This combination
will help customers solve numerous integration problems. This supports Microsoft's desire to help solve customer
business problems, and we congratulate ePartners and CDW on their
success.

lightspeed raub

Ascential Software is headquartered in Westboro, Mass.sec. The following factors, among others, could cause
actual results to differ materially from those described in these
forward-looking statements: the ability of the company to expand its
market share; growth rates for the enterprise data integration
software market; general business conditions in the software industry,
the technology sector, and in the domestic and international
economies; rapid technological change in the markets served by the
company; dependence on international operations; global and
geopolitical instability; compliance costs associated with regulations
to which the company is subject, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of
2002, and the impact of such regulations; and difficulties that the
company may experience integrating technologies, operations and
personnel of completed or future acquisitions.epartnersolutions.com

About ePartners, Inc.
Restoring any needed data from tape took about the same length of time
as the backup. Roche Diagnostics turned to FalconStor and COS Concat
AG, a solutions integrator, for a VTL appliance that dramatically
reduced the backup and restore windows.

tivoli integrator

The acquisition complements and strengthens IBM's fast-growing
information integration business, a key part of the company's
information management efforts and a unit that produced triple-digit
growth in 2004. Drawing on
resources from across IBM and key Business Partners , IBM offers a wide
range of services, solutions and technologies that enable customers,
large and small, to take full advantage of the new era of e-business.com

About Ascential Software Corporation

Ascential Software Corporation (Nasdaq: ASCL) is the leader in
enterprise data integration .ascential. "As a Microsoft Business Solutions partner, we have the
consulting, technical, training and industry-specific resources
necessary to not only meet, but exceed, the needs of CDW's customers ."
"The partnership between ePartners and CDW provides immediate
advantage for our customers throughout North America," said Dan
English, General Manager of Microsoft Business Solutions, U.

Business Editors/Technology Writers

MANNHEIM, Germany----FalconStor
Software, Inc. This demonstration of the VTL Appliance's capabilities
convinced Roche Diagnostics that they had found the solution to their
backup and recovery challenges.

leveraging lightsout

Ascential Software's
integrated portfolio helps companies solve their most complex and
demanding data integration challenges to streamline operations,
improve customer support, expedite business transactions, and make
better strategic decisions.
"Information integration is an important enabler of an on demand
business strategy and customers are increasing their investments in
software that allows them to rapidly analyze, consolidate and extract
value from their business data," said Steve Mills, senior vice
president and group executive, IBM Software Group. Enabling customers to react and respond
with speed to rapidly emerging business opportunities is an example of
IBM's on demand business strategy."

Once the acquisition is completed, IBM will:

Establish Ascential Software's operations as a business unit
within IBM's Information Management software division led by
General Manager Janet Perna.ibm. ePartners is backed by
Texas Growth Fund, Austin Ventures, Capital Resource Partners, Liberty
Mutual, Mobius Venture Capital, Madrona Venture Group, Rustic Canyon
Partners and Charterhouse Group.falconstor.

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9 million . That's the mark of an on demand
business. WebSphere Information
Integrator software enables customers to centrally manage and access
data that is stored across a variety of structured and unstructured
sources, from IBM and non-IBM vendors, in real-time.

Market and sell Ascential Software products through IBM's and
Ascential Software's worldwide sales channels and Business
Partners . The conference
call will be broadcast live through a link on the Investor Relations
page on the Ascential Software web site at
www.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE MERGER AND WHERE TO FIND IT

In connection with the proposed merger and required stockholder
approval, Ascential Software Corporation (the "Company") will file
with the SEC a preliminary proxy statement and a definitive proxy
statement that will contain important information about the Merger. All documents filed by the Company with the
SEC, may be obtained for free at the SEC's website at www. www.

