editorial staff selected for its Third Annual Software Industry Awards. Ascential Software is the sole winner in its category.
The Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite combines Ascential Software's industry-leading solutions for data profiling, data quality and data transformation and delivery on a shared platform of software services for unlimited scalability through parallel processing, management of meta data, any-to-any connectivity and real-time data integration. Ascential Real-Time Integration Services extends the reach and enables the seamless interoperability of Ascential Software's data integration solutions within an enterprise's service-oriented architecture (SOA).
"We're honored that a publication of Software Business's caliber has selected us for this award, but it's only possible by making a positive impression on every customer who invests in our software," said Mark Register, vice president and chief marketing officer, Ascential Software. "Improving our customers' business performance is the best measure of our value, and the award affirms our hard-won success in this area."
About Software Business
Software Business -- Strategy & Technology for Software Executives -- is a business magazine serving the software publishing industry. Its readership consists of executives and managers of software companies. They are responsible for corporate strategy, product development, marketing and sales, distribution, technical and customer support, finance, administration, training, localization, manufacturing and fulfillment. Every issue of Software Business features articles on CEO strategies and finance, product development, tech support and customer service, fulfillment/manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution and international opportunities. For more information, visit www.softwarebusinessonline.com.
About Ascential Software
Ascential Software Corporation is the leading provider of enterprise data integration solutions to organizations worldwide. Customers use the Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite to integrate and leverage data across all transactional, operational, and analytical applications with confidence in the accuracy, completeness and timeliness of critical information. Ascential Software's powerful data profiling, data quality, data transformation, parallel processing, meta data and connectivity solutions enable customers to reduce total cost of ownership and increase return on IT investment. Headquartered in Westboro, Mass., Ascential Software has offices worldwide and supports more than 3,000 customers in such industries as financial services, telecommunications, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, consumer goods, retail, and government. More information on Ascential Software can be found on the Web at www.ascential.com.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This release contains forward-looking statements based on current expectations or beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions about future events, and these statements are subject to important factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this release address a variety of subjects including, for example, the functionality, characteristics and performance capabilities of Ascential's products and technology, the ability of Ascential's products to extend the reach and enable seamless interoperability of an enterprise's service-oriented architecture and Ascential's ability to improve a customer's business performance. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements: risks relating to the ability of Ascential to expand its market share, growth rates for the enterprise data integration software market, integration/divestiture issues resulting from merger/acquisition activities, general business conditions in the software industry, the technology sector, and in the domestic and international economies, rapid technological change in the markets served by Ascential, dependence on international operations, and difficulties that Ascential may experience integrating technologies, operations and personnel of completed or future acquisitions. For a detailed discussion of these and other cautionary statements, please refer to the filings made by Ascential with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, the most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Ascential disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements made herein to reflect any change in Ascential's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which such statements are based.
All rights reserved. Ascential is a trademark of Ascential Software Corporation or its affiliates and may be registered in the United States or other jurisdictions. Other marks are the property of the owners of those marks.
Source: Ascential Software Corporation |
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| To: SemiBull who wrote (152) | 10/20/2003 8:00:07 PM | | From: SemiBull | | | | Allied Office Products Thrives in Competitive Market Using Ascential Software to Profit from Intelligent Information
Monday October 20, 11:26 am ET
Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite is the One Data Integration Platform Used by the 'OneSolution' Office Products Company
WESTBORO, Mass., Oct. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Allied Office Products, the largest independent dealer of office goods and services in the United States, has increased sales and improved customer service by using solutions from Ascential Software (Nasdaq: ASCL - News), the enterprise data integration leader. Allied Office Products can now effectively mine its enterprise systems for customer information and implement solutions that offer better connectivity and new services for its customer base.
To enable these new capabilities, the Ascential(TM) Enterprise Integration Suite and Ascential Real-Time Integration Services (RTI Services) provide the underlying infrastructure for OneSolution, Allied Office Products' innovative business management system. OneSolution links customer service, supply chain and order processing solutions in real-time to maximize cost saving, efficiency and customer satisfaction in a competitive, fragmented market.
The Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite profiles, cleanses and transforms customer data from disparate enterprise systems and consolidates it in a central data warehouse. The company is using Ascential ProfileStage(TM) and QualityStage(TM) to identify and eliminate duplicate records, incomplete fields, and other anomalies in its OneSolution system. Employees get on-the- fly error reports that identify redundant entries and notify sales and service representatives of missing data. This master data management approach yields consistent, reliable information and deeper insights into its customer base and sales trends.
Ascential Real-Time Integration Services allow Allied Office Products to offer real-time customer service, order processing and supply chain management. For instance, Allied Office Products is exploiting the Web services capabilities of Ascential RTI Services to let customers rapidly process returns online. The Ascential Software solution plays a pivotal role in deploying and managing these services by creating a link back to the company's enterprise systems and integrating the data, according to Ken DesRochers, senior vice president of information technology at Allied Office Products.
