Subject: Unisys Sets Up New Software Company 02/15/95

From: [email-masked] (NB-TOR)
Date: 15 Feb 95 21:54:12 GMT

BLUE BELL, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1995 FEB 15 (NB) -- Unisys Corp.
(NYSE:UIS) has bought a European software firm and will build
around it a new software subsidiary to be called USoft.

Unisys has acquired TopSystems International, a European firm
known for object-oriented and repository-based application
development tools for distributed computing. USoft starts life
with about 125 former TopSystems employees in Europe and a staff
of about 50 in North America, only about 15 of whom came from
Unisys, said Michael Seashols, president of USoft.

"We are aggressively expanding the North American operation,"
Seashols told Newsbytes. USoft expects to have a worldwide staff
of about 300 by the end of this year, he said, and most of the
growth between now and then will be in North America.

Seashols said Unisys' existing software business, which is worth
about $700 million per year, will remain part of the parent
company. With USoft, "we're going after a little different market
space," he said. The new business is to focus on development
tools for what Seashols called "server/client computing." He
explained that he reverses the usual order of the words to
emphasize the fact that USoft's philosophy will center on the
server.

Most client/server systems development up to now has concentrated
on the desktop interface, Seashols argued, and while this works
for smaller systems it does not work as well for large,
enterprise-wide systems supporting 50 or more clients. USoft's
approach will be to view the central server functions as most
important, with what appears on client screens as a by-product of
that.

USoft is going after a market that is worth several billion
dollars, Seashols said, but one where there is currently no
dominant player. Major database software vendors, developers of
object-oriented development tools, and others are approaching
this market from different angles, he said. "We've got a market
opportunity to solidify a very strong company," he said.

USoft, based in Brisbane, California, also will offer consulting,
education, and support services related to "server/client"
computing.

(Grant Buckler/19950215/Press Contact: Oliver Picher, Unisys,
215-986-5367; Michael Seashols, USoft, 415-875-3301; Public
Contact: USoft, 800-FOR-USOFT)