Analysis Leads Roche Diagnostics to Select FalconStor's VirtualTape Library for Rapid Backup and Restore Capabilities; VTL Appliance Simplifies Backup of 85 Te

mainframe logica

No passcode is required for the
replay.S."
For more information about ePartners, visit
www.com

resolve logica

For example, some of the largest retailers use Ascential 's
software to gather, standardize and structure sales information from
multiple channels (for example, Internet, catalogs, storefronts),
providing a single view of vendors and customers from disparate
systems, and make rapid inventory and pricing adjustments in response
to changing market demands.3
billion in 2003 to $13. IDC also reports that the
top three business issues most organizations say they need to be
addressed through integration are to respond faster to changing
business needs , improve operational productivity of employees, and
provide better service to customers.epartnersolutions .

lightspeed itil

+ WESTBORO, Mass.50 per
share."
The acquisition announced today addresses a key customer challenge
-- applying technology to respond much more quickly to changing market
conditions. In
addition , the documents filed with the SEC by the Company may be
obtained free of charge by directing such request to: David Roy, Vice
President of Investor Relations, (800) 966-9875 or from the Company's
website at www. Partnerships described herein shall be
deemed to be strategic alliances only, and shall not imply the power
of either partner to bind the other partner or to incur obligations on
behalf of the other partner.
Under their regularly scheduled procedure of backup software
writing data to their IBM 3584 tape library, Roche Diagnostics found
that they were not able to complete the backup of their Oracle and SAP
Testing environment to tape in the data center in Mannheim in the
allotted backup window.
"Currently we have 18 application servers and one backup server in
our database test SAN.

integrator lori

Business Editors/Technology Writers
Microsoft Convergence 2005

SEATTLE----

Pairing Connects Microsoft's 2004 Global Partner of the Year with
a Successful Microsoft Large Account Reseller

MICROSOFT CONVERGENCE 2005: SAN DIEGO, CA - ePartners
(www.com), a FORTUNE 500 provider of technology products and
services to business , government and education, today announced that
the two companies will provide CDW clients with ePartners ' sales and
delivery expertise for Microsoft Business Solutions. From
aligning their clients' business and IT strategies; to improving
business processes; and deploying and supporting solutions that
accelerate business results, no other Microsoft Business Solutions
partner offers more comprehensive information technology solutions and
services than ePartners. Forecasts showed that in 2005, the existing
LAN infrastructure would be too small, while their existing SAN
infrastructure should be used for backup -purposes (LAN-free backup).

raub lori

Customers and partners worldwide use the
Ascential Software Enterprise Integration Suite to confidently
transform data into accurate, reliable and complete business
information to improve operational performance and decision-making
across every critical business dimension.

ascential.
Investors and security holders of the Company are urged to read the
proxy statement , and any other relevant materials filed by the Company
because they contain, or will contain, important information about the
Company and the Merger.

compaq logica

"The acquisition of
Ascential Software expands IBM 's open information integration platform
and strengthens our ability to help customers create an environment
that delivers the data they need, in the right form, to the right
location, and at the right time .ascential.

ls langtech

IBM to Acquire Ascential Software; Extends Leadership in Helping Customers Integrate Structure and Manage Information

cdw.
ePartners is a leading MBS provider and information technology
services consultancy with 23 offices in North America and London.

ls mqseries

For a detailed
discussion of these and other cautionary statements, please refer to
the filings made by Ascential Software with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, the most recent
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

lightsout leveraging

IBM is acquiring Ascential Software to extend the industry's
broadest and deepest offering for standards-based business integration
across heterogeneous environments.

Build upon the companies' existing partnership, which includes
more than 550 joint customers worldwide.

Ascential Software already integrates with IBM WebSphere Business
Integration software as part of a service-oriented architecture (SOA),
providing complex data movement and transformation within a process
step, thereby helping customers speed time-to-market and increase
their ROI.

