Vision Solutions Acquires Lakeview Technology, Expands Its Availability Portfolio and Accelerates Innovation

Acquisition Expands Vision Solutions' Commitment to System i High Availability Technologies


IRVINE, CA--(Marketwire - June 13, 2007) - In a move that strengthens its position as the world's leading high availability (HA) solution provider for IBM's System i platform, Vision Solutions Inc. today announced that it has acquired Lakeview Technology Inc. The acquisition expands Vision's presence and commitment to the System i high availability market while building out its distribution, technology, and service offerings for its worldwide base of nearly 6,000 customers.

"The acquisition of Lakeview underscores our focus to provide customers with the best system resiliency and data management products and the most exceptional support in the industry," said Nicolaas Vlok, president and CEO of Vision. "Lakeview has built a strong worldwide high availability business, and we are excited to have its world-class employees, customers and partners join the Vision family. With our expanded resources and scale, we will increase our ability to innovate and be the solutions provider our customers can count on for their availability needs."

The acquisition of Lakeview, backed by private equity investor Thoma Cressey Bravo, Inc., marks Vision's second strategic combination in the high availability market, following its October 2006 merger with iTera, Inc. "We are excited to partner with Vision Solutions and Lakeview Technology to create the clear industry leader in the System i high availability market. Adding the MIMIX range of solutions to Vision's product family creates the broadest and most innovative portfolio of high availability technology globally," said Scott Crabill, a partner with Thoma Cressey Bravo.

With the acquisition of Lakeview, Vision Solutions' Premier Business Partner relationship with IBM is expected to strengthen and expand as both companies further align product development initiatives and move forward with go-to-market strategies to support the needs of enterprise customers while growing the small and medium business marketplace.

"System i clients are looking for affordable, easy-to-manage business resiliency solutions, and the combination of Vision Solutions and Lakeview Technology is terrific news for our clients around the world," said Mark Shearer, general manager, IBM System i. "Vision Solutions has leadership technology assets, services competencies, global reach and the financial strength necessary to take business resiliency to an entirely new level for our clients and partners."

"Businesses of all sizes are increasingly looking to implement business resiliency solutions that are innovative, affordable and easy to use," said Sonia Lelii, Storage Research Analyst at Aberdeen Group. "With this market-changing acquisition, Vision Solutions will be uniquely positioned to globally provide small and medium businesses with the best resiliency solutions that are specifically tailored for their needs."

The acquisition of Lakeview Technology combines the R&D talents of the industry's largest and most innovative high availability and disaster recovery development organizations. In addition, customers will benefit from an extensive support organization that spans the world.

During the merger of Vision and iTera in 2006, the company committed to develop, market and support both ORION HA and iTera HA for the foreseeable future. Vision intends to implement this same strategy with Lakeview's MIMIX product line.

"Each of the iTera, MIMIX and ORION high availability offerings bring important availability and recovery capabilities to their respective customers. We will continue to develop and support these solutions, while working to cross-pollinate the best features of each offering as we roll out new releases," said Alan Arnold, chief technology officer at Vision Solutions. "Customers using our products can count on Vision's commitment of continued investment in future technology initiatives. As we go forward, our synergies will provide customers with even better value from their Vision and IBM availability technologies."

"Customers of Vision and Lakeview have come to expect world-class products and services, and both companies strive to exceed our customers' expectations," said Bill Merchantz, CEO of Lakeview. "By combining Vision and Lakeview, our customers will have the resources of a large operation to support their future needs through Vision's varied product and service offerings. I am excited about the opportunities this will bring to our employees, customers and partners."

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About Vision Solutions

Vision Solutions, Inc. is the world's leading provider of high availability, disaster recovery, and data management solutions for the System i market. As IBM's largest high availability Premier Business Partner, Vision Solutions is a recognized System i solutions leader. The Company works closely with an international network of channel partners and IBM to deliver its industry-leading software, along with a powerful portfolio of services and support for protecting mission-critical applications and information from planned and unplanned downtime. Privately held by Thoma Cressey Bravo, Inc., Vision Solutions is headquartered in Irvine, California with offices worldwide. For more information, visit www.visionsolutions.com or call 800.957.4511.

Contact Information: CONTACT: Debbie Madoni Lewis Phone: 801.541.7769