Applix Empowers Media Planning Group with Greater Understanding of Finances and Profitability

Applix, Inc. (NasdaqGS: APLX), the leading business analytics software solutions provider, today announced that its business analytics platform is providing the North American division of the Media Planning Group, LLC (MPG), the media division of Havas, one of the world’s largest marketing communications groups, with a significantly enhanced view of its budgeting, planning, reporting and forecasting. Dina Bank, director, financial systems at MPG, will spotlight this successful initiative in a talk at CFO Rising West, being held from September 30 to October 3, in Las Vegas, NV. MPG is a full-service media and marketing communications company that provides planning, buying and market research services to its clients. Considering its business model is based on premier client service, a critical element of MPG’s success is the ability to effectively manage resources and staffing. The company’s North American group needed an easy-to-use system that required minimal IT support but provided the ability to better examine the nuances of revenue, staff costing and profitability by client, manager, department and brand in a timely manner. Additionally, MPG was looking for a way to make its budgeting, planning and reporting more efficient. "We needed a significantly more sophisticated view of finances rather than using simple Excel spreadsheets,” said Bank. "Gaining a better understanding of exactly where the strengths and weaknesses of the business are is a very complex activity. That’s why we turned to Revelwood and Applix to achieve this high level of business performance management and analytics by replacing our spreadsheet planning structure.” In just a few months, Revelwood, an Applix partner, created a business performance management solution based on Applix’s technology that empowers MPG to carry out detailed "what-if” analysis on unlimited business scenarios, accurate forecasting, as well as required periodic and ad hoc reporting. "Analyzing data is really where Applix shines for us, its multi-dimensional capability lets us look at revenues and expenses,” continued Bank. "When we were assessing industry solutions Applix’s platform scored the highest marks for query speed and overall business benefits achieved to help us perform 360-degree analytics, streamline budgeting, planning and reporting, as well as sharpen our forecasting accuracy.” "Our business analytics platform is perfectly suited to help companies like MPG gain a deeper, better understanding of finances and true profitability,” said Ben Plummer, senior vice president of marketing and alliances for Applix. "It is designed from the ground up with advanced in-memory capabilities that significantly increase business performance management-related tasks, such as the ability to conduct recalculations in real-time in a familiar yet automated Excel environment. What’s more is data can be imported and exported from any number of back-end sources, which eases integration and enables queries to be fielded with greater speed and accuracy.” CFO Rising West, September 30 – October 3, Las Vegas, NV MPG’s Dina Bank will be speaking on October 1 at 1:15 pm at CFO Rising West on "Financial, Human Resources, and SOX Compliance Planning and Analysis----Beyond the Excel Spreadsheets.” This case study-centric session will explore how MPG’s headcount in the United States nearly quadrupled in a short period, causing their company’s salary forecast to become a victim of too many spreadsheets ("spreadsheet creep”). MPG needed a scalable model for reconciling and forecasting salary expense that could easily integrate with their existing financial information in order to more efficiently analyze client and departmental profitability. In addition, this scaleable model needed to be able to handle SOX requirements. About MPG MPG North America is a part of the global media network of Havas, the worldwide marketing communications group. MPG provides media planning, buying, strategic consulting, branded entertainment and interactive services for a wide range of blue-chip clients. MPG has offices in 91 countries, with 3,500 media professionals working in a broad variety of disciplines. About Applix Applix (NasdaqGS: APLX) empowers agile enterprises by offering the only complete Business Analytics software solution. The Company is focused exclusively on providing a single, cohesive Performance Management and Business Intelligence solution, with strategic planning, forecasting, consolidations, reporting and analytics across financial, operational, sales and marketing, and human resources departments. The Applix platform, powered by the renowned TM1 analytics engine, reaches farther, deploys easier, and reacts faster than any business analytics solution available today. Applix and its global network of partners help more than 3,000 customers worldwide manage their business performance and respond proactively to the marketplace. Headquartered in Westborough, MA, Applix maintains offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit www.applix.com. About Revelwood Revelwood provides performance management solutions that enable companies to predict, measure, evaluate and impact business performance. Offering products, implementation services, training and support, Revelwood brings ease, speed and flexibility to planning, reporting and analytics—all on a single, common platform. Since 1995, Revelwood has provided solutions for numerous innovative companies including CBS, Dow Jones, Madison Square Garden, Wells Real Estate Funds, LifeMasters and TV Guide. Additional information on Revelwood can be obtained by visiting http://www.revelwood.com or calling (201) 984-3030. 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Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include without limitation, competitive pressures, changes in customer demands, adverse economic conditions, loss of key personnel, litigation, potential fluctuations in quarterly results, lengthy sales cycles, market acceptance of new or enhanced products and services, factors affecting spending by customers and other risks, uncertainties and factors including those described in the Company's most recent Form 10-K or 10-Q under the heading "Risk Factors"/"Factors That May Affect Future Results." In addition, the forward-looking statements provided by the Company in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this release. The Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments may cause the Company's views to change. 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