APL2000

The Financial Reporting Software & Consulting Co., LLC, announced today it has acquired from Manugistics Group, Inc.

ATLANTA - Oct. 23, 1995 /PRNewswire/ — The Financial Reporting Software & Consulting Co., LLC, announced today it has acquired from Manugistics Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: MANU) its UNIX and personal computer versions of the programming language APL.

Robert F. Reisner, chief executive officer of Financial Reporting Software, said the acquisition was made to give FRS direct control over the programming language in which its core product, LEX2000 Financial Reporting Software, has been developed over the past decade and to allow the company to continue to serve an international body of application developers using the APL Language.

“This is an important strategic acquisition for FRS on two levels,” said Reisner. “First, it enables us to ensure the continued competitive and technological viability of LEX2000. Second, it puts us in a position to leverage the considerable APL expertise we already have within our company to serve the APL community, both domestically and internationally.”

With this second point in mind, Reisner said FRS has established a new unit, APL2000 Rapid Application Development, to manage the APL products and its existing set of APL support and consulting services.

Eric Baelen, long recognized as one of the world's leading APL developers, will lead the new company as president. William Rutiser, another widely known APL developer, will leave Manugistics and join APL2000 Rapid Application Development as director, APL Architecture. Manugistics’ entire UNIX and PC development staff will also move to the new company.

APL is a powerful symbolic programming language first developed in the 1970s at IBM. Today, it claims a dedicated following of application developers who rely on its unique productivity to build a range of database and computational programs that serve a wide variety of industries, including financial services, insurance, health care and others. FRS’s core product, LEX2000 Financial Reporting Software, was created in APL in the early 1980s.

“Today, there are thousands of APL developers throughout the world who have developed and grown their applications in APL, and—like us—they have a tremendous stake in the continued evolution and viability of APL,” said Baelen.

“As is common in the software industry, Manugistics’ strategic focus has evolved,“ Baelen added. ”APL is no longer central to their business and it does not make sense for them to continue investing in its development. It is absolutely central to our business and we are committed to making the investments necessary to ensure that APL will keep pace with technology trends and competitive demands.”

Baelen said the new firm also offers a full complement of consulting and technical support services for APL users, including application development and enhancement, assistance in moving APL applications across platforms, peak-load help, training, and programmer supervision.

Financial Reporting Software was established in early 1995 by Reisner, Baelen and David Schankler to acquire the LEX2000 financial reporting software from General Electric Information Services. The three had worked together at GE in the early 1980s to create LEX2000 and helped oversee its deployment throughout much of GE. LEX2000 is now being marketed by FRS to companies outside GE. Financial Reporting Software systems are being used in more than 25 countries.

Baelen left GE in 1988 and has since served as both owner and president of MEWS Technology, Inc., a systems consulting firm specializing in providing system support for corporate computer users. He also serves as Director of Systems Technology for Dialectics Corp., a 25-year-old management consulting firm that works with senior managers of major corporate clients.

FRS is a privately-held company headquartered in Atlanta. It has additional offices in Princeton, N.J. and Westport, Conn. APL2000’s offices are located in Princeton and Rockville, MD.

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