LAS VEGAS, ASCENTIAL WORLD 2004, Oct. 25, 2004 -- Ascential Software Corporation (Nasdaq: ASCL), the enterprise data integration leader, announced to an audience of more than 700 customers, partners, analysts, media, and industry experts at the opening session of Ascential World 2004, the global data integration conference, that it is delivering enhancements to the Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite(TM) effective immediately and continuing through the fourth quarter of 2004. The company also previewed some new functionality that is part of a series of product releases scheduled for 2005.

"Enterprise data integration is a high stakes business imperative that directly affects a company's bottom line. We see this repeatedly in our customer engagements and market research," said Pete Fiore, president, Ascential Software. "In addition, seemingly limitless increases in data volume, velocity and variety, technical complexity, desire to maximize the value of existing resources, and the need to have connected information systems, have created market preference for complete solutions from a single vendor. Ascential Software is favorably positioned to meet these requirements."

Interviews conducted for Ascential Software by IDC last month measured the importance of nine key data integration business imperatives among one hundred fifty-two IT managers and executives from enterprises with more than 2,500 employees. According to this survey, the most important business imperatives were improving efficiency; lowering operating costs; increasing productivity; increasing sales, revenues, and income; and enhancing customer service(1).

Other experts agree. Christophe Toulemonde, program director for the Integration & Development Strategies practice area at META Group, a leading provider of information technology research, advisory services, and strategic consulting, wrote in a July 8, 2004 report that, "Integration is critical to the main initiatives that CIOs will face in 2004/05, regardless of the focus on risk management, regulation compliance, M&A, cost management, or outsourcing. We expect the demand for integration to continue and even grow."

Continuous Innovation and Customer Commitment

"Release 7.5 has been enthusiastically received by our customer base since it was launched in May 2004 because we delivered significant functionality, improved ease-of-use, extended SOA capabilities to Ascential DataStage(TM) TX, enhanced interoperability, and broadened meta data management," said Jim Welch, vice president of product development. "Functional enhancements made to the Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite with the release of version 7.5.1 are further evidence of our commitment to continuous improvement and reflect this company's core ability to recognize, anticipate, and meet our customers' needs. Now, we have given customers even more reasons to rely on Ascential Software to meet enterprise data integration challenges."

The Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite can increase the value businesses derive from, and the confidence they can have in, their enterprise data. The Suite delivers on Ascential Software's commitment to provide reliable, comprehensive solutions consisting of powerful components that function independently or in unison as part of an integrated suite.

Ease of use, productivity, and enterprise connectivity enhancements to the Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite 7.5.1 include:

* Expanded access to legacy data from additional file and database formats and structures such as Sybase IQ and SQL Server

* Additional reports and graphical formatting of column and cross-table analysis for easier viewing and interpretation during the data profiling process

* Certification of additional platforms, extending the reach of data quality assessments

* New tools to accelerate and simplify impact analysis of changes in data definitions

2005 and Beyond

Welch outlined plans to deliver new products and technology innovations in 2005 that are intended to execute Ascential Software's strategy of simplifying enterprise data integration and extending its position as a strategic platform to meet the needs of the most demanding enterprises. He stated that Ascential Software will facilitate effective business and IT collaboration by delivering solutions for a broader cross-section of users and expanding integration capabilities to semi-structured and unstructured data.

"The customer is at the center of the Ascential Software product vision. We are very focused on understanding their needs and how they work, and providing a superior user experience that revolutionizes how data integration projects get done," said Welch. "Our vision is to intuitively map a customer's work style to the execution of their data integration responsibilities."

Welch demonstrated new business-driven, next generation data profiling and analysis capabilities that can handle any data format in batch or on demand. In addition, elements of a new interface that will improve the customer experience were previewed. These include:

* Methodology-driven navigation mapped to all steps of the enterprise data integration lifecycle with management tools for multiple workspaces and ready access to useful wizards and tools

* Self-adapting interface that recognizes a user's work patterns, serves up links to related tasks and resources, and actually anticipates what the user will and should do next

* Ascential Software will begin beta testing of these and other features and products in the first quarter of 2005.

About Ascential Software

Ascential Software Corporation (Nasdaq: ASCL) is the leader in enterprise data integration. Customers and partners worldwide use the Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite to confidently transform data into accurate, reliable and complete business information to improve operational performance and decision-making across every critical business dimension. Our comprehensive end-to-end solutions provide on demand data integration complemented by our professional services, industry expertise, and methodologies.

Ascential Software is headquartered in Westboro, Mass., and has more than 3,000 customers and partners globally across such industries as financial services and banking, insurance, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, consumer packaged goods, telecommunications and government. For more information call 1-800-966-9875 (or 1-508-366-3888 from outside the U.S. or Canada) or visit the Ascential Software website at http://www.ascential.com.

(1) IDC Custom Study for Ascential, Steve McClure, "Data Integration Software Market Assessment", September, 2004

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This release contains forward-looking statements based on current expectations or beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions about future events, and these statements are subject to important factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this release address a variety of subjects including, for example, the functionality, characteristics, quality and performance capabilities of Ascential Software's products and technology; results achievable and benefits attainable through deployment of Ascential Software's products and provision of services; the ability of Ascential Software's products to provide complete solutions from a single vendor; the ability of Ascential Software's products to deliver significant functionality, improved ease-of-use, extended SOA capabilities to Ascential DataStage(TM) TX, along with enhanced interoperability, and broadened meta data management; the ability of Ascential Software's products to provide reliable, comprehensive solutions consisting of powerful components that function independently or in unison as part of an integrated suite; the ability of Ascential Software's products to facilitate effective business and IT collaboration by delivering solutions for a broader cross-section of users and expanding integration capabilities to semi- structured and unstructured data; the ability of Ascential Software's products to map to all steps of the enterprise data integration lifecycle with management tools for multiple workspaces and ready access to useful wizards and tools; the ability of Ascential's software products to recognize a user's work patterns, serve up links to related tasks and resources, and anticipate what the user will and should do next; reduction of cost of ownership; and increased return on IT investment. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements: the ability of Ascential Software to expand its market share; growth rates for the enterprise data integration software market; general business conditions in the software industry, the technology sector, and in the domestic and international economies; rapid technological change in the markets served by Ascential Software; dependence on international operations; global and geopolitical instability; and difficulties that Ascential Software may experience integrating technologies, operations and personnel of completed or future acquisitions. For a detailed discussion of these and other cautionary statements, please refer to the filings made by Ascential Software with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, the most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Ascential Software disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements made herein to reflect any change in Ascential Software's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which such statements are based. Ascential Software is not responsible for statements attributed to third parties within this release or in any materials referenced herein.

Ascential, Ascential DataStage and Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite are trademarks of Ascential Software Corporation or its affiliates and may be registered in the United States or other jurisdictions. Other marks are the property of the owners of those marks.

SOURCE Ascential Software Corporation

Web Site: http://www.ascentialsoftware.com