About IBM

IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80
years of leadership in helping businesses innovate.ibm. Information
about the executive officers and directors of the Company and their
ownership of the Company's common stock is set forth in the proxy
statement for the Company's 2004 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which
was filed with the SEC on April 27, 2004.

resolve compaq

1 billion or $18.
Ascential Software's ability to quickly gather, move and enhance
the quality of large amounts of data complements IBM's WebSphere
Information Integrator product portfolio. For more information call 1-800-966-9875 (or
1-508-366-3888 from outside the U.com/investor
Ascential Software management will host a conference call at 8:00
AM (EST) today to discuss this important announcement.

ls resolve

With more than 3,000 customers and
partners across all major industries, Ascential Software is widely
viewed as a leader in enterprise data integration. More
than 300 leading companies spanning 45 industries turned to ePartners
last year for aligning business and IT strategies, improving business
processes and deploying and supporting solutions that accelerate
business results.
FalconStor 's VTL solution is also leveraging Roche Diagnostic's
existing Fibre Channel Test SAN, IBM Enterprise Storage System (ESS)
with Tivoli Storage Manager solution.

To read the complete release, including the Safe Harbor agreement,
visit www.com/rochediagnostics.

lvs loudwater

com/investors or by calling (800) 945-1634 beginning
about two hours after the call ends.

After more than a decade of arming its customers with a
competitive advantage, ePartners has established itself as the leading
global Microsoft Business Solutions consultancy in the world.

lancet lightspeed

Business Editors

ARMONK, N.Y.6 billion in 2008. The data,
operating system, and configuration file were reinstalled from the VTL
Appliance from scratch.

websphere mqseries

, in an all cash
transaction at a price of approximately $1. Ascential Software also grew rapidly in 2004, with a
reported 46 percent total revenue increase to $271.
IDC , a global market intelligence and advisory firm in the
information technology and telecommunications industries, projects
that worldwide data integration spending will increase from $9.(1)
"The integration market is changing and evolving as customers
demonstrate a preference for broad solutions that meet enterprise
integration requirements," said Peter Gyenes, chairman and chief
executive officer , Ascential Software. Our comprehensive end-to-end
solutions provide on demand data integration complemented by our
professional services, industry expertise, and methodologies.S. or Canada) or visit the Ascential
Software website at www. For those who cannot attend the live
broadcast, a replay will be available on the web site at
www. Ascential Software is not responsible for
statements attributed to third parties within this release or in any
materials referenced herein."
After implementing solutions , ePartners will continue to support
customers by providing ongoing services, including end-user training ,
annual systems reviews, call center support, on-site support,
technology updates, and overall performance enhancements. (Nasdaq: FALC), a leading developer of network storage
software solutions , today announced that Roche Diagnostics GmbH in
Mannheim, a world leader in in-vitro diagnostics , has chosen
FalconStor's VirtualTape Library (VTL) solution to simplify and
accelerate backup and restore operations for a 2 Gigabit Fibre Channel
storage area network. After about 1 hour, the VTL was up and
running.

lancet tivoli

com

NOTE TO INVESTMENT COMMUNITY:

Financial analysts can find more information regarding this
acquisition at: www.com
The Company and its executive officers and directors may be deemed
to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the
stockholders of the Company in favor of the acquisition.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995: This release contains forward-looking statements
based on current expectations or beliefs, as well as a number of
assumptions about future events, and these statements are subject to
important factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those described in the forward-looking
statements.

ePartners Teams with CDW to Provide Enhanced Microsoft Business Solutions Services to Small and Medium-Sized Businesses

"ePartners is excited to offer our specialization of Microsoft
Business Solutions to CDW's customers," said Dan Duffy, CEO of
ePartners. We're confident FalconStor's VTL solution will
seamlessly take on the task of managing the backup of all those
application servers," said Felix Werle, head of storage operations at
Roche Diagnostics GmbH in Mannheim.
COS Concat and FalconStor simulated a disaster exercise at Roche
Diagnostics, in which the VTL experienced downtime.

lamina compaq

Customers worldwide use Ascential's data
integration software to build enterprise data warehouses, power
business intelligence systems , consolidate enterprise applications,
create and manage master repositories of critical business
information, and enable on demand data access.
This acquisition, combined with IBM's middleware portfolio,
strengthens IBM's leadership in key on demand initiatives such as
business intelligence , business performance management, business
transformation, multi-channel commerce, RFID, merger and acquisition
consolidation, master data management and regulatory compliance., and has
more than 3,000 customers and partners globally across such industries
as financial services and banking, insurance , healthcare, retail,
manufacturing, consumer packaged goods, telecommunications and
government .com/investors.

