Sonata and Microsoft Announce Strategic Alliance

Sonata and Microsoft Announce Strategic Alliance
ISVs and Enterprise customers to benefit from robust and lowered TCO of Microsoft .NET-based solutions
BANGALORE (India) & REDMOND (Wash.), Jan. 18, 2005

Sonata Software Ltd. and Microsoft Corp. today announced they have forged a strategic alliance, to bring significant business benefits to Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), large enterprises, and mid-market organizations. Under the alliance, Sonata will deliver solutions and services, based on Microsoft® technologies and products, designed to:

	Help ISVs accelerate delivery of products to market and reduce R&D spend through Sonata's "360° partnership" model and Microsoft's .NET capabilities;
	Help large enterprises migrate applications from mainframe and mid-range systems to Microsoft Windows ServerT 2003 and the Windows Server SystemT, to reduce operational and maintenance costs and take advantage of current market applications and skills; and
	Enable mid-market companies to improve business management and customer interaction through enterprise systems using Microsoft Business Solutions-Axapta® and Microsoft Business Solutions CRM, delivered quickly and with minimal risk.

Sonata is a pioneer in product co-development services for ISVs, and its unique "360° partnership" model helps ISVs in meeting speed-to-market goals and provides them an opportunity to reach out to the growing Indian market. The ISVs also benefit from the Microsoft Windows® platform and .NET architecture adoption, which provide flexibility, ease-of-use and scalability. Sonata has more than 35 ISV clients who are deriving significant business value from its "360° partnership".

Sonata offers a host of application re-platforming and platform migration service options to enterprise customers. This includes a signature methodology - eNAbLE© and a tool-based approach -- to help mainframe and mid-range platform customers achieve a cost-effective, low-risk migration to Microsoft Windows.

Under this alliance, Sonata has also established a Microsoft Competency Center (MCC) to deliver customized solutions based on Microsoft Axapta and Microsoft CRM. Coupled with Sonata's extensive mid-market ERP and CRM implementation expertise, the MCC offers advanced solution frameworks for the CPG and ISV verticals, to help customers reduce the cost, time and risk involved in such implementations.

"We have had the good fortune to team with Sonata in our recent P&C Insurance technology product development on .NET," said Gary Gilbert, President & CEO of IDP, a computer services and applications software company for the property and casualty insurance industry and a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. "Based on our first-hand experience with both companies, we believe the Sonata-Microsoft alliance will benefit their trading partners and their mutual end-customers. .NET gives users an immediacy to web-based services that is not possible with systems running on alternative platforms. Look for .NET, with support from premier software service providers like Sonata, to maintain its status as an industry standard for years to come."

"Sonata has proven expertise in helping both software applications vendors and large enterprises take advantage of .NET software to accelerate product development and reduce the cost of ownership," said Simon Witts, corporate vice president of the Enterprise and Partner Group, Microsoft. "We look forward to expanding our scope of success with Sonata across these segments as well as in the mid-market with solutions based on Microsoft Business Solutions."

B. Ramaswamy, President and MD of Sonata Software, said, "We are excited at this opportunity of working closely with Microsoft. With this alliance, Sonata will be providing customers a unique blend of leading edge platforms, future-ready solutions and a low-risk global delivery model. It is a compelling value proposition to customers worldwide."

About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

About Sonata
Sonata Software Ltd. is a leading IT consulting and Software Services company, which has been servicing its clients in the USA, UK and Europe for the past 17 years. Sonata is listed on the Indian Stock Exchanges, and has a SEI CMM level 5 accreditation. Nurturing long-term partnerships has been a way of life at Sonata. For further information, please visit www.sonata-software.com.

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.