South San Francisco, CA, January 7, 2002 - Actuate Corporation (NASDAQ: ACTU), the Information Delivery market leader, today announced an agreement with Sonata Information Technology Limited (SITL), whereby SITL will distribute Actuate’s products in India. The agreement provides SITL with access to a broad range of Information Delivery solutions that complement the company’s focus on commercial IT projects for major enterprises in markets including financial services and banking.

 
Today, the largest and most practical corporations are rapidly moving key business processes to the Web. This shift is driven by the need for all organizations to improve profitability by increasing customer satisfaction while decreasing costs. To build e-Business applications that meet the needs of employees, customers and partners, these corporations are relying on an emerging set of interconnected components and services that constitute an e-Business platform. Information Delivery technology, as provided by Actuate, is an integral part of this platform.
 
"In the face of tenuous financial market conditions, the world’s largest corporations continue to invest in cost-efficient and revenue-generating Web-based technologies," said Olivier Gachot, Actuate vice president of International Operations. "Along these lines, Actuate sees a large and mostly untapped global market for Information Delivery solutions. Through an array of partnerships with well-known regional distributors, including SITL, Actuate has established a leadership position in the international market for Information Delivery solutions. These relationships are a key part of Actuate’s worldwide channel strategy, as distributors such as SITL have a strong foothold in the local market that makes them a very effective partner for us."
 
On a worldwide basis, Actuate complements its direct sales activities with a wide range of channel partners. These channel partners provide leverage for Actuate’s sales activities through the provision of technical skills and/or geographical market knowledge. SITL’s focus on markets such as financial services, banking and insurance complements Actuate's market segment focus while providing access to the Indian market.
 
SITL solutions encompass client reporting, both for extranet clients and internal client server branch/divisional reporting. Other business-specific applications supported by SITL include invoice tracking, management KPI reporting and dealer/retail performance tracking.
 
SITL plans to incorporate Actuate products into its projects on an ongoing basis. "We are targeting ERP and CRM customers as well as verticals like telecommunications, finance and insurance, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), pharmaceuticals, logistics and the government sector. We are in the process of developing simple proto-types for each of these verticals. Software houses will also be potential customers," said P.Srikar Reddy, Director- SITL. "We envisage the Actuate product range becoming an inherently strategic part of our distribution operation. Together with our webserver products it allows us to provide end-to-end e-Business solutions for our customers. I believe Actuate has a key role to play in the Indian market as it adopts the e-Business paradigm."
 
About Sonata Information Technology Limited
Sonata Information Technology Limited (SITL) an ISO 9001:2000 company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sonata Software Limited (SSL). SITL is responsible for domestic operations in India. The company has its head office in Bangalore, India and currently employs over 100 staff. SITL’s current business portfolio includes Product Marketing, Business Solutions & IT Consulting, and Product Support Services.
 
SITL Product Marketing Group has 24 strategic alliances with world's renowned software majors including Microsoft, IBM, Caldera, Oracle, Computer Associates for software distribution and providing solutions and services. SITL operates through 7 branch offices and more than 1000 strong reseller network covering all over India.
  
SITL Business Solutions Group offers IT consulting services in the areas of e-Commerce, Groupware, CRM, ERP and Business Intelligence for Indian customers. The company focuses on the delivery of IT solutions for the financial services, banking, insurance, healthcare and logistics markets. Specific applications include mutual fund management, loan approval, bank reporting and insurance management.

For more information on SITL, visit the company's Web site at www.sonata-infotech.co.in

About Sonata Software Limited

Sonata Software Ltd. is a premier IT consulting and Software Services Company with offices in UK, India and US and has customers in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Since it’s inception in 1986, Sonata Software Ltd. has been harnessing the power of Information Technology to help its customers gain a competitive edge in the business they operate in. Sonata focuses on long-term relationship with the customers by providing high quality, contemporary and cost effective Software Development & IT Consulting services.

Sonata Software Limited is fast emerging as a global IT group with subsidiaries like Sonata Information Technology Limited handling domestic operations in India and Offshore Digital Services Inc., based in California, USA. Each subsidiary has a unique business focus in terms of product / service and market mix as each one of them operate in unique business environment. Sonata is a high energy, technology driven global software employer with people-centered values fostering continuous learning.

Sonata Software Limited is proud of its reputation for quality, being rated at SEI CMM 5. For more information on Sonata Software Limited,visit the company's Web site at www.sonata-software.com.

About Actuate Corporation
 
Actuate Corporation is dedicated to increasing the richness, interactivity and effectiveness of enterprise data, for everyone, everywhere. Actuate delivers the next generation RIA-ready information platform for both customer and employee-facing applications. The Actuate platform boasts unmatched scalability, high-performance, reliability and security. Its proven RIA capabilities and highly collaborative development architecture are backed by the world’s largest open source information application developer community, grounded in BIRT, the Eclipse Foundation’s only top level Business Intelligence and reporting project.

Global 9000 organizations use Actuate to roll out RIA-enabled customer loyalty and Performance Management applications that improve customer satisfaction and employee productivity. The company has over 4,400 customers globally in a diverse range of business areas including financial services and the public sector, many of which have a long history of deploying Actuate-based solutions for dozens, or even hundreds of their mission-critical applications. Founded in 1993, Actuate has headquarters in San Mateo, California, with offices worldwide. Actuate is listed on NASDAQ under the symbol ACTU. For more information on Actuate, visit the company’s web site at www.actuate.com.