Ascential Software Achieves Leader Status in METAspectrum ETL Market Summary WESTBORO, Mass., April 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- META Group , a leading provider of information technology research, advisory services, and strategic consulting, named Ascential Software Corporation among the leaders in the growing extract-transform-load (ETL) middleware market in the ETL METAspectrum Market Summary, published today. Among Ascential Software's strengths, META Group identified Vision/Strategy, Awareness/Reputation, Investments in ETL-related Offerings, Market Share, and Technology/Products. META Group defines the ETL market as comprising vendors that offer tools used in designing and populating analytic databases such as data warehouses, data marts, and operational data stores. The complete report is available at http://www.ascential.com/pdfs/metaspectrum.pdf. In the report, META Group Vice President Doug Laney, and Kevin Waddle, senior research analyst, write that "data integration solutions are the plumbing that enables the flow of intelligence driving decision-making at operational, tactical, and strategic levels. The bottom line business impact is that enterprises without integrated data should expect to operate, at best, as independent, uncollaborative business units." Ascential Software is ranked a Leader in the ETL market. According to META Group, Leaders in the ETL market have stable, mature products with a broad array of capabilities, including data sourcing and targeting options, seamless access to mainframe data, robust developer environments, and job parallelization. The IT firm also notes that Leaders have leveraged strong financial positions, enabling them to innovate and acquire ancillary capabilitiessuch as data profiling and data quality. "Messrs. Laney and Waddle point out that data integration is fundamental to the success of strategic business initiatives," said Mark Register, chief marketing officer and vice president, marketing, industry solutions and global alliances for Ascential Software. "The META Group report highlights the requirement for today's data integration solutions to address the full spectrum of application environments, and the position Ascential has established in this large and growing market. Ascential Software is proud to be recognized by META Group and our customers for shaping and bringing innovation to the data integration market." META Group Has Positive Outlook on ETL Market According to the ETL METAspectrumMarket Summary, as the volume, variety, and velocity of data generated continue to rise, the ETL market will continue to expand. No longer can enterprises execute on data integration strategies and ongoing data warehouse initiatives by hand-coding ETLjobs in 3GL languages and scripts. About METAspectrum METAspectrum(SM) evaluations from META Group provide IT professionals with a view into critical market success factors and vendor positioning. METAspectrum delivers comprehensive evaluations of both technology markets and vendor product offerings. There are multiple market evaluations planned for release in 2004 and beyond. METAspectrum evaluations are updated quarterly, biannually, or annually, depending on the characteristics of individual markets. To view completed market evaluations, or learn more about the METAspectrum methodology, visit http://www.metagroup.com/metaspectrum. METAspectrum Disclaimer Permission to reproduce this research has been granted by META Group, Inc. Any further reproduction or redistribution of this research in any form without prior written approval is prohibited. METAspectrum is META Group's independent evaluation of a technology market, representing marketplace characteristics at a given time and are subject to change without notice. META Group's permission to reproduce this evaluation should not be deemed to be an endorsement of any company or product. META Group research is intended to be one of many information sources and decision-makers should notrely solely on the METAspectrum evaluation for making solution choices. META Group expressly disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including but not limited to fitness of this research for a particular purpose or merchantability. 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. For more information about Ascential Software call 1- 800-966-9875 (508-366-3888 if calling from outside the US or Canada) or visit the Ascential Software Web site at http://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 and provision of services; the ability of Ascential Software to innovate and acquire ancillary capabilities such as data profiling and data quality; the ability of Ascential Software to meet broader data integration requirements such as pervasive data quality and tight meta data management to enhance the reliability of business information; reduction of cost of ownership; and increased 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 Annual Report on Form 10-K. 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 is not responsible for statements attributed to third parties within this release or in any materials referenced herein. Ascential, Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite and Ascential DataStage are trademarks of Ascential Software Corporation or its affiliates and may be registered in the United States or other jurisdictions. Other marks are the propertyof the owners of those marks. DATASOURCE: Ascential Software Corporation CONTACT: Chas Kielt of Ascential Software Corporation, +1-508-366-3888, ext. 3256, ; or RJ Bardsley of Ascential Software Corporation, +1-508-366-3888, ext. 3065, ; or Kristina White of Porter Novelli, +1-617-897-8200, Web site: http://www.metagroup.com/metaspectrum http://www.ascentialsoftware.com/

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