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Complete Solution for Packaging, Customizing, Testing, and Tracking Applications

GARTNER SYMPOSIUM/ITxpo, ORLANDO, Fla., October 20, 2003 – InstallShield® Software Corporation, the acknowledged leader in software installation, packaging, and deployment solutions, today announced AdminStudio® 5.5, the most complete tool suite for application packaging, customization, conflict resolution and automated quality assurance. AdminStudio 5.5 premieres today at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2003, and will be available by December, 2003.

Business-critical applications are becoming more complex and difficult to manage, and downtime is costly. AdminStudio 5.5 continues InstallShieldÂ’s tradition of providing Systems Administrators with the tools they need to successfully manage applications in the enterprise. New benefits include patch management, complete enterprise application management, Windows Installer (MSI) health detection, and built-in application catalog replication.

“With InstallShield’s enterprise application management capabilities, we recuperated 50 percent of a personnel resource previously dedicated to tracking and updating application progress,” said Thierry Bourdon of AGF Informatique. “In addition, our managers and packagers are able to access, update and view all application information on the intranet at any time. This online information greatly reduces the burden of distribution information and internal communications requests.”

Complete, Reliable Application Management

AdminStudio 5.5Â’s new features allow IT departments to more efficiently customize and deploy reliable software packages.

Patch Management – Systems Administrators can now deploy packages more quickly and with confidence by importing application patches into AdminStudio, detecting and resolving conflicts, and consistently managing and deploying updates.

Enterprise Application Management – An even easier to use system enables management and tracking of the entire application lifecycle. New features include branching workflows, a custom report designer, and integrated distribution and deployment tracking through Microsoft SMS server.

MSI Checkup – Systems Administrators will be able to diagnose problems and repair packages prior to deployment, saving time and preventing desktop crashes.

Application Catalog Replication – Enterprises with multiple locations have the ability to publish sets of packages to all locations, allowing different groups to independently manage software while still maintaining a global view.

“We have utilized our 12 years of experience and industry-leadership in the software packaging and installation industry to create a complete solution for enterprise application management,” said Viresh Bhatia, CEO of InstallShield. “In addition, only AdminStudio’s SmartScan technology helps conquer the pain of re-packaging legacy applications. Systems Administrators can easily capture the file and feature structure of the original InstallShield setup and port it to MSI, creating a flexible, customizable package.”

About Gartner Symposium/ITxpo

Gartner Symposium/ITxpo is the IT industry's largest and most strategic conference, providing business leaders with a look at the future of IT. For more than 10,000 IT professionals from the world's leading enterprises, Gartner's annual Symposium/ITxpo events are key components of their annual planning efforts. Attendees are responsible for more than $35 billion in IT spending for their respective companies, and rely on Gartner Symposium/ITxpo to gain insight into how their organizations can use technology to address business challenges and improve operational efficiency. For more information, please visit www.gartner.com/us/symposiumorlando.

About InstallShield Software Corp.

InstallShield Software Corp. is the acknowledged leader in software installation, deployment packaging, and updating solutions. The company offers a wide range of products and services that guarantee the successful distribution, management and set up of applications for independent software vendors, systems administrators and end users. InstallShield was founded in 1987 and is headquartered near Chicago in Schaumburg, Ill., with European headquarters in Bristol, England. For more information, visit www.installshield.com.