"Ascential Software helped us gain the elusive 360-degree view of our customer that many companies strive for but too few achieve," said DesRochers. "This is helping us significantly improve our responsiveness, customer intimacy and product and service offerings. This is how we differentiate and succeed in an aggressive market populated with many competitors ranging from small operations to national office supply superstores."
DesRochers explains that the challenge in achieving one cohesive view of the customer was that customer data was dispersed among three disparate systems, including Oracle 9i, running on a Solaris SPARC system and supporting Allied's e-commerce Web site; Salesforce.com, the company's Web-based customer-relationship management (CRM) system; and, for financials, a custom- built legacy enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, running on an IBM AIX RS/6000 system with a UniData database.
After evaluating various data integration point products, Allied Office Products selected the Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite for the completeness of its solution, its interoperability with the company's heterogeneous existing IT systems, and its Web services capabilities. "Having access to a complete, fully integrated solution from one vendor was a major plus in terms of managing our risk," said DesRochers. "I had confidence that the data profiling, quality, and transformation solutions were fully integrated and optimized. This reduces the cost and potential pitfalls of assembling point products from multiple vendors, and that's important.
"Allied Office Products is a clear example of the strategic role IT should play within an organization," said Mark Register, vice president and chief marketing officer at Ascential Software. "Ken and his team have fundamentally changed the way their company operates and created measurable business value using innovative data integration solutions from Ascential Software. This linkage between the board room and back room objectives and initiatives is critical. We applaud Allied for its imaginative application of our technology."
About Allied Office Products
Founded in 1947 and based in Clifton, N.J., Allied provides office supplies, furniture, coffee and beverage, print and promotional products to clients of varying size and across a range of industries. Operating primarily in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, the company has 17 sales offices throughout the United States. Allied has acquired 29 companies since 1998, and the company's strategy of acquisitions and organic growth has yielded a robust 60 percent annual revenue growth rate, reaching sales of about $300 million in 2001.
About Ascential Software
Ascential Software Corporation is the leading provider of enterprise data integration solutions to organizations worldwide. Customers use the Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite to integrate and leverage data across all transactional, operational, and analytical applications with confidence in the accuracy, completeness and timeliness of critical information. Ascential Software's powerful data profiling, data quality, data transformation, parallel processing, meta data and connectivity solutions enable customers to reduce total cost of ownership and increase return on IT investment. Headquartered in Westboro, Mass., Ascential Software has offices worldwide and supports more than 3,000 customers in such industries as financial services, telecommunications, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, consumer goods, retail, and government. More information on Ascential Software can be found on the Web at www.ascential.com.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This release contains forward-looking statements based on current expectations or beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions about future events, and these statements are subject to important factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this release address a variety of subjects including, for example, the functionality, characteristics and performance capabilities of Ascential's products and technology, including but not limited to the ability of Ascential's products to profile, clean and transform customer data from disparate enterprise systems for centralized consolidation and the ability of Ascential's customers to improve performance by offering real-time customer services, order processing and supply chain management. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements: risks relating to the ability of Ascential to expand its market share, growth rates for the enterprise data integration software market, the scope and frequency of data integration projects, the ability of customers to improve performance utilizing Ascential's products, integration/divestiture issues resulting from merger/acquisition activities, general business conditions in the software industry, the technology sector, and in the domestic and international economies, rapid technological change in the markets served by Ascential, dependence on international operations, and difficulties that Ascential may experience integrating technologies, operations and personnel of completed or future acquisitions. For a detailed discussion of these and other cautionary statements, please refer to the filings made by Ascential with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, the most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Ascential disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements made herein to reflect any change in Ascential's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which such statements are based.
Ascential is a trademark of Ascential Software Corporation or its affiliates and may be registered in the United States or other jurisdictions. Other marks are the property of the owners of those marks.
Source: Ascential Software |
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| To: SemiBull who wrote (153) | 10/21/2003 7:59:50 PM | | From: SemiBull | | | | Ascential Software Helps UICI Student Insurance Make Strategic Decisions Based on Better Business Information
Tuesday October 21, 9:00 am ET
Specialty Insurer Uses Ascential's Enterprise Data Integration Suite To Speed Employee Access to Member, Claims and Premium Data
WESTBORO, Mass., Oct. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ascential Software Corporation (Nasdaq: ASCL - News), the enterprise data integration leader, today announced that UICI Student Insurance, a division of UICI (NYSE: UCI - News), has deployed the Ascential(TM) Enterprise Integration Suite to better compete in the youth and young adult health insurance market. UICI Student Insurance will give actuaries, underwriters and executives dramatically improved access to the company's membership, premium and claims information. Enhanced access will help the company more effectively manage risk and profits based on emerging trends and up-to-the-minute information.
