MENLO PARK, Calif. -- October 17, 1996 -- Versant Object Technology Corporation (NASDAQ: VSNT), a leading supplier of object database management systems (ODBMS) for large-scale distributed applications, today announced a variety of successful deployments in the new media market. Five companies - EDS, DALiM, Passage Systems, Alliance Interactive and Animation 2000 - are using Versant's powerful engine to enable media-rich Internet applications for the pre-press, retail and online documentation markets, among others. Today's announcement bolsters Versant's presence in the market for high-transaction Internet computing.

Any solid transactional Web solution must support distributed client/server, complex data, and complex data relationships. High-end Internet computing comprises three key areas of expertise: telecommunications, transactional client/server computing, and new media capabilities. Today's announcement demonstrates the convergence of these three areas as evidenced by several Versant customer deployments. First, Versant has a solid track record of successful deployments in telecommunications. Second, the Versant ODBMS is optimized for high-end, distributed transactional computing applications. Third, Versant's ODB serves as a powerful engine to enable these media-rich Internet applications. These new media applications incorporate traditional multimedia data types, as well as abstract data, complex data types and spatial data types into complex, content-rich packaged applications.

"Solutions for Internet computing are becoming increasingly complex, and this step strengthens Versant's delivery of an integrated solution for Internet computing," said Mike Kennedy, an analyst with the META Group. "In addition, Versant's customers are providing packaged applications with Versant built in, an important step in mainstream adoption of object-oriented computing and object databases."

According to David Banks, CEO of Versant Object Technology, "As you increase the complexity of Internet application, high quality, large-size files and multimedia content can become overwhelmingly demanding on networks and other resources. Our telecommunications successes demonstrate Versant's ability to manage complexity in challenging business environments." Versant's new media applications rely heavily on objects to manage distributed transactions; perform remote tasks via software agents; and manage distributed transactional content.

"EDS's enterprise level multimedia content management system, Media Vault¬, manages Terabytes of data over widely distributed heterogeneous environments," said Rob Dyson, product manager of Media Vault Technologies at EDS. "The Versant ODBMS provides the overall system performance necessary for this demanding application. Versant is our key repository and engine for the project."

Showcased Customers

Versant announced several customers who have deployed the Versant ODBMS to build multimedia object database applications, including EDS, DALiM, Passage Systems, Alliance Interactive and Animation 2000. These are just a few of the companies that have production applications involving distributed transaction processing and complex multimedia content using the Versant ODBMS.

EDS - Multimedia Content Management

Electronic Data Systems (EDS) is using Versant in its industry-leading Media Vault¬, a digital content management system designed to facilitate the reuse of video, photographic, audio and text objects. Coupled with advanced broadband network technology, Media Vault enables a new generation of interactive and collaborative applications for content producers and publishers as well as telecommunications providers. EDS's Media Vault is currently being used by their customers to manage hundreds of gigabytes of of digital multimedia data. For more information about Media Vault, visit the EDS Website at http://www.eds.com/mediavault.

DALiM - Pre-press and Image Management Solutions for the Printing and Publishing Industry

Germany-based DALiM Imaging Software is a leading provider of end-to-end digital media networks for leading customers worldwide. DALiM's success has been built upon shortening the product development cycle and developing multi-platform products that support industry standards. Both DALiM's production management software and image database system applications run on Versant. DALiM couples Versant with advanced broadband network technology to enable a new generation of interactive and collaborative applications. Additional information can be obtained via http://www.dalim.com.

Passage Systems - SGML-based Publishing Systems

Passage Systems Inc. is using Versant to create electronic libraries. Passage customers distribute documentation stored as HTML within the Versant repository for a wide variety of formats, including Internet viewing, CD-ROM and translation into foreign languages and Braille, among others. As the central repository, Versant's ODBMS allows Passage Systems to represent arbitrarily complex indexing schemes directly in the database, without the translation required from a traditional relational database. The Versant ODBMS is well suited because of its ability to provide scalability and support for the complex data models involved. Visit the Passage Systems Website at http://www.passage.com for more information.

Alliance Interactive - Electronic Retail Delivery for Interior and Fashion Designs, and Cosmetics

Alliance Interactive has created an innovative solution over the World Wide Web and networked kiosks for the home decorating, fashion apparel and cosmetics retail markets. Their visualization applications, being implemented by major retailers and manufacturers, allows consumers to mix and match related products together, view the results and purchase any items through electronic commerce. These applications offer major cost advantages to retailers, whose total cost per onsite visit is a small fraction of the cost of traditional catalog marketing. To view the applications visit the company's Website at http://www.4all.com.

Animation 2000 - A New Generation of Animation Software

Animation 2000, a French entity started by France Animation & INA (Institut National de l'Audiovisuel) that develops 2D animation software, uses Versant to develop the industry's first applications for Design & Creation's steps of animated productions. Versant's performance, persistant locking and concept of private and group databases allows for the manipulation of complex sound, image and text across a network application. Animation 2000's applications allow users to create layouts, perform background research, write technical documentation and storyboard the concept, critical steps prior to the more traditional end-campaigns for producing animations. For additional information about the applications, release & developments, visit the company's Website at: http://www.ina.fr/INA/Recherche/Anim2D/A2000/anim2000.en.html

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