StrikeIron and Xignite Expand Partnership to Resell
StrikeIron's OnDemand Web Services for Excel; Leading Provider of Financial Web Services to Offer Live Data in Excel
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. Sept. 12, 2006 StrikeIron Inc., provider of the Web Services Marketplace,
today announced that it has partnered with Xignite who will resell StrikeIron's OnDemand Web Services for Excel.
As part of the agreement, Xignite will use this Microsoft Office add-in to create live customizable Excel workbooks
connecting to Xignite Financial Web services. These workbooks will be available to integrate with any financial or
Web application in order to build customized, real-time applications quickly and cost-efficiently. In addition,
the OnDemand Web Services for Excel workbooks will enable users to create compelling Service Oriented Architecture
(SOA)-driven applications to leverage the existing investments organizations are making in SOA infrastructure technology.
The agreement expands the scope of an existing two-year old partnership between the two companies that has
seen them serve dozens of joint customers. Many of Xignite's more than 35 financial Web services are being distributed
via the StrikeIron Web Services Marketplace. Xignite is the industry's largest provider of pure-play financial Web
services for mission-critical corporate applications. The company offers the broadest, most comprehensive suite of
financial data and components available on an on-demand platform.
StrikeIron OnDemand for Excel provides Microsoft
Excel users with drag-and-drop access to the power of XML-based Web services, delivering "live" workbooks to the desktop
that are fed by real-time data. Any subscriber of one or more Web services from Xignite can build rich-client spreadsheets
that incorporate live data feeds from multiple sources without any programming. As a result, Excel becomes a rich,
universal client for service-oriented architectures and a tool for building composite, services-driven applications.
"StrikeIron is very pleased to extend StrikeIron OnDemand Web Services for Excel to the vast network of Financial
Web Services users that are part of Xignite's network," said Bob Brauer, President and CEO of StrikeIron. "Enabling live
financial data into any application utilizing the same easy, consistent interface makes it much easier to integrate into
many different classes of applications. This will broadly increase the universe of users that can now leverage the financial
Web services available from Xignite."
"StrikeIron's OnDemand solution complements and extends the value of our
web services for the benefit of our common customers," said Stephane Dubois, CEO of Xignite. "As the market for pure-play
web services matures, end users increasingly want to access them directly. This expanded agreement gives users access to
live data straight from their preferred spreadsheet application. They can do their jobs better and more quickly by combining
the power of Excel with the accuracy and immediacy of our data. Plus, Xignite's open distribution model lets them subscribe
only to the services they need."
About Xignite
Xignite (pronounced "X-Ignite") is the largest provider of
pure play financial web services for mission-critical corporate applications. As a pioneer in the field, Xignite offers the
broadest suite of financial data and components available today on an on-demand platform. Xignite powers mission-critical
applications for portfolio management, sales management, ERP, trading, investor relations, customer portals, executive
dashboards, analytical engines and more. Xignite serves software developers who procure financial web services and currently
enjoys 200 direct and reseller customers including Ameriquest, GE Commercial Finance, Goodyear, ING, McDonald's, Marsh &
McLennan, Starbucks, Wendy's, SAP, Tibco, and Research In Motion. For more information, please visit
www.Xignite.com
About StrikeIron StrikeIron is the
leader in the commercialization of Web Services, providing the world's largest library of externally available plug-and-play
Web services. Built on top of a sophisticated, yet easy-to-use Web Services Commerce Platform, the Marketplace serves as a
place for providers and consumers of XML-based Web services to publish, subscribe to, and build applications and Web sites
using a diverse set of Web services.
Enabling a business model for the Programmable Web, the core technology provides
self-service publishing and consumption of Web services, micro-transactions and usage-based billing, software infrastructure,
multiple productivity tools, seamless integration for both individual customers and software technology partners, and a
consistency of usage from multiple Web services across multiple vendors. The Aurora Funds, Inc. and NC IDEA provided funding f
or StrikeIron after recognizing the significant opportunity to invest in a technology firm leading innovation of the
Programmable Web and Web 2.0. For more information, visit
www.strikeiron.com.