"UICI Student Insurance created an enterprise data warehouse that uses technology from Ascential Software to consolidate data from existing information systems and a new claims processing system," said Bruce Bradley, chief actuary of UICI Student Insurance. "The result is a unified source for critical premium, exposure and claim information as well as a solid infrastructure for enterprise applications. Consequently, we have accelerated our core business processes by generating daily reports for underwriters and setting prices for actuaries. Executives can readily obtain current loss ratios, a constantly changing metric that measures profitability." This is a significant change from the past, when employees had limited data access and long waits for paper reports that were difficult to analyze.
UICI Student Insurance provides health insurance to 350,000 students through 400 colleges and generates approximately $200 million in annual premiums. The company is using the Ascential DataStage® data transformation solution to consolidate information from a wide variety of UICI Student Insurance applications into a data warehouse based on Microsoft SQL Server running on the Windows NT operating system. The source applications include a new claims processing system running on an IBM AS/400 server and a DOS-based legacy claims processing system.
The company is also using Ascential ProfileStage(TM) to analyze legacy systems and profile source data, and Ascential QualityStage(TM) to cleanse, match and deduplicate incoming data such as provider contact information. These processes are essential to the success of ongoing and future data integration initiatives.
"Health insurance is very competitive, and incisive business information lets us compete more effectively," said Rick Doucette, UICI Student Insurance's CIO. "Although we've been successful with our paper-based reporting system, we're now looking to gain an edge that will help us succeed when we get into competitive pricing situations, which is most of the time. We now have a whole new level of access that we didn't have before. When our underwriters see a number they don't understand, such as a certain loss ratio, they'll be able to dig down and get at what's really going on behind that number."
UICI Student Insurance chose Ascential Software earlier this year from among five companies that responded to an initial request for proposals. UICI Student Insurance defined Ascential Software's advantage as its end-to-end enterprise data integration solution, unmatched linear scalability, value, and several other technical considerations.
UICI Student Insurance will be able to improve performance in the future by extending information access selectively to customers and across the entire UICI Student Insurance organization. In fact, the company CEO is using warehouse data to manage the company from his desktop.
"Competition in the health insurance industry makes it extremely important for insurers to extract the highest possible value of business information from the terabytes of data they have locked in various formats across their multiple legacy systems," said Mark Register, Ascential Software vice president and chief marketing officer. "Better information means better decisions, which can make the difference between profit and oblivion. Student Insurance is emblematic of this imperative and is intelligently applying our technology to expand its lead on the competition."
Idea Integration was the systems integrator for UICI Student Insurance.
About Idea Integration
Idea Integration is an e-business consulting and systems integration solutions provider serving Fortune 1000 companies, government, and middle- market clients. Specializing in Web design and development, information management solutions, wireless workflow applications, portal solutions, and enterprise resource management, Idea delivers high-return business applications for its clients. Idea serves clients throughout the United States and United Kingdom. For more information, please visit www.idea.com.
About UICI Student Insurance
UICI Student Insurance is one of the nation's largest providers of student health plans, with over 40 years of experience. UICI Student Insurance is a division of The MEGA Life and Health Insurance Company, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of UICI. UICI's annual revenues are over $1 billion and is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, symbol UCI.
About Ascential Software
Ascential Software Corporation is the leading provider of enterprise data integration solutions to organizations worldwide. Customers use the Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite to integrate and leverage data across all transactional, operational, and analytical applications with confidence in the accuracy, completeness and timeliness of critical information. Ascential Software's powerful data profiling, data quality, data transformation, parallel processing, meta data and connectivity solutions enable customers to reduce total cost of ownership and increase return on IT investment. Headquartered in Westboro, Mass., Ascential Software has offices worldwide and supports more than 3,000 customers in such industries as financial services, telecommunications, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, consumer goods, retail, and government. More information on Ascential Software can be found on the Web at www.ascential.com.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This release contains forward-looking statements based on current expectations or beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions about future events, and these statements are subject to important factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this release address a variety of subjects including, for example, the functionality, characteristics and performance capabilities of Ascential's products and technology, the ability of Ascential's customers to improve performance by extending information access selectively to customers and the ability of Ascential's customers to utilize Ascential's products to analyze legacy systems and profile source data as well as to cleanse, match and duplicate incoming data such as provider contact information. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements: risks relating to the ability of Ascential to expand its market share, growth rates for the enterprise data integration software market, the scope and frequency of data integration projects, integration/divestiture issues resulting from merger/acquisition activities, general business conditions in the software industry, the technology sector, and in the domestic and international economies, rapid technological change in the markets served by Ascential, dependence on international operations, and difficulties that Ascential may experience integrating technologies, operations and personnel of completed or future acquisitions. For a detailed discussion of these and other cautionary statements, please refer to the filings made by Ascential with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, the most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Ascential disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements made herein to reflect any change in Ascential's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which such statements are based.
Ascential is a trademark of Ascential Software Corporation or its affiliates and may be registered in the United States or other jurisdictions. Other marks are the property of the owners of those marks.
Source: Ascential Software Corporation |
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