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SQS and CAST Announce a Joint Offering to Ensure the Long Term Reliability of Business Software

- Application Assessment Programme to Be Launched in the UK

LONDON, April 11/PRNewswire/ -- CAST, a pioneer in the Application Development (AD) Governance software space, and SQS Software Quality Systems, Europe's leading software quality management and testing consultancy, have joined forces to offer an "Application Assessment Program" to help IT professionals measure the system risks and long term technical reliability of their business software applications.
The complementary nature of CAST's Application Intelligence Platform -- the Software that knows Software(R) -- and the expertise of SQS consultants have naturally led CAST and SQS to work closely together to offer their clients the benefits of this innovative joint service. The Application Assessment Program is based on the SQS consultants using the CAST Application Intelligence Platform to analyse a wide array of different software systems, a spectrum including environments from C++ to Java and application-specific languages like SAP/ABAP. The result of this technical check is a determination of long-term technical viability, assessing whether the technical quality allows errors to be swiftly localised and later system adaptations to be effectively planned and implemented in a cost-efficient manner.

The outputs provided by this Application Assessment Programme cover a wide range of criteria for application quality. These criteria are the product of numerous projects in which SQS and CAST observed a direct connection between code structure and the technical longevity of software. The quality professionals running this Programme will obtain detailed reports with indicators on such factors as how complex, serviceable or standardised particular software programs are in accordance with industry standards and customer specifications.

In creating the Application Assessment Programme, SQS and CAST have succeeded in establishing an effective quality and testing service providing clients with the expertise and tooling they need to be successful without the overhead. The Application Assessment Program provides a turn-key solution, where experts interpret the test results and deliver concrete recommendations on the basis of business application risks, which customers are able to implement immediately. This improves companies' time-to-market capability and reduces their cost of delivery.

"The Application Assessment Programme is a combined response from SQS and CAST to growing market demand," said Rudolf van Megen, CEO of SQS AG. "This service based on CAST's unique technology and SQS's renowned expertise allows customers to ensure that applications delivered will be economical to operate and maintain over the long term no matter if built and maintained in-house, outsourced or co-sourced."

"The collaboration between SQS and CAST will enable our clients to benefit from all-inclusive services with a high added value" highlights Mark Slater, CAST UK General Manager. "IT management can now get, in a few days and without any technical investment, the 'bill of health' of their applications, be they developed in-house or outsourced, with objective fact-based information to make pro-active decisions that save time and money."

About CAST

CAST is the world leader and pioneer in Application Intelligence Software -- "the software that knows software(R)" -- providing the metrics and information IT executives must have to better govern application maintenance and development. Founded in 1990, CAST is listed on Compartment C-Eurolist by Euronext Paris (Euronext: CAS) and serves Global 2000 organizations worldwide with a network of 11 fully staffed offices in the US and Europe. More than 600 organizations around the world are using CAST software to run AD like a business. For more information visit http://www.castsoftware.com.

About SQS

SQS AG - Software Quality Systems is the largest independent European provider of software testing and quality management services. SQS offers high-value consulting services aimed at increasing IT efficiency and optimising IT quality. These services are offered for commercial applications as well as for the area of embedded systems. Founded in Cologne in 1982, the SQS Group has around 470 employees today and has subsidiaries, joint ventures or partners in 7 different European countries. In the last 10 years the SQS Group has grown by 17% a year on average and in 2004 achieved sales of around 49 million euros. With over 3,000 completed projects under its belt, SQS has a strong customer base including half of the DAX 30 companies and 30 % of the STOXX-50. SQS is the first German company to have a primary listing on AIM, completing its IPO on 20 September 2005 raising GBP10.8m before expenses at an issue price of 190p. SQS completed a secondary listing on the Deutsche Boerse in Frankfurt on 2nd December 2005.


Web site: http://www.castsoftware.com

Source: CAST

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