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Core COBOL skills now being taught in seven countries across four continents 5,000 students per year expected to graduate from ACTION-assisted courses

NEWBURY, England and MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - March 19, 2008

Micro Focus® (LSE.MCRO.L), the leading provider of enterprise application management and modernization solutions, today announced the signing of the 50th academic institution to its Academic ConnecTIONs (ACTION) program. The Georgian College of Applied Arts in Ontario, Canada becomes the newest member of the program, which now spans across seven countries and four continents. The rapid growth of the ACTION program is a clear signal that colleges and students increasingly recognize the value of IT skills in business.

The ACTION Program, launched under a year ago in May 2007, aims to ensure that future generations of developers are equipped with vital COBOL-programming and core IT skills required by major corporations in the US and across the globe. The program provides member universities with free access to the latest technology and teaching tools for enterprise application development. Micro Focus estimates that around 5,000 students are now graduating every year with these vital skills, benefitting from the ACTION program.

A priority of the ACTION program is to underline the importance of core IT systems and COBOL skills, which drive the operational effectiveness of organizations around the world. Recent research by Micro Focus of 650 customers and prospects revealed that more than three-quarters of CIOs expect the recruitment of COBOL programmers to remain a key focus of their IT departments over the next five years. Among the respondents, 94 percent indicated they run COBOL in production, while 73 percent indicated trained COBOL professionals can be hard to find.

One such organization, JD Williams of Manchester, England, looks to recruit between five and ten graduates with COBOL and core enterprise IT skills every two years.

Executive quote

“The worldwide skills crisis in IT is well documented. Businesses are telling academic institutions that they need graduates trained in core IT skills. This is why the Micro Focus ACTION program has signed up new colleges at a rate of one a week over the past year,” said Stuart McGill, Chief Technology Officer, Micro Focus. “The rapid expansion of the ACTION program reflects this need for COBOL and core IT skills and we fully intend to continue expanding the program going forward. Micro Focus is committed to ensuring colleges have the resources they need to deliver appropriately skilled graduates to meet the needs of commercial organizations.”

Customer quote

“There is a clear need for programmers literate in COBOL, especially as the Baby Boomer generation nears retirement,” said Professor Harry Simmons, Coordinator of Mainframe Courses, New York City College of Technology. “The ACTION Program, which allows us to provide our students with valuable and marketable skills for their careers in IT, is helping the industry address this need.”

About the company

Micro Focus, a member of the FTSE 250, provides innovative software that allows companies to dramatically improve the business value of their enterprise applications. Micro Focus Enterprise Application Modernization and Management software enables customers’ business applications to respond rapidly to market changes and embrace modern architectures with reduced cost and risk. For additional information please visit www.microfocus.com

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Dan Gaffney
LEWIS PR
617 226 8844
microfocusus@lewispr.com

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50th University Joins Micro Focus Action Program as Colleges Respond to Global IT Skills Crisis

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