SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20549
FORM 6-K
REPORT OF FOREIGN ISSUER
PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16 OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the month of September 12, 2000
MERANT plc
(Translation of Registrant's Name Into English)
The Lawn, Old Bath Road, Newbury, England RG14 1QN
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)
(Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will
file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.)
Form 20-F X Form 40-F ____
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(Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing
the information contained in this form is also thereby furnishing the
information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-
2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.)
Yes X No _____
-------
(If "Yes" is marked, indicate below the file number assigned
to the registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2 (b): 82-795.)
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT Generic
Announcement
Number of reports in announcement:
Not Applicable
Company Name:
MERANT plc
Full Issuer Name:
MERANT plc
AVS Security Number:
Unknown
Release Date:
12/SEP/2000
Release Time:
14:00
Embargo Details:
Telephone Confirmation of Release Required:
Contact Name:
Philip Rosier
Tel. No:
01635 565583
Announcement Given To Third Parties:
Amendment:
No
Headline:
Generic Announcement
Announcement Body Information:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Martin J. Rome Giles Sanderson/Jon
Earl
MERANT Financial Dynamics
+1 (301) 838 5271 +44 (0) 20 7831 3113
[email protected] [email protected]
MERANT Unveils First 'Development on Demand' ASP for Developers
-MERANT ASaP Gives Instant Access to a Team Development
Environment-
www.merant.com - September 12, 2000 - MERANT (London Stock Exchange
(LSE): MRN; Nasdaq National Market (NNM): MRNT), a leading global e-
business software solutions company, today announced MERANT ASaP, a new
Application Service Provider (ASP) that gives developers immediate
Internet access to powerful development tools for creating e-business
applications. MERANT AsaP is the first ASP tailored to the complex
change and configuration management needs of development teams of all
sizes. MERANT ASaP offers companies a significantly faster way of
building applications, a way where customers no longer need to shoulder
the costs of buying, installing, configuring and managing complex
software and hardware.
"Remaining competitive in the ever changing world of e-business is
extremely important to our overall success," said Rousseau Aurelien,
chief executive officer of Cambridge Information Systems, Inc. (winner
of ZDnet Sm@rt 100 companies for 2000). "MERANT helps us bring our e-
business applications to market faster with more predictable costs.
Their ASP service can be up and running immediately, we don't have to
make any investment in hardware, and there's no need to install complex
software."
Also, in today's tight labor market, companies often can't find enough
employees to staff the infrastructure needs of their organizations.
"The lack of IT resources continues to be a critical issue for the
companies I talk to," said Jim Duggan, vice president and research
director of GartnerGroup. "Turning to an ASP for developers may be one
answer to that problem. Companies can concentrate their resources on
the development side and leave the setup and administration of the
development infrastructure to someone else."
"MERANT ASaP marks the beginning of a fundamental change in the way
development will be delivered in the future," said Keith White, vice
president and general manager for MERANT ASaP. "It's not just about
building Internet applications anymore, it's about building them
faster, better, and cheaper than the competition. MERANT ASaP delivers
'development on demand', meaning predictable costs, guaranteed
performance levels, and reduced resource requirements to the world of
Internet application development".
MERANT ASaP is hosted by Intel Online Services, Intel's Internet
application hosting subsidiary. Intel Online Services' leading-edge
facilities provide MERANT ASaP customers with the security and
industrial-strength infrastructure required to operate in today's most
demanding e-business development environments. "The combination of
MERANT's market-leading application development technology and Intel
Online Services' world-class Internet application hosting services
creates a powerful new resource for developers," said Renee James,
worldwide director of marketing and customer services for Intel Online
Services.
"By leveraging MERANT ASaP as a delivery vehicle for MERANT's own
Egility solutions, customers today have fast and easy access to a
leading-edge application development infrastructure, and one that will
always have the latest capabilities and benefits of our products," said
Andrew Weiss, CTO for MERANT. "Also, MERANT ASaP serves as a future
launching pad for a variety of application development solutions - from
requirements gathering and data modeling, to application development,
testing, content management and distribution technologies."
About MERANT
MERANT is a leading global e-business software solutions company.
Founded in 1976, MERANT has approximately $350 million in annual
revenues, 2,000 employees and more than 500 technology partners. More
than 5 million professionals use MERANT technology solutions at 35,000
customer sites, including the entire Fortune 100, the majority of the
Global 500 and over 400 leading dotcoms. MERANT uses its Egility
framework, a comprehensive set of solutions combining expertise,
market-leading technology, best practices and an extensive network of
partners, to deliver an e-business application infrastructure.
Building on MERANT Egility, MERANT also provides comprehensive
enterprise-strength e-business solutions for companies, including e-
business strategy, creative design, application development and
legacy integration. For additional information, visit www.merant.com.
About Intel Online Services
Intel Online Services, Inc., is an Intel subsidiary that intends to be
a leading supplier of Internet application hosting and e-Commerce
services worldwide. Through a global network of Internet service
centers, Intel Online Services helps its customers succeed in the
Internet economy by providing highly reliable, innovative and
responsive Internet services. Intel Online Services provides the world-
class network, hardware, software, services and tools needed for ASPs
to quickly deliver reliable Internet applications and expand their
business. For additional information visit Intel Online Services
at www.intelonlineservices.com.
Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation.
MERANT, MERANT ASaP and Egility are trademarks of MERANT.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its
behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
MERANT plc
(Registrant)
Date: September 12, 2000 By: /s/ Kenneth A. Sexton
--------------------------------------
Kenneth A. Sexton
Chief Financial Officer
