IONA Extends Artix Family for Microsoft Interoperability

IONA® Technologies (NASDAQ: IONA), a world leader in distributed service-oriented architecture (SOA) infrastructure solutions for performance-demanding IT environments, today announced the launch of Artix Connect™ for WCF (Windows® Communication Foundation). Artix Connect for WCF enables Global 2000 customers to optimize their investments in Microsoft® technology and seamlessly extend connectivity with legacy applications from within the Microsoft Visual Studio development environment. Enterprise organizations can cost effectively integrate their Microsoft applications with non-Microsoft platforms from BEA, IBM, Oracle, TIBCO and also with CORBA based applications. As a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, IONA is recognized as a leading provider of standards-based integration and interoperability solutions to enterprise customers running mission-critical applications on Microsoft platforms. IONA’s strategic initiative, Artix™ for Microsoft Interoperability, includes Artix for Integration, Artix Mainframe and now Artix Connect for WCF, the latest addition to IONA’s Artix family of advanced SOA infrastructure products. Artix Mainframe and Artix for Integration ensure mission-critical mainframe applications are readily accessible across a company’s IT infrastructure. Artix Connect for WCF enables enterprise organizations to integrate their Microsoft .NET technologies with non-Microsoft applications. By wrapping back-office legacy systems behind standards-based Web Services Description Language (WSDL) interfaces, Artix Connect for WCF allows the .NET developer to connect with Java or CORBA without the need for custom adapters or new code generation. The product enables companies to leverage existing investments in Java, CORBA, and more, without leaving the Microsoft Visual Studio development environment or requiring additional skills. "Microsoft is deeply committed to increasing accessibility and interoperability. Our recent announcement of the principles for interoperability will make it easier for our customers and partners to share information across platforms,” said Steven Martin, Director of Product Management, Connected Systems Division. "Our work with IONA is a great example of how we are working with key companies to introduce new products to customers – making interoperability a reality.” Companies including ClusterReply, a leading Italian systems integration company are working with IONA to extend the interoperability of their customers’ Microsoft environments. "Our customers have made significant investments in both Microsoft and non-Microsoft IT technologies and interoperability across these boundaries is a business-critical requirement,” said Stefano Mattevi, General Manager, ClusterReply. "This is a welcome development from Microsoft and IONA, and we look forward to enhancing the interoperability of our customer environments with Artix Connect for WCF.” "Microsoft’s strategic commitment to interoperability and open software fits well with IONA’s heritage of making software work together,” said Eric Newcomer, CTO of IONA. "Through these efforts Microsoft is recognizing and helping IONA and others to deliver high quality interoperability solutions for today’s heterogeneous IT environments. Over the past 18 months, we have worked closely with Microsoft product management to ensure Artix Connect for WCF delivers the kind of seamless interoperability our customers require.” Artix Connect for WCF will be available in May 2008. For more information on Artix Connect for WCF and the IONA Artix for Microsoft Interoperability initiative please visit www.iona.com/ artixconnect About IONA Artix IONA Artix is a suite of advanced SOA infrastructure products that enables customers to deploy SOA in a truly distributed manner. Featuring componentized, technology-neutral SOA infrastructure products that work together or independently, IONA Artix allows customers unprecedented flexibility in SOA adoption. The suite includes Artix Registry/Repository, Artix ESB, Artix Orchestration, Artix Data Services, Artix Mainframe, Artix SOA Works (tooling) and technology from our partners such as SOA Management from AmberPoint. IONA Artix is based on a lightweight, microkernel architecture that provides organizations with the ability to incrementally adopt SOA on their own terms, one step at a time. About IONA For more than a decade, IONA® Technologies (NASDAQ: IONA) has been a world leader in delivering high-performance integration solutions for Global 2000 IT environments. IONA pioneered standards-based integration with its CORBA-based Orbix® products. IONA’s Artix™, an advanced SOA infrastructure suite enables customers to leverage service-oriented architecture to streamline and modernize IT environments. The FUSE™ family of Open Source distributed SOA infrastructure products allow customers to take advantage of the innovation and cost-effectiveness of Open Source software with complete enterprise support and technical services. IONA is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, with U.S. headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts and offices worldwide. For additional information about IONA, visit our Web site at http://www.iona.com. IONA, IONA Technologies, the IONA logo, Orbix, High Performance Integration, Artix, FUSE and Making Software Work Together are trademarks or registered trademarks of IONA Technologies PLC and/or its subsidiaries. CORBA is a trademark or registered trademark of the Object Management Group, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks that may appear herein are the property of their respective owners.