RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Software AG, a global leader in business infrastructure software, announced today that The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) has marked the 27^th year of its Software AG technology investment and expansion, including Adabas and Natural, for mission-critical administrative, financial and student applications. Penn State has continued to leverage Software AG solutions to meet current needs of students, faculty, and staff and build a platform for future growth and expansion. Software AG and Penn State share a strategic vision that has enabled the University to maximize its existing investment in technology, using Software AG technology to modernize core systems and reuse business logic in a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA).

“We have a strategic partnership with Software AG, rather than a commodity relationship,” said Scott Smith, Deputy Director, Administrative Information Services, at Penn State.

Penn State’s partnership with Software AG began in 1982 when the University selected Adabas to replace and upgrade an aging data management system. Shortly thereafter, Penn State used Adabas and the Natural programming language, two components of Software AG’s Business Infrastructure Suite, to create an online student information system that was one of the first of its kind. Penn State built on this technological foundation to create a business records system to increase information availability, improve service, reduce processing time, and streamline operations.

Over the years and throughout its partnership with Software AG, Penn State has continued to pursue a strategy of modernization of these and other applications, rather than “rip-and-replace.” Modernization has enabled Penn State to leverage its customized, proven, and stable administrative, financial, and student systems in modern architectural deployments, including SOA. Reuse has also delivered quantifiable benefits.

“We have seen other institutions spend millions of dollars trying to implement new enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and still be unhappy with the result,” Smith said. “In contrast, by developing our own applications using Adabas and Natural, we believe that we have saved millions of dollars over the years.”

“It is extremely gratifying to see a leading institution like Penn State derive so much value from their partnership with Software AG year in and year out,” said Paul Orme-Smith, Senior Vice President, Sales, Software AG. “Penn State’s leadership in deploying innovative solutions for students, staff, and faculty has been an outstanding example of what can be accomplished with our technology.”

Penn State’s regular, objective assessments of architecture and infrastructure continue to prove that Software AG solutions are the best choice in the market for the University, Smith reported. “We examine our architectural decisions at least once every five years to make sure we’re following the right strategic direction,” he said. “Software AG’s products continually meet the challenge. Adabas in particular is extremely efficient, and we truly believe it is one of the most reliable database administration engines available.”

Software AG’s consulting resources have also helped forge a strong partnership with Penn State. Recently, the University had Software AG perform a Customer First Assessment (CFA), a strategic consulting engagement in which Software AG recommends a solution to a specific business challenge. Penn State sought to Web-enable 75 processes that had been built using Natural, and the CFA advised Penn State to create a Web services hub and implement a business process management system. Penn State implemented Software AG’s BPM technology, a process-driven and information-centered workflow management solution, as both a foundation to the Web-enablement project and a platform for continued process improvement.

“The CFA saved us a tremendous amount of time and allowed us to create a better solution than if we had taken the time to do the analysis ourselves,” Smith said. “We have access to some very dedicated people at Software AG who have been very positive and responsive. Rather than only engaging us when it’s time to renew contracts, they are proactive in addressing our business challenges.”

Smith added that Software AG's focus, including a commitment to SOA, aligns with Penn State’s future objectives. “Software AG’s direction aligns with where Penn State is headed,” Smith stated. “They continue to be a steady part of our strategy.”

About Penn State

The Pennsylvania State University, a public land-grant university, offers more than 160 majors and 1,200 clubs and organizations across 24 undergraduate campuses. Its instructional mission includes undergraduate, graduate and continuing and distance education informed by scholarship and research. Founded in 1855 as an agricultural college, Penn State admitted its first class in 1859. In 2008, Penn State had more than 92,000 students.

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With more than 1,000 U.S.-enterprise customers and 700 employees, Software AG's U.S. operation contributes one third of the company's total revenue and is Software AG's largest market presence and R&D location. Software AG has operated nationwide in the U.S. since 1973 through a fully-owned subsidiary, Software AG USA Inc., which is headquartered in Reston, Virginia – also an R&D hub for the company’s core data management and integration technologies. R&D labs for the development of Software AG’s webMethods product suite – offering SOA integration and BPM solutions – include facilities in San José/Silicon Valley, Seattle and Denver. For more information, visit www.softwareag.com/us.

Software AG is the world’s largest independent provider of Business Infrastructure Software. Our 4,000 global enterprise customers achieve business results faster by modernizing, integrating and automating their IT systems and processes. As a result, they rapidly build measurable business value and meet changing business demands. Based on our solutions, organizations are able to liberate and govern their data, systems, applications, processes and services – achieving new levels of business flexibility.

Our leading product portfolio includes solutions for high performance data management, developing and modernizing applications, enabling service-oriented architecture, and improving business processes. By combining our technology with industry expertise and best practices experience, our customers improve and differentiate their businesses – faster.

Software AG has 40 years of global IT experience and over 3,500 employees serving customers in 70 countries. The company is headquartered in Germany and listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (TecDAX, ISIN DE 0003304002 / SOW). Software AG posted total revenues of €721 million in 2008.

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