Contact:  Daniel Fylstra
Frontline Systems 775-831-0300
press@solver.com

News Release

INCLINE VILLAGE, NV -- November 5, 2000 -- Dash Associates, the technological leader for large-scale optimization software and Frontline Systems, the leading supplier of spreadsheet optimization products, announce that they have entered into a Cross-Licensing Agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, Frontline will embed the XPRESS-MP solver technology in a Solver engine that is tightly integrated with Frontline's Premium Solver Platform, and Dash will offer the Premium Solver Platform and the XPRESS Solver engine to their customers.

This agreement will enable Frontline to offer the most powerful optimization technology available as part of its spreadsheet optimization product range, and allow Dash to offer XPRESS-MP embedded in a proven spreadsheet optimization architecture. Frontline and Dash technologies are used today by many of the world's largest corporations for strategic decision support, investment appraisal, corporate planning, operations management and risk management. Vertical markets include processing and manufacturing, transportation, distribution, banking and finance, b2b exchanges, and telecommunications. Software product providers and solution providers also use the technology to deliver applications such as Supply Chain Management, Planning and Scheduling, Optimal Pricing and Revenue Maximization.

"We are pleased to offer the technologically advanced XPRESS solver to our spreadsheet optimization users," said Dan Fylstra, President of Frontline. "This agreement means that we will be able to satisfy a wider range of customers, particularly those who want to solve large and/or difficult problems."

Bob Daniel of Dash adds, "We have many customers who want spreadsheet optimizers but, until now, they were not capable of solving very large problems. With this agreement, Dash and Frontline can offer customers the familiarity of proven spreadsheet integration with the power of XPRESS-MP. We believe that this will offer a very powerful and attractive package for a wide range of users."

About Dash

With its leading edge XPRESS optimization software, Dash Associates has been at the forefront of optimization software development since 1983. Dash concentrates exclusively on software products and provides optimization software and components to end users, consultants and value-added resellers, such as systems integrators and solution providers. XPRESS has an excellent reputation for solving large, real-world problems quickly and reliably. For example, Dash has become the leading supplier of optimization technologies to the process industries, traditionally the area where the most difficult optimization problems are encountered. Through working closely with their customers and innovative algorithmic developments, Dash has remained responsive to the market's need for large scale problem solving. Dash also provides a high quality support service to help its customers and business partners get the best possible results with the products. Dash has offices in the UK and US, and distributors in Europe, the Far East and Japan.

About Frontline

Frontline Systems has been at the forefront of spreadsheet optimization since 1989, having developed the Solvers bundled with all three leading spreadsheet programs -- Microsoft Excel, Lotus 1-2-3 and Quattro Pro. Frontline's Premium Solver product line provides a fully compatible upgrade path, capable of handling much larger problems, for users of the Excel Solver. Frontline's Premium Solver for Education, bundled with a wide range of leading management science textbooks, is widely used to teach modelling and optimization to MBA students. Frontline is also a leader in global optimization and non-smooth optimization, as well as 'classical' nonlinear optimization which has been included in the Excel Solver for over 10 years. Its Evolutionary Solver, bundled with the Premium Solver Platform, has advanced the state of the art in genetic and evolutionary algorithms for optimization. Frontline has recently introduced constraint programming methods into spreadsheet optimization, also bundled with the Premium Solver Platform. Frontline works closely with OEM customers such as Microsoft and MathSoft, major investment banks and mutual funds, an array of solution providers who bundle Frontline's DLL solvers in their application products, and a wide range of end users of spreadsheet optimization in Fortune 500 companies, government and higher education. Frontline is headquartered in Incline Village, Nevada on the north shore of Lake Tahoe.

XPRESS and XPRESS-MP are trademarks of Dash Associates, Ltd. Premium Solver and Premium Solver Platform are trademarks of Frontline Systems, Inc.

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