Educational License to Equip Students with Object Database Skills for Modern Software Design / Preliminary Roll-out at University of L’Aquila

Versant Corporation (NASDAQ: VSNT), an industry leader in specialized data management software, today announced the launch of its new Academic Program, which offers a special discounted rate for the use of the Versant Object Database to the faculties of educational institutions who wish to use the software for non-commercial use, including lectures, research and classroom teaching.

Many universities are teaching its students how to use traditional relational database technology for modern software design. Versant is offering alternative data management experience to students and educators around the world through its object database technology: With its Academic Program, Versant is encouraging universities to offer dedicated courses on object-oriented data management systems. In order to facilitate the aforementioned, Versant is charging $1,000 USD per annum for each university campus located in the United States, or 1,000 EUR for each university campus located in the European Union.   The university is permitted to offer as many courses as desired, with no limitations or restrictions on the number of computers used.

“Today’s new software projects are firmly based on the principles of object orientation, as applications become more demanding, and object models become more complex. Complex object models are not easy to map into traditional relational databases, which often means slower performance and a compromise in design. An object database is the natural choice to bridge the complexity gap and, in addition, it is easier and faster. The aim is to equip students with alternative database skills in object-oriented data management, which I presume employers will come to expect in the near future“, says Prof. Alfonso Pierantonio, coordinator of the Master in Web Technology at the University of L’Aquila in Italy, who has recently joined the Versant Academic Program during a preliminary roll-out period, as has Letterkenny Institute of Technology in Ireland and University of St. Thomas in the United States.

“More and more companies are starting to recognise that object-oriented data management makes it so much easier, faster and more cost-effective to build the next generation of high performance software applications“, says Jochen Witte, CEO at Versant Corporation. “This is good news for us, but bad news for the students who leave their educational institutions with little or no knowledge and skills in this important area. This is why we have introduced the Academic Program, which offers a special discounted rate for the use of Versant Object Database to all educational institutions.“

Pricing and Availability

Versant’s Academic Program is priced at $1,000 USD per year for each university campus located in the United States or 1,000 EUR for each university campus located in the European Union. The one-year educational license, which has no limit to the number of computers that can be installed within the university campus, is available immediately for educational customers. Universities will also be given access to the Versant Support website via a University representative. For additional information on pricing and licensing, please contact Versant at info@versant.com or visit www.versant.com/en_US/services.

About University L’Aquila, Italy

The University of L'Aquila, with its seven faculties and sixteen thousand students and its deep roots in the national and regional cultural, economic, social and productive context, has laid special emphasis on the cooperation with industry and public institutions. Research and teaching in the University Computer Science Department benefit from its associations with world-leading partners, such as Ericsson Lab Italy, Marconi Selenia, and Micron Technology.

About Versant

Versant Corporation (NASDAQ: VSNT) is an industry leader in specialized data management software, which helps companies to handle complex information in environments that have high performance and high availability requirements. Using the Versant Object Database, customers cut hardware costs, speed and simplify development, significantly reduce administration costs, and deliver products with a strong competitive edge. Versant's solution is deployed in a wide array of industries including telecommunications, financial services, technology, transportation, manufacturing, and defense. With over 50,000 installations, Versant has been a highly reliable partner for over 15 years for Global 2000 companies such as Ericsson, Verizon, Sagem, U.S. Government, and Financial Times.  For more information, call 510-789-1500 or visit www.versant.com.

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