Netscape Announces Enterprise Integration Solutions for SAP R/3

MOUNTAIN VIEW Calif. (September 16, 1998) - Netscape Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: NSCP) today announced Netscape Application Server for R/3 server software and Netscape ECXpert commerce exchange application with SAP certification, new solutions for building and deploying Internet-based applications that tightly integrate with SAP R/3 systems. Netscape Application Server for R/3 server software, a new product in the Netscape Application Server software family, enables companies to develop, deploy and manage business-critical Internet-based applications that integrate seamlessly with SAP R/3 applications. SAP certified Netscape ECXpert commerce exchange software application enables companies to extend and manage their trading networks and integrate existing SAP R/3 enterprise applications into those networks.

Many Global 2000 companies have invested significant resources developing a variety of business-critical applications on SAP R/3 systems. To compete in the Net Economy, these companies are looking for ways to quickly build and deploy solutions that leverage and extend their SAP R/3 investments outside corporate boundaries. By leveraging the new Netscape Application Server for R/3, customers can seamlessly integrate high-performance, highly scalable Internet-based applications built on Netscape Application Server software with existing SAP R/3 applications. In addition, the SAP-certified application linking and enabling (ALE) interface provided with Netscape ECXpert strengthens corporate supply chains built with SAP R/3 systems by leveraging the Internet to include small and mid-sized trading partners and customers in their trading community.

"The Net Economy places new demands on an enterprise, which must now find ways to safely extend existing business applications out to customers, partners and suppliers over the Internet," said Keng Lim, vice president and general manager of the application platform division at Netscape. "Netscape Application Server for R/3 and Netscape ECXpert helps customers leverage data and applications stored in their SAP R/3 systems to build powerful and scalable new business-to-business and business-to-consumer Internet-based applications."

"Our customer needed us to build an extranet application that enabled their smaller business partners to conduct transactions that leveraged data and business logic stored on an SAP R/3 system," said Bill McGraw, managing partner of the e-commerce practice at Sierra Systems. "By using Netscape Application Server for R/3 and Netscape ECXpert, we built our customer a scalable, reliable, transactional Internet application that integrates seamlessly with their R/3 system."

"As a leading systems integrator, our customers expect us to Internet-enable their existing SAP R/3 investments safely and efficiently," said Dan Arra, vice president of US operations at SCS America. "Netscape Application Server is a proven market leader in high-performance legacy integration solutions, and SCS America is working with Netscape to provide our SAP R/3 clients the reliable, scalable, tightly integrated Internet-based applications made possible by Netscape Application Server for R/3."

Netscape Application Server for R/3 is a complete solution for building, deploying and managing Internet-based, business-critical applications that seamlessly integrate with SAP R/3 systems. In addition to high-performance and scalable deployment capabilities, the product includes a graphical design tool that enables developers to automatically generate Java software components that serve as the interface to the SAP business objects resident on an R/3 installation, including the Business Application Programming Interfaces (BAPIs). The multi-tier architecture of Netscape Application Server for R/3 ensures that the Internet-based application is independent from the R/3 business objects, allowing for ease of modification. Once deployed, the integrated application extensions can be managed through the browser-based R/3 console provided with the product.

The integration solution provided by Netscape Application Server for R/3 delivers industry-leading performance by caching frequently requested data, enabling multiple transaction requests to simultaneously employ a single R/3 connection, streaming results to both HyperText Markup Language (HTML) and non-HTML clients, as well as other critical management features. In addition, the product takes advantage of the high availability and reliability features built into Netscape Application Server, such as dynamic load balancing and failure recovery. Netscape Application Server for R/3 offers a complete high performance, scalable solution and includes Netscape Enterprise Server software and Netscape Directory Server software, both of which deliver best-of-breed scalability and security over extranets.

Netscape ECXpert, a commerce exchange software application, is part of the Netscape CommerceXpert product family, a comprehensive family of packaged business applications for end-to-end commerce, including commerce exchange, procurement, selling and customer information services over the Internet. Netscape ECXpert enables a company to safely manage diverse trading communities by leveraging a variety of communication protocols, including file transfer protocol (FTP), HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and encrypted email. Netscape ECXpert was also the first product to support electronic data interchange (EDI) over the Internet and to deliver browser access to EDI. Netscape ECXpert now includes an SAP-certified ALE interface that provides a complete solution for exchanging and translating idocs with multiple partners and customers with existing enterprise systems. Netscape ECXpert controls the processing for incoming and outgoing business transactions, including managing and auditing all transactions steps.

Netscape Application Server software for R/3 is currently available for private beta testing from Netscape and is expected to be generally available later in Q4 1998. Pricing is expected to be US$70,000 per CPU for deployment and an additional US$4,995 for each developer seat. Netscape ECXpert, a commerce exchange software application with the SAP-certified ALE interface, is expected to be available by the end of this year. Pricing is expected to be US$75,000 for a two-CPU license.

Netscape Communications Corporation is a leading provider of software and services for businesses that want to transform the way they create and keep customers in the emerging Net Economy. The company offers a full line of enterprise software solutions, professional services, and a leading Internet portal to help companies build, buy or outsource Internet applications that drive revenue growth, build customer loyalty, and create new levels of business efficiency. Traded on NASDAQ under the symbol NSCP, Netscape Communications Corporation is based in Mountain View, California.

Additional information on Netscape Communications Corporation is available on the Internet at http://home.netscape.com, by sending email to info@netscape.com, or by calling 650/ 937-2555 for corporations or 650/ 937-3777 for individuals.

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