RESTON, Va. -- Software AG, Inc.:

Natural Business Services is the Only Full-Lifecycle Service
  Development and Runtime Environment to Operate Natively on Multiple
                          Mainframe Platforms

   Rapidly Generates Natural Applications as Web Services for Re-Use
             Within a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)

Software AG, Inc. today announced a new service-oriented development environment for its Natural application development platform as the first new product under its Natural 2006 product line. Natural Business Services is currently the only full-lifecycle service development and runtime environment to operate natively on multiple mainframe platforms. Natural Business Services enables developers to use modeling technology to create new service-oriented business functions that can take advantage of the proven transactional capabilities of the mainframe. By hiding the complexity of the mainframe, Natural application developers can more easily and quickly provide enterprise-scale services for Java, .NET or SOA environments.

"With Natural 2006 and Natural Business Services, we can work towards the implementation of a service-oriented architecture and expect great advantages in new development initiatives and the integration of our Point of Sales System, data warehouse and intranet processes," said Thomas Reimann, head of System Development at Apollo Optik. "Compared to other development environments that we have used, Natural is highly productive and users can learn it very quickly. Natural is strategic to our business."

New Working Relationship

Natural Business Services is designed to increase developer productivity and reduce the cost for Natural developers to build service-oriented applications. In addition, Natural Business Services provides developers working in other environments, such as Java and .NET, with the ability to invoke transaction-oriented services particularly suited to running on the mainframe, such as financial applications requiring extremely high throughput levels. Thus, Natural Business Services facilitates a more interactive working relationship between mainframe-based developers and server-based developers.

"The introduction of Natural Business Services signals a new era of productivity for developers using Natural," said Joe Gentry, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Transaction Systems for Software AG. "Finally, new service-based applications can be rapidly created that take full advantage of the mainframe's unique strengths, and that can also be re-used across platforms and in the broader context of the service-oriented approach being adopted by organizations worldwide."

Services Lifecycle Support

Natural Business Services supports the entire service lifecycle:

Creating Services - A GUI development environment provides automatic code generation for service logic through pre-defined models and simplified development and testing of services.

Securing Services - An advanced security model specifically tailored to services can be integrated with existing security infrastructures, enabling fast adaptation of security credentials according to business changes.

Deploying Services - Deployment of services on UNIX, Linux or the Mainframe (e.g. z/OS, z/VSE, BS2000/VSE) provides significant flexibility in choosing the runtime platform according to Quality of Service (QoS) requirements. Easy integration of data sources (e.g. Oracle, DB2, MS SQL Server - Adabas, VSAM, IMS/DB, XML or Web Services) at run-time is made possible through built-in data interfaces.

Managing Services - Services are centrally managed and audited for usage and configuration through the Natural Development/Runtime Repository. Services metadata is available to SOA Registries/Repositories, such as Software AG's CentraSite (or UDDI registries), enabling services to be covered in an overall enterprise governance initiative.

Exposing and Re-using Services - Services can be exposed as Java, Visual Basic, C# classes or as Web Services (SOAP, WSDL, HTTP), ensuring optimal reusability in different business scenarios. Natural Business Services also provides an integrated tool environment with support for both Microsoft Visual Studio and Eclipse, so Java or .NET application developers have no need to learn Natural in order to re-use the services.

Availability

Natural Business Services is scheduled for general availability March 15, 2006.

About Natural 2006

Natural 2006 excels as a new application development platform due to its openness and flexibility, as well as its simplicity and efficiency - typically requiring fewer lines of code for a given task than other development environments. Natural developers are empowered to quickly and easily develop and deploy rich Internet applications and reusable business services across platforms including the Mainframe, Unix, Linux and Windows that integrate easily into a broader enterprise architecture.

About Software AG, Inc. (North America)

Software AG, Inc. is based in the metropolitan Washington D.C. area and provides enterprise- class data management and integration solutions to customers in sectors such as local, state and federal government, insurance, manufacturing and public retirement. Software AG, Inc.'s customers include the U.S. Navy, American Fidelity Assurance Company, The California State Public Employee Retirement System (CalPERS), National Gypsum Company, NYC Department of Buildings, the State of Alaska and the County of Sacramento. For more information, visit www.softwareagusa.com. For more information, visit www.softwareagusa.com.

Software AG, headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany, provides a full range of products and services to deliver a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) IT infrastructure, based on over thirty-five years experience in high-performance databases, application development tools and integration technologies. Its technology offers process driven integration through legacy modernization and real-time single views of strategic business information. Software AG helps its customers to achieve a competitive advantage through flexible and adaptive business processes based on fast and easy integration of existing IT assets. It supports the mission-critical systems of over 3,000 customers globally. Software AG is represented in around 60 countries with more than 2,600 employees. It is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (TecDAX, ISIN DE 0003304002 / SOW). In 2005 Software AG posted EUR 438 million in total revenue. www.softwareag.com.

Software AG and/or all Software AG products are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Software AG. All other product and company names mentioned herein are used for identification purposes only, and may be the trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.