VSNT Versant Corp. (MM)

Versant Proposes to Lead Open Source JSR220 in Eclipse Community Provides Standards-Based Object-Relational Mapping for Java FREMONT, Calif., April 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Versant Corporation (NASDAQ:VSNT), an industry leader in specialized data management and data persistence software, today announced that it has proposed to lead a new Eclipse community project for standards-based, object-relational mapping. JSR220 is the specification defining the standard for object-relational mapping in Java. Object-relational mapping has emerged in the last year as a critical missing architectural piece in the drive to make the Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) platform more powerful and easier to program. Versant contributes mapping tools and runtime for Enterprise Java Beans (EJB) 3.0 persistence and Java Data Objects (JDO) 2.0 standards for object-relational mapping in the form of its commercial implementation already deployed in production use worldwide. "We're seeing a dramatic shift in the practices of Java programmers," said Robert Greene, vice president of product strategy at Versant. "The Java community is shifting to object-relational mapping as a way of bridging the gap between applications and databases. New standards are replacing the previous component-based persistence methods of EJB 2.1 while also addressing persistence in general for the Java community. Versant has been a leader in this shift with its focus on transparent persistence of objects and its founding membership in the JDO expert group. With the results of the EJB 3.0 persistence standardization effort, of which Versant is a member, we can take the next step in leading the Eclipse community to highly productive, standards-based, object-relational mapping." Eclipse and open source are rapidly gaining popularity in the Java community. The addition of members such as BEA, Borland, and others to the Eclipse organization, and the 30 million download requests recorded by Eclipse in 2004 were clear signals to Versant that the time was right to take a leading role in open-source, object-relational mapping. "With a long history of leadership in object-relational mapping and data persistence, Versant is poised to enable standardization within this area for the open source community," said Nick Ordon, president and chief executive officer of Versant. "We are looking forward to working with the members of Eclipse, such as IBM, Oracle, BEA, Borland, and others to make J2EE more powerful and productive. Eclipse.org is a leading community in Java, and our leadership of this object-relational mapping project will dramatically expand our visibility in the Java community and result in direct interaction with a very large number of Java programmers. Based on this visibility, we expect to expand the success of our long-established professional services operation." "We are pleased to have Versant propose the JSR 220 object-relational mapping project," said Mike Milinkovich, executive director of the Eclipse Foundation. "Object-relational mapping is an important technology for Eclipse. Versant's strong code base, unique background in this area, and their leadership of this project will bring a great benefit to the Eclipse community." For additional information and the source code, go to http://www.versant.com/. About Eclipse Foundation Eclipse is an open source community whose projects are focused on providing an extensible development platform and application frameworks for building software. Eclipse provides extensible tools and frameworks that span the software development lifecycle, including support for modeling, language development environments for Java, C/C++ and others, testing and performance, business intelligence, rich client applications and embedded development. A large, vibrant ecosystem of major technology vendors, innovative start-ups, universities and research institutions and individuals extend, complement and support the Eclipse Platform. The Eclipse Foundation is a not-for-profit, member supported corporation that hosts the Eclipse projects. Full details of Eclipse and the Eclipse Foundation are available at http://www.eclipse.org/. About Versant Corporation Versant Corporation is an industry leader in specialized data management and open data access software. Using Versant's solutions, customers cut hardware costs, speed and simplify development, significantly reduce administration costs, and deliver products with a strong competitive edge. Versant's solutions are deployed in a wide array of industries including telecommunications, financial services, transportation, manufacturing, and defense. With over 50,000 installations, Versant has been a highly reliable partner for over 15 years for Global 2000 companies such as British Airways, US Government, Financial Times, IBM, and MCI. For more information, call 510-789-1500 or visit http://www.versant.com/. Forward Looking Statements Involve Risks and Uncertainties This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the safe harbor created by those sections. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about Versant's involvement in the Eclipse community, its open source initiatives, and the potential outcomes of these activities. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, these forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and there are important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These factors include, without limitation: that Versant may not achieve or maintain the leadership role of this Eclipse project; that any such position obtained may not remain intact in the future; that object-relational mapping may not be a critical missing architectural component; the possibility that there may be shift with Java programmers away from object-relational mapping; the possibility that Eclipse and open source software may lose its growing popularity in the Java community; that adoption rates for this technology may not continue into the future; the possibility of delays in release of the product; that product refinements may be necessary, including the possibilities of inherent bugs and errors; that users may not realize the anticipated results and experience unforeseen problems; along with the possibility that there may not be a dramatic expansion of Versant's visibility into the Java community and a corresponding increase in direct interaction with Java community developers. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date of this press release; the Company assumes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning factors that could cause results to differ can be found in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's most recent Reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. NOTE: Versant is a registered trademark or trademark of Versant Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other products are a registered trademark or trademark of their respective company in the United States and/or other countries. DATASOURCE: Versant Corporation CONTACT: public relations, Susan Payne of O'Grady Communications, LLC, +1-919-929-5992, or ; or investor relations, Scott Liolios of Liolios Group, Inc., +1-949-574-3860, or , both for Versant Web site: http://www.versant.com/ Web site: http://www.eclipse.org/

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