Seagull Software (AEX: SEAGULL) today announced the completion of its acquisition of SofTouch Systems, Inc., a privately-held software company that specializes in mainframe-resident methods for transforming CICS applications into Web services for use in service-oriented architectures (SOA). With the addition of SofTouch’s CrossPlex product line, Seagull Software is now uniquely positioned to offer unrivaled SOA-enablement for large enterprises with heterogeneous legacy systems.

"This acquisition solidifies Seagull Software’s position as the premier provider of legacy Web services for SOA," said Don Addington, CEO for Seagull Software. "Seagull now leads the way by providing the most complete integration solution for mainframe systems as well as integration capabilities for Fujitsu ICL mainframe, UNIX/VT, iSeries and Windows client/server applications, enabling these critical IT assets to be an integral part of SOA infrastructures. No other vendor can offer such comprehensive support in a unified platform, nor such extensive expertise in each environment."

"Enterprises today are embracing service-oriented architecture as a way to increase IT responsiveness to business change, and this is driving a pressing need to migrate mainframe applications to SOA," said Wico van Helden, Chief Technology Officer for Seagull Software. "Technologies that transform mainframe applications into reusable Web services are an effective way to capitalize on SOA quickly, and to gain experience with Web services. The addition of CrossPlex to our LegaSuite platform gives our customers a complete range of architectural choices for integrating legacy applications into SOA. "

LegaSuite and CrossPlex
The CrossPlex product line will be fully integrated into LegaSuite, Seagull’s software platform for rapidly transforming legacy assets into standards-based reusable services.

Consistent with LegaSuite, CrossPlex is non-invasive technology that supports open, standards-based integration with no custom coding or programming. In addition, CrossPlex offers capabilities unsurpassed by any other product in the market today:

Powerful integration engine that leverages native mainframe work load management facilities to create an ultra high performance, highly scalable integration engine.
Support for multiple methods of accessing CICS applications, including direct CICS calls, 3270 Bridge and FEPI. Composite services can be generated to allow a single Web service request to call multiple back-end systems.
High-performance micro-flows are executed natively on the mainframe to aggregate information from any number of data sources to maximize performance and throughput.
Allows the mainframe to be both a publisher and consumer of services. CrossPlex services can be accessed from outside the mainframe using standards-based interfaces such as Web Services, XML, WebSphere MQ and EJB's; and the services are also made available to mainframe-resident applications such as other CICS programs.
Seagull Software expects the first release of the integrated solution to be available within 90 days. Meanwhile customers can continue to purchase CrossPlex licenses, as the product is currently in general availability status.

"Many of the recent acquisitions in the legacy integration space have centered around market consolidation of similar technologies, which leads to overlapping products and potential confusion in the market," said Andre den Haan, senior vice president of product strategy for Seagull Software. "With LegaSuite and CrossPlex, there is very little overlap, which means rapid assimilation of CrossPlex’s capabilities into the LegaSuite environment and immediate benefits for Seagull customers."

Transaction Overview
Seagull Software has acquired all issued and outstanding equity of SofTouch Systems for $3.6 million, comprising cash and 400,000 shares. As a result, Seagull Software owns all the assets of SofTouch Systems including all intellectual property.

"We are very excited about this business combination," said Don Addington. "SofTouch and Seagull share a culture of delivering technology excellence and an extreme commitment to customer satisfaction. Together we’ll offer tremendous benefits to our respective installed base of customers and to the new customers we’ll have the privilege to serve with the breadth and depth of the combined offering."

SofTouch brings approximately 70 new customers to Seagull Software, including American Express, Getronics PinkRoccade, the New York Times, Dassault Falcon Jet, Columbia University, and the State of Minnesota.