Tuesday April 29, 12:00 am ET

Top Market Research Firm Lists Crystal Systems/BluePhoenix Solutions In the Leader Quadrant of the Legacy Modernization Market

Notes that Legacy Modernization solutions significantly reduces the risk of failure as companies rethink their legacy portfolios

CARY, N.C. and HERZLIA, Israel, April 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall-Crystal Systems (Nasdaq:CRYS - news) and BluePhoenix Solutions announced today that Gartner Inc. has listed them in the leader quadrant of the growing Legacy Modernization market, one of only three vendors with this placement. Gartner, a research and advisory firm that helps more than 10,000 clients understand technology and drive business growth, recently released the research report "Legacy Modernization Provides Applications for Tomorrow"(), in which they evaluated numerous Legacy Modernization vendors, using the Magic Quadrant approach.

Crystal Systems/BluePhoenix Solutions are the global market leaders in providing end-to-end Enterprise IT Modernization focused on extending the ROI of corporate IT investments through Understanding, Migration, Transformation, and Development solutions. These cost-effective solutions enable organizations to efficiently leverage existing IT systems and reduce the significant costs incurred when buying software packages or building new applications. As Dale Vecchio, Research Director at Gartner, writes, "There are many benefits to Legacy Modernization tools, and they significantly reduce the risk of failure when maintaining or transforming aging legacy systems."

Crystal Systems/BluePhoenix Solutions' joint offerings answer a variety of pressing corporate needs - renewing and managing existing systems, reducing maintenance and human resource costs, migrating from obsolete platforms, databases and languages, addressing new regulations and incorporating cutting edge technology.

"The market has begun to recognize the obvious benefits of our recent decision to join forces with BluePhoenix in order to create the undisputed leader in Enterprise IT Modernization," said Gad Goldstein, Chairman of Crystal Systems. "The technological and operational synergies between the companies' product and service offerings will give global enterprises the ability to extend the ROI of their existing IT investments so that they can effectively compete in today's environment."

Arik Kilman, CEO of BluePhoenix said, "We understand the pressures enterprises are facing these days and are committed to providing them with cost effective solutions. We provide a broad spectrum of modernization solutions focusing on Understanding, Migration, Transformation and Development that improve the productivity and efficiency of current IT systems while preserving corporate business knowledge."

About Crystal Systems Solutions Ltd./BluePhoenix Solutions
Crystal Systems Solutions Ltd. (Nasdaq: CRYS - News) and its wholly owned subsidiary BluePhoenix Solutions develop and market cost effective Enterprise IT Modernization products and solutions that enable clients to extend the ROI of their existing systems through Understanding, Migration, Transformation and development. The companies have offices throughout the world including the US, UK, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Israel and Cyprus. For more information, visit www.crystal-sys.com or www.bluephoenixsolutions.com.

About Gartner Inc.'s Magic Quadrant
Gartner's Magic Quadrant positions vendors in a particular market segment based on their vision and their ability to execute that vision. According to Gartner, the Leaders are performing well today, have a clear vision of market direction and are actively building competencies to sustain their leadership position in the market. The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted March 2003 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission, which permission should not be deemed to be an endorsement of any company or product depicted in the quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is Gartner, Inc.'s opinion and is an analytical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It measures vendors against Gartner defined criteria for a marketplace. The positioning of vendors within a Magic Quadrant is based on the complex interplay of many factors. Gartner does not advise enterprises to select only those firms in the "Leaders" quadrant. In some situations, firms in the Visionary, Challenger, or Niche Player quadrants may be the right matches for an enterprise's requirements. Well-informed vendor selection decisions should rely on more than a Magic Quadrant. Gartner research is intended to be one of many information sources including other published information and direct analyst interaction. Gartner, Inc. expressly disclaims all warranties, express or implied, of fitness of this research for a particular purpose.

(1) "Legacy Modernization Provides Applications for Tomorrow"
Gartner, Inc., Dale Vecchio, March 2003 M-19-3671