ASCL Ascential Software - Common Stock (MM)

More Than 30 U.S. Federal Government Organizations Have Deployed Ascential Software Solutions to Improve Security and Contain Costs Federal Customers Include Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, Treasury, and Agriculture WESTBORO, Mass., Jan. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ascential Software Corporation (NASDAQ:ASCL), the enterprise data integration leader, is helping more than 30 U.S. Federal Government organizations -- including The Department of Homeland Security, The Food and Drug Administration, The Defense Information Systems Agency, and The Defense Logistics Agency -- improve operational performance and help reduce program costs by enhancing the accuracy and timeliness of data critical to security operations. "The Federal Government is dealing with the most challenging data integration and analysis requirements that you will find in any environment," said Mark Forman, EVP of worldwide services at Cassatt (an Ascential Software partner), and former CIO of the Federal Government. "In order to fulfill Homeland Security, military, and social services functions, government employees have to be able to rapidly access and analyze large volumes of high quality information. We believe Cassatt's partnership with Ascential Software helps meet these requirements key to federal e-government and IT modernization efforts." "On-demand information sharing within and between government organizations is increasingly important as Federal institutions move to reduce the cost of government, improve service, and enhance national security," said Bill Smith, director of Ascential Software's Federal division. "The Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite(TM) provides the core integration and data quality capabilities required to address the data management issues facing many government entities today, as they move forward with mission-critical information sharing initiatives." Accurate, real-time information sharing among government agencies is crucial to generating cost efficiencies and streamlining a broad range of military and civilian operations. Many government agencies and departments are looking to Ascential Software to meet the requirements for secure, comprehensive integration of massive quantities of data in mixed computing environments. Ascential Software's Federal customers include the: * Defense Information Systems Agency * Defense Logistics Agency * Department of the Air Force * Department of Agriculture * Department of the Army * Department of Homeland Security * Department of Justice * Department of the Navy * Department of the Treasury * Food and Drug Administration * General Services Agency Ascential Software anticipates increasing demand for its enterprise data integration solutions driven by compelling market dynamics. Forrester Research wrote in a September 27, 2004 report titled The Evolving Role Of The US Federal CIO; The Rocky Road To Strategic Partner And Change Agent that, "The imperative for not only continued improvement in IT management but also for a true transformation in the Federal government is clear. The 9-11 Commission's report was damning, reporting 'fault lines within our government' and 'the pervasive problems of managing and sharing information across a large and unwieldy government that had been built in a different era to confront different dangers." Partnerships Ascential Software has developed a number of partnerships to expand its presence in the Federal sector and deliver comprehensive solutions to meet government agency information requirements. Among these partners are Northrop Grumman, Cassatt Software, and Claraview. "Many Federal organizations are looking to powerful data integration solutions and services, such as those offered by Ascential Software, to help overcome the IT challenges of uniting the various islands of technology and information within the government," said Eric Driscoll, Vice President of Professional Services at Claraview, Inc. "Claraview is working with Ascential Software to improve the validity and accuracy of data resources for several key government departments. Our joint projects will help the government respond more quickly and effectively to a variety of situations ranging from human resources allocation challenges to mitigating security risks." The Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite is a comprehensive data integration solution that profiles, cleanses, and transforms data from virtually any application or system regardless of data volume or latency. Ascential Software's integrated offering is designed to help companies streamline operations, improve customer support, expedite business transactions, and make better tactical and strategic decisions on the basis of the best available information. The suite provides unlimited scalability through parallel processing, complete meta data management, and any-to-any data source and application connectivity, and delivers on-demand data integration seamlessly within an enterprise's service-oriented architecture. About Ascential Software Ascential Software Corporation (NASDAQ:ASCL) is the leader in enterprise data integration. Customers and partners worldwide use the Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite(TM) to confidently transform data into accurate, reliable and complete business information to improve operational performance and decision-making across every critical business dimension. Our comprehensive end-to-end solutions provide on demand data integration complemented by our professional services, industry expertise, and methodologies. Ascential Software is headquartered in Westboro, Mass., and has more than 3,000 customers and partners globally across such industries as financial services and banking, insurance, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, consumer packaged goods, telecommunications and government. For more information call 1-800-966-9875 (or 1-508-366-3888 from outside the U.S. or Canada) or visit the Ascential Software website at http://www.ascential.com/. Media and industry analysts, contact Chas Kielt, director of media and analyst relations, at 1-508-599-7256 or . 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's products to streamline operations, improve customer support, expedite business transactions, and make better tactical and strategic decisions on the basis of the best available information; the ability of Ascential Software's products to meet the requirements for secure, comprehensive integration of massive quantities of data in mixed computing environments; increase in demand for Ascential Software's enterprise data integration solutions driven by compelling market dynamics and improvements in operational performance and decision-making. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements: the ability of the company 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 the company; dependence on international operations; global and geopolitical instability; compliance costs associated with regulations to which the company is subject, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and the impact of such regulations; and difficulties that the company 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 is not responsible for statements attributed to third parties within this release or in any materials referenced herein. Partnerships described herein shall be deemed to be strategic alliances only, and shall not imply the power of either partner to bind the other partner or to incur obligations on behalf of the other partner. DATASOURCE: Ascential Software Corporation CONTACT: Chas Kielt of Ascential Software Corporation, +1-508-599-7256, ; or Kristina LeBlanc of Porter Novelli, +1-617-897- 8233, Web site: http://www.ascential.com/

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