SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Oct. 17, 2005 -- Actuate Corporation (NASDAQ:ACTU), the world leader in Enterprise Reporting Applications, today announced the first Spreadsheet Application Platform that gives corporations the ability to automate the production, distribution, updates, workflow and collaboration associated with enterprise-wide spreadsheet processes. Actuate 8 now allows organizations to create specialized spreadsheet applications that contain server-managed workflow, guided analysis and automated write-back to central data stores. A new class of closed-loop spreadsheet applications will allow companies to eliminate unnecessary errors, risks and expenses caused by traditional spreadsheet use, while preserving intellectual investments.

Nearly every organization relies upon manually created spreadsheets that include time-tested business logic to drive critical business processes. Unfortunately these manual processes introduce errors, inconsistencies, and compliance risks for corporations. End-users refuse to give up Excel, but CFOs require repeatable business processes that can be audited, and IT managers need to centralize spreadsheet processes in order to leverage the enterprise infrastructure.

Actuate's Spreadsheet Application Platform provides organizations with a flexible development environment to build customized enterprise-level applications that utilize familiar spreadsheet interfaces and give IT better management control over Excel. Companies can use the platform to develop a range of applications that automate specific business processes such as sales forecasting, capacity management, portfolio management, customer self-service and order processing. CFOs enjoy a reduction of spreadsheet errors, increased cross-enterprise consistencies, and improved efficiencies in spreadsheet production, review and distribution.

"Spreadsheets are core to many of our business processes and are among the company's most popular personal productivity tools," said Mike Hader, director of IT at Odom's Tennessee Pride. "But unmanaged and undocumented spreadsheets can cause significant operational risks. Actuate's Spreadsheet Applications give us the ability to automate many of our field-broker and accounting processes through workflow-enabled spreadsheets. The automated write-back function helps minimize errors by allowing users to centrally update information."

"We all have benefited from the desktop computing revolution, but publishing and using desktop documents such as spreadsheets now present significant management and distribution challenges to business today," said Eric Rogge, VP and research director at Ventana Research. "Technologies such as Actuate's Spreadsheet Application Platform allow organizations to support user preferences for spreadsheets, but at the same time better use them within compliance, business process and information management frameworks."

"Spreadsheets have become a mainstay technology for most businesses," said Jeff Morris, director of product marketing at Actuate Corporation. "Today companies use spreadsheets as a portable container for data, business logic, processes, communications and decision-making. Contrary to other Business Intelligence vendors, we believe that extending the functionality of traditional spreadsheets through the creation of fully automated spreadsheet applications is what CFOs, operational managers, IT professionals and end-users truly want."

The Actuate Spreadsheet Platform extends the company's existing e.Spreadsheet and iServer technology, which automates the architectural design, production and scaleable distribution of spreadsheets to include automated workflow, collaboration and centralized data updates. New functionality includes:

-- Spreadsheet Write-back -- Captures and centrally stores spreadsheet changes, user annotations and change logs. Automates spreadsheet consolidation while preserving existing business processes.

-- Server-managed Workflow -- Reminds users to update and submit changes through event-based scheduling. Updates any central data store through processing rules, and generates new spreadsheets as the process requires.

-- Spreadsheet Guided Analysis -- Validation rules reduce errors introduced by users. Worksheet and cell locking prevent fraud. Preserves business rules to keep processes and Excel models intact.

Availability

Actuate's Spreadsheet Application Platform includes the e.Spreadsheet Designer, the e.Spreadsheet Server Option and the Actuate iServer Enterprise Reporting Platform. It is immediately available as part of Actuate 8 Service Pack 1, and pricing starts at $750 per user.

About Actuate Corporation

Actuate Corporation is the world leader in Enterprise Reporting Applications that ensure 100% adoption by users. Actuate's Enterprise Reporting Application Platform is the foundation on which Global 9000 organizations (companies with annual revenues greater than $1 billion) and packaged application software vendors develop intuitive, Web portal-like reporting and analytic applications that empower 100% of users with decision-making information. These applications are deployed inside and outside the firewall to improve corporate performance across a range of business functions including financial management, sales, human resource management, and customer self-service. When tested against other business intelligence products, Actuate's Enterprise Reporting Application Platform has been proven to offer industry-leading scalability and the lowest Total Cost of Ownership. Actuate has over 3,000 customers globally in a range of industries including financial services, pharmaceuticals, insurance, and distribution services, as well as the government sector.

Founded in 1993, Actuate has headquarters in South San Francisco, Calif., and has offices worldwide. Actuate is listed on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol ACTU. For more information on Actuate, visit the company's Web site at www.actuate.com

Copyright(C) 2005 Actuate Corporation. All rights reserved. Actuate and the Actuate logo are registered trademarks of Actuate Corporation and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and certain other countries. All other brands, names or trademarks mentioned may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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