(1) IDC Worldwide Data Integration Spending 2004-2008 Forecast,
July 2004 (IDC #31546), Steve McClure

IBM, DB2, and IBM are trademarks of International Business
Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. Ascential Software disclaims any intent
or obligation to update any forward-looking statements made herein to
reflect any change in Ascential Software's expectations with regard
thereto or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which
such statements are based. ePartners'
experience, technical skill, ability to locally deploy consulting
professionals and implement business solutions in a timely and
cost-effective manner positions ePartners as the leading solutions
provider for companies looking to accelerate their business results
through technology.
"Price/performance improvements are enabling SMBs to access
technology solutions that were once limited to large enterprises,"
said Tom Maloney, director of corporate software sales for CDW.

leveraging compaq

----March 14,
2005--IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Ascential Software Corporation (Nasdaq:
ASCL) today announced the two companies have entered into a definitive
agreement for IBM to acquire the equity of Ascential Software, a
publicly held company based in Westboro, Mass .
Ascential Software is a leading provider of enterprise data
integration software. "IBM shares our understanding
that data integration is a strategic component of information and
process integration and offered us this opportunity to combine and
form a stronger competitor in the large and growing integration
market.com), a leading global Microsoft Business
Solutions (MBS) consultancy, and CDW Corporation (NASDAQ:CDWC,
www. ePartners' will
provide CDW clients with full implementation and training services for
Microsoft Business Solutions' applications, including Microsoft CRM,
Microsoft -Axapta, Microsoft-GreatPlains, and Microsoft Small Business
Financials, as well as MicrosoftSharePoint .

loudwater ls

For example,
a company trying to consolidate data from multiple ERP systems into a
single system could leverage WebSphere Information Integrator to
access various mainframe or distributed sources for profiling and
assessment, and then use Ascential Software's data migration and
transformation capabilities to integrate the data.
The Ascential Software technology also furthers IBM's commitment
to open computing through its ability to support both IBM and non-IBM
data sources, including those of Oracle, Microsoft and SAP.ascential. "We're
starting to see that these customers want business applications that
can give them competitive advantages, and so we are excited to work
with ePartners to be responsive to our customers' needs. "Today,
customers can buy Microsoft CRM, SharePoint, and Small Business
Financials directly from CDW and get the onsite deployment and
training services available from ePartners, our 2004 Global Partner of
the Year. Last year alone, more than 300 leading
companies spanning 45 industries turned to ePartners for strategic
business solutions and consulting services.epartnersolutions.

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The acquisition is subject to Ascential Software shareholder
and regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, and
is expected to close in the second quarter of 2005.

Incorporate Ascential Software technology and solutions into
IBM's Information Management and Software Group offerings.
For more information about IBM, visit www.
Other company , product or service names may be trademarks or service
marks of others.asp

mqseries websphere

At the same time, this transaction offers Ascential Software
shareholders solid appreciation over recent trading prices of our
stock, without the execution and business risk.gov. Investors and security
holders may obtain more detailed information regarding the direct and
indirect interests of the Company and its respective executive
officers and directors in the acquisition by reading the preliminary
and final proxy statements regarding the acquisition, which will be
filed with the SEC. The forward-looking statements in this release address a
variety of subjects including, for example, the functionality ,
characteristics, quality and performance capabilities of Ascential
Software's products and technology; results achievable and benefits
attainable through deployment of Ascential Software's products and
provision of services; the ability of Ascential Software's products to
help companies streamline operations, improve customer support,
expedite business transactions, and make better tactical and strategic
decisions; and improvements in operational performance and
decision-making.