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Joint Offering Simultaneously Addresses Corporate Governance, Controls Monitoring, and Risk Management Requirements Associated with Sarbanes-Oxley, Basel II, MiFID and Other Regulatory Mandates FAIRFAX, Va., Oct. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- webMethods Inc. (NASDAQ:WEBM), a leading provider of business integration and optimization software, and BWise, a leading provider of compliance and enterprise risk management software, today announced a global alliance. Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will jointly offer their respective solutions for sustainable corporate compliance. As a result, the partnership will allow enterprises to take advantage of a more comprehensive approach for meeting regulatory requirements through the delivery of best-in-class corporate governance, continuous controls monitoring, and risk management capabilities within a single offering. The significant demands associated with maintaining compliance initiatives over the long-term means that existing enterprise compliance frameworks must often be bolstered with two fundamental enhancements: * Internal Controls Monitoring -- By automating the real-time monitoring of the internal controls used within these frameworks, enterprises can create a more scalable and cost-effective compliance model while significantly enhancing the certitude in which they can attest to specific results. * Risk Management Framework -- Through the use of a systematic and documented approach for assessing risk, decisions regarding competing claims for enterprise resources can be more confidently addressed on the basis of potential exposure. In accordance with the latest guidance of May 16, 2005 from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), which urged auditors to take a "top-down" approach to compliance based upon assessed risk factors, the BWise product suite combines an underlying compliance framework with an integrated risk management component to help enterprises more effectively assess, manage and minimize corporate risk and compliance exposure. Specific components of the BWise product suite for Enterprise Risk Management include dedicated applications for financial reporting and internal controls; regulatory compliance; operational risk management; strategic risk management; IT governance; and process management for corporate process control. Based on the flexibility of the BWise product suite, dedicated solutions encompassing best practices for Sarbanes-Oxley, Basel II, MiFID and a host of other regulatory requirements can be readily implemented. webMethods' continuous controls monitoring solution, webMethods for Compliance, replaces random, costly and often ineffective manual spot-testing of internal controls with automated, continuous monitoring and enforcement of documented compliance policies. Through this approach, enterprises can more readily and confidently verify the completeness, accuracy and validity of all transactions impacted by a variety of regulatory mandates. Leveraging the proven technology platform offered by webMethods Fabric(TM), other components of webMethods for Compliance can be used to model, document and automate exception management, to remediate controls deficiencies, and to meet electronic certification and other eSignoff requirements. Working together, these solutions help businesses reduce the cost and complexity associated with meeting the specific requirements mandated by Sarbanes-Oxley, Basel II, MiFID and other regulations. By taking a more comprehensive approach encompassing the three main components of long-term compliance, enterprises can implement a more effective, holistic and sustainable compliance program. At the same time, the operational insight secured from these initiatives can also be used to drive continuous process improvements throughout their businesses as well. "Customers of both BWise and webMethods will benefit greatly from this alliance," stated Luc Brandts, Chief Technology Officer of BWise. "Using the unparalleled continuous control monitoring capabilities of webMethods, BWise can further strengthen its proven approach to compliance for both SOX and Basel II. Concurrently, by integrating with the BWise product suite, webMethods can now offer a more complete solution addressing broader corporate governance and risk management requirements." "Our partnership with BWise allows us to provide businesses with greater control over their governance efforts while further minimizing enterprise risk. Their strong focus on Basel II is of particular importance to our European customer base in the financial services sector," stated Richard Chiarello, executive vice president, Worldwide Operations, webMethods Inc. "Current BWise customers will benefit from the added availability of webMethods for Compliance, which will provide them with a proven means for sustaining compliance initiatives through continuous monitoring of their internal controls." About webMethods, Inc. webMethods (NASDAQ:WEBM) provides business integration software to integrate, assemble and optimize available IT assets to drive business process productivity. webMethods delivers an innovative, enterprise-class business integration platform that incorporates proven integration technology with next generation capabilities into one interoperable set of tools that delivers a unique combination of efficiency, agility and control. webMethods combines industry leadership with a zealous commitment to customers to deliver tangible business value to more than 1,300 global customers. webMethods is headquartered in Fairfax, Va., with offices throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia Pacific and Japan. More information about the company can be found at http://www.webmethods.com/. About BWise BWise is a global leader in compliance and enterprise risk management software, with a strong heritage in business process management. Established in 1994, BWise delivers proven solutions to help organizations become "in control" by increasing corporate accountability; strengthening financial, strategic and operational efficiencies; and maximizing performance and ROI. With more than 1,200 customers in more then 80 countries worldwide and 125,000 users in virtually all markets, BWise has developed a sustainable presence in the compliance sector. For more information, visit http://www.bwise.com/. The webMethods name and logo are registered trademarks, and webMethods Fabric is a trademark, of webMethods, Inc. All other marks mentioned are trademarks or service marks of their respective companies. DATASOURCE: webMethods, Inc. CONTACT: John Conley of webMethods, Inc., +1-703-460-5996, ; or Kim Larkin of D. Larkin & Associates, +1-703-250-3406, , for BWise Web site: http://www.webmethods.com/ http://www.bwise.com/

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