Burlingame, CA and San Jose, CA - April 14, 2003 – Matisse Software Inc. and HiT Software, today announced the completion of a partnership agreement that provides IT teams a highly scalable SQL-Object database with dynamic XML integration support. This partnership is significant because it offers developers powerful object persistence via the Matisse DBMS along with the dynamic XML data import or export to these persisted objects via HiT Software jAllora middleware. Without such joint technology integration, development teams have been required to write detailed custom code using XML parsers, XSL libraries, and SQL in order to support standard XML data. With this new partnership, developers will save significant time during development since Matisse and jAllora perform XML-to-Object transformation transparently.

Matisse 6.0 now fully integrates with jAllora in order to further empower developers with complex distributed data management projects such as pharmaceutical testing, government security, business analytics and financial modeling.

jAllora leverages leading edge XML mapping and transformation technology to give developers bi-directional XML access to the Matisse database without the need for SQL programming. The design-time wizards in jAllora also speed up development by automatically generating source code that calls jAllora APIs. jAllora supports mapping of application DTDs and XML schemas directly to Matisse database schema classes, thereby saving developers time by not having to write XSLT code.

"Our partnership with HiT Software is driven by our client and partner needs to extend integration via XML standards," said Didier Cabannes, President, Matisse Software, Inc. "We expect our existing customers and new customers to benefit immediately from this partnership as they incorporate XML standards within their IT infrastructure."

"The flexible data model of Matisse SQL-Object database is a great fit for XML, and adding XML support via jAllora gives customers a valuable integration feature," said Giacomo Lorenzin, CEO at HiT Software, Inc. "Delivering high value and pathways for future integration are fundamentals every customer requires."

Matisse 6.0 can be downloaded from www.matisse.com, and jAllora v3.1 can be downloaded from www.hitsw.com.

About Matisse Software
Matisse Software Inc. delivers database software and services to companies that need to rapidly, and cost effectively, develop and deploy scalable applications and services. Matisse 6.0, the company's flagship product, is the first ever SQL-Object programmable data server on the market. Matisse has enabled developers across the world to implement applications and services that require high performance on complex data that goes beyond the modeling capabilities of legacy relational databases. The Matisse database has been powering mission critical systems including nuclear power plants and pharmaceutical plants for over a decade. Matisse Software Inc. is a private company. For more information visit www.matisse.com.

About HiT Software
HiT Software is a leading developer of standards-based infrastructure for relational database access. HiT Software products include Allora XML-RDB run-time transformation middleware, SQL middleware products, DB2Motion data replication, and HiT SSL Server for secure SQL middleware communications.

Founded in 1994, HiT Software is based in San Jose, California, and is a member of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). HiT Software products are sold and serviced worldwide by the HiT Software direct sales team, international subsidiaries, and authorized channel partners. Additional information is available at www.hitsw.com, by sending e-mail to info@hitsw.com, or by calling (408) 345-4001.

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