BEA Announces Latest Releases of Industry's Leading Foundation for Enterprise Java and SOA

BEAWORLD 2006, BEIJING, Dec. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BEA Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: BEAS), a world leader in enterprise infrastructure software, today announced a technology preview of BEA WebLogic Server(R) 10, the next major release of the industry's leading application server and the release of BEA Workshop for WebLogic 10 -- both of which are designed to support fluid, next-generation Service Oriented Architectures (SOAs).

Attendees at BEAWorld in Beijing this week can get a sneak peak at WebLogic Server 10 before it becomes generally available in the first calendar quarter of 2007. The new release will implement the latest Java specifications including Java Enterprise Edition 5 (Java EE 5) and Enterprise Java Beans 3.0 (EJB 3.0), as well as feature several additional enhancements designed to help customers simplify the development of applications and services while achieving next-to-zero downtime. Among these features is enhanced support for Web Services, significant control and security improvements and better interoperability with both leading proprietary and open-source platforms.

Also due out in the first quarter of next year is the next release of BEA Workshop for WebLogic, which will include comprehensive support for Eclipse 3.2 and Web Tools Platform 1.5. Workshop for WebLogic 10 will mirror the ease-of-use, control and security functionality built into WebLogic Server 10, making it even easier for customers to develop sophisticated applications more rapidly.

Both products represent the foundation for and the initial step in revving the entire WebLogic product family to support BEA SOA 360 -- the industry's most unified SOA platform. Announced earlier this year's at BEAWorld San Francisco, SOA 360 is designed for business transformation and optimization in order to improve cost structures and grow new revenue streams. Beginning with this release and moving forward, BEA Workshop products in particular will play a key part in enabling the developer role in Workspace 360, also announced at BEAWorld San Francisco. Slated to enter the market throughout 2007, Workspace 360 is intended to fundamentally change the way both business and IT professionals collaborate and work individually across the extended enterprise.

"We're pleased to end what's been a stellar year already for the WebLogic product family on an even higher note by announcing these latest releases, further solidifying WebLogic's position as a foundation for SOA," said Wai Wong, executive vice president of products, BEA Systems, Inc. "Both WebLogic Server 10 and Workshop for WebLogic 10 build on the rock-solid foundation of WebLogic and represents a significant step in the SOA 360 roadmap, and will enable enterprise customers to quickly and successfully create fluid, next-generation SOAs."

Today's news is the latest in a series of WebLogic product family announcements. Earlier this Fall, BEA announced the results of a report published by Evan's Data Corporation in which developers from around the world rated WebLogic Server as the number-one application server. The Evans Data Group results are consistent with other current industry data. According to Gartner's Market Share AIM worldwide 2005 report published in June 2006, BEA's WebLogic Server ranked number one with a 33.8 percent market share rating. (For more information on the report, see June 20, 2006 press release titled "BEA Systems Seizes Top Spot in Application Servers Based on Total Software Revenue in 2005.") Gartner also placed the software at the top of their most recent "Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Application Servers" (*EAS) 2Q 06. (For more information, see Aug. 8 2006 press release titled "BEA Systems Positioned in Leaders Quadrant in Analyst Firm's 2Q06 Enterprise Application Servers Magic Quadrant.")

Additionally, WebLogic Server has repeatedly proven to be the industry's fastest application server on a variety of platforms. BEA has continued to shatter its own world records with consistently high scores, the most recent performance benchmark win resulting in the highest per-core score to date. Partnering with a Beijing, China based systems provider, Inspur Electronic Information Industry Co., the latest public postings combines the new Intel Xeon dual-core chip, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, BEA WebLogic Server 9.2 and BEA JRockit(R). For more information on this score, please visit http://www.spec.org .

Availability

BEA WebLogic Server 10 and BEA Workshop for WebLogic 10 will be available in the first quarter of 2007. To download the technology preview of WebLogic Server 10 now, please visit http://commerce.bea.com/products/wls10-techpreview.jsp

About BEAWorld

BEAWorld is the premier event for SOA thought leadership and is taking place in three strategic world markets spanning the Americas, Europe and Asia. The conference is designed to provide critical insights, hands on instruction, best practice strategies and opportunities for interaction with like-minded professionals, industry leaders, visionaries and expert practitioners.

In addition to working to help make SOA a successful reality, BEAWorld is the place to find the latest information on BEA's infrastructure technologies including BEA Tuxedo(R), BEA WebLogic, BEA AquaLogic and BEA SOA 360. This year's show will also include a Partner Showcase, highlighting the latest and most innovative developments from the extensive BEA partner community.

The third and final of three worldwide events is scheduled to begin today, Dec. 13 in Beijing. The first two events took place in San Francisco and Prague, Czech Republic earlier this Fall. For more information, visit bea.com/beaworld .

About BEA

BEA Systems, Inc. is a world leader in enterprise and communications infrastructure software. BEA's SOA 360 platform is the industry's most unified SOA platform for business transformation and optimization, in order to improve cost structures and grow new revenue streams. Information about how BEA is enabling customers to achieve Business LiquidITy(TM) can be found at bea.com .

Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the statements in this press release are forward-looking, including the statements regarding WebLogic Server 10, its release, specifications and enhancements, BEA Workshop for WebLogic, its release, features and abilities, such products eventually supporting BEA SOA 360, BEA Workshop products playing a key part in enabling the developer role in Workspace 360 and its scheduled release date, and the aforementioned products ability to enable enterprise customers to quickly and successfully create fluid, next-generation SOAs and the features and the benefits of BEA's products. Actual results could differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ materially include risks associated with: any unforeseen changes in the technology, standards or marketplace for enterprise information integration software; the timing of a recovery from any economic and IT industry downturn; any unforeseen technical difficulties related to the development BEA's solutions; and any software errors related to BEA's solutions. Readers should also refer to the risk disclosures set forth in BEA's 10-Q for the quarter ended July 31, 2006 as filed with the SEC and subsequent reports filed thereafter by BEA from time-to-time with the SEC. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are made as of the date hereof, and BEA does not assume any obligation to update such statements nor the reasons why actual results could differ materially from those projected in such statements.

NOTE: BEA, Tuxedo, WebLogic, BEA JRockit and BEA WebLogic Server are registered trademarks and BEA WebLogic Enterprise Platform, BEA WebLogic Integration, BEA WebLogic Portal, BEA WebLogic Platform, BEA WebLogic Express, BEA WebLogic Workshop, BEA WebLogic Java Adapter for Mainframe, BEA Liquid Data for WebLogic, BEA eLink, Business LiquidITy and BEA WebLogic Enterprise Security are trademarks of BEA Systems, Inc. All other company and product names may be the subject of intellectual property rights reserved by third parties.

SPEC and SPECjAppServer are trademarks of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corp. (SPEC). Competitive claims reflect results published on http://www.spec.org as of Dec. 10, 2006. For the latest SPECjAppServer2004 results visit http://www.spec.org/jAppServer2004/results/res2006q4/jAppServer2004- 20061108-00045.html.