Joint Exari and Software AG Release

31 October 2002

[Exari] Partners with Software AG

Innovative document production software company, [Exari], has signed an Independent Software Vendor (ISV) agreement with Software AG to distribute its Tamino native XML database and explore joint sales opportunities.

Founded in 1999 by team of ex-lawyers and technologists who decided to use XML and the Web to overcome the limitations of word processing technology, [Exari] sells a next generation document production system to law firms as well as corporate and government departments which need to produce contracts, RFX, proposals and other structured documentation efficiently and accurately.

The two companies will investigate opportunities for joint sales to major corporates and government departments needing to improve their document production capabilities.

"Global Fortune 1000 companies typically have between 20,000 and 40,000 contracts, so any ability to reduce the time involved in creating legal and commercial documents can represent substantial savings. While most Australian companies are substantially smaller, they still have significant requirements for contracts, proposals, and RFXs and stand to benefit significantly by using Tamino and SmartPrecedent" said Jamie Wodetzki, [Exari] Founder and CEO.

"Our intelligent document creation system typically delivers an 80 per cent reduction in the time required to produce either a highly tailored first draft or even a final draft, and it can be presented in a range of formats such as Word, PDF or native XML, depending on the needs of the client," he said.

"SmartPrecedent not only enables faster and more flexible document creation with shorter cycle times, but also improves corporate governance through more consistent, compliant documents with reduced spending on legal costs."

The company first encountered Software AG when developers from both firms participated in the Apache Software Foundation's Jakarta-Slide project. Slide is an open source content management infrastructure originally developed by Remy Maucherat, that supports the popular WebDAV standard.

[Exari] relies on WebDAV to enable its XML-based SmartPrecedent document creation software to work with many of the document management systems already installed within clients' IT environments.

"After collaborating with Software AG on Slide, we realised that Tamino was the ideal platform to power our SmartPrecedent software. Software AG use Slide to make Tamino WebDAV compliant, and our experience with Slide makes it easy for us to support Tamino" Mr Wodetzki said.

On 20 September, Software AG released support for DeltaV, which adds version control to the WebDAV standards family.

"For anyone who wants a robust commercial implementation of standards-based version control, Software AG's Tamino database is the only game in town. As a Software AG ISV, we can ship Tamino with our SmartPrecedent solution and offer version control our customers can easily use with their other applications. DeltaV fixes the integration nightmare posed by the proprietary APIs included in the 150 or so content management systems available on the market today." Mr Wodetzki said.

About Software AG

Software AG is based in Darmstadt, Germany. Founded in 1969, Software AG is Europe's largest and a leading global provider of system software and services enabling enterprise data integration and management. Software AG's products control the central IT processes of thousands of renowned companies locally and worldwide including Telstra, Nissan, Reserve Bank of Australia, Colonial First State Investments, Lufthansa, Siemens, Citibank, Merck, DaimlerChrysler, Sony and BP.

Software AG develops products and solutions that support the XML (Extensible Markup Language) standard. XML simplifies the exchange of documents and data as well as the integration of cutting-edge Web applications into traditional IT architectures. According to IDC, Software AG is the worldwide leader in the XML database market with its Tamino XML Server. Software AG's B2B solutions offering focuses on XML-based integration (e.g. Web services) and enterprise content management systems.

Software AG's portfolio of 300-plus distribution and technology partners includes IBM, Sun, Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard and solutions vendors like BEA, Tridion, Stellent and Ixos. In 2001, the corporation achieved 589 million euros in total revenue. Software AG has offices in over 70 countries and currently employs a staff of 3,200. Software AG is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

www.softwareag.com

About Exari

Exari [formerly SpeedLegal] is a software company that develops next generation document assembly and knowledge management tools. We have a strong focus on legal and commercial documents, knowledge sharing and the needs of law firms. We also provide intelligent document assembly and knowledge management solutions for corporate and government departments.

The company was founded in 1999 by a team of ex-lawyers and technologists who were frustrated by the limitations of word processing technology, and who saw an opportunity to overcome those limitations using XML and the web. Business and legal publisher, CCH Australia/Wolters Kluwer Asia-Pacific made a strategic investment in [Exari] in January 2001, and has since used our technology to develop innovative web based products.