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Borland Increases Predictability and Discipline of Software Development through Acquisition of ESTIMATE Professional

Planning and Estimation Tool to Advance Value of Borland® CaliberRM™ Requirements Management Solution

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. - Aug 25, 2004 : Borland® Software Corporation (NASDAQ: NM: BORL) today announced the acquisition of ESTIMATE Professional®, a software project planning and estimation tool from Software Productivity Center (SPC), a Canadian-based software process improvement company. This newly acquired tool will be embedded within the next version of the Borland® CaliberRM™ requirements management solution.

The requirements-based planning capabilities of ESTIMATE Professional allow users to more reliably predict the required investment, time-to-market and associated risks of software development projects before they begin. The ability to select the right projects, apply the right resources to those projects and more reliably predict the outcome of these investment decisions can help companies maximize the business value of their software.

"Software is a manufacturing process and manufacturing isn't a guessing game. There is too much at stake," said Boz Elloy, senior vice president of software products at Borland Software. "As our industry matures, software must become a managed process from planning through delivery just like any other business-critical function. ESTIMATE Professional is a best-of-its-class technology that has been validated numerous times in the market. It brings an added level of business discipline to requirements and project management, and it will be a major painkiller for any business analyst or project manager – our CaliberRM customers."

The new capabilities within CaliberRM will help users predict staffing, scheduling and budget parameters against specific business requirements. The solution will also flag problems and detect variances throughout the application lifecycle, allowing users to address problems earlier in the cycle when the cost is less. Users can then steer the project back on course or end it before committing additional resources for a project that can't provide adequate return on investment.

"Cost estimation adds an entirely new dimension to the value of requirements management," said Melissa Webster, research director at IDC. "The ability to tie requirements to costs, risks and resources is essential to improving productivity and quality in an increasingly complex and business-driven development environment."

The planning and estimation capabilities within CaliberRM will benefit multiple roles within the software development cycle, from managers through testers and developers. Some of these benefits include:

  • Linking project scope, schedule and cost, resource allocation and risk management so when one variable changes a user can predict how other variables are affected
  • Improving up-front budgeting and planning so users can determine acceptable degrees of risk, likelihood of meeting deadlines or budget, and the impact on other projects
  • Adjusting project scope on-the-fly to determine impact on deadlines and resources
  • Ensuring that QA activities are accounted for in development schedules
  • Preparing in advance for project delivery via defect modeling and prediction
  • Reducing workload stress by assuring projects are planned according to realistic time schedules

About CaliberRM

Part of the Borland® Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) portfolio of solutions, CaliberRM is a leading cross-platform requirements management product designed to set the foundation for software success. This solution helps software development teams better understand and keep up with changing business needs, therefore reducing the need for and costs of software modifications. To download a free evaluation copy of Borland CaliberRM 6.5, please visit: http://www.borland.com/us/products/caliber/index.html .

Borland will preview the next version of CaliberRM, with new integrated planning and estimation functionality, at the BorCon 2004 conference held September 11-15, 2004 in San Jose, Calif. For more information or to register for BorCon 2004, please visit: http://info.borland.com/conf2004/.

About Borland

Borland Software Corporation (NASDAQ NM: BORL) is a world leader in platform independent software development and deployment solutions that are designed to accelerate the entire application development lifecycle. By connecting managers, testers, designers, developers, and implementers in real time, Borland enables enterprises worldwide to define and sustain their competitive advantage. For more information, visit: http://www.borland.comor for the Borland Developer Network, please visit http://bdn.borland.com. All Borland brands and products are trademarks or registered trademarks of Borland Software Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

Safe Harbor Statement

This release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined under the Federal Securities Laws, including the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is subject to the safe harbors created by such laws. Forward-looking statements may relate to, but are not limited to, the projected acceptance by existing or potential customers of the new version of CaliberRM, the potential features of Caliber RM, or benefits to be derived therefrom. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations that involve a number of uncertainties and risks that may cause actual events or results to differ materially. Factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially include, among others, the following: rapid technological change that can adversely affect the demand for Borland products, shifts in customer demand, delays in actions or announcements by competitors, and software errors. These and other risks may be detailed from time to time in Borland periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, its latest Annual Report on Form 10-K and its latest Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained from www.sec.gov. Borland is under no obligation to (and expressly disclaims any such obligation to) update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.