Marconi Supports Emerging Telecom Industry Standards Through the Extensibility of IONA'a Artix

Global Provider of Telecommunications Equipment and Services selects Artix Extensible ESB to Web Service Enable Their Next-generation Product Offerings

DUBLIN, Ireland & WALTHAM, Mass. - January 24, 2005 - IONA® Technologies (NASDAQ: IONA), a world leader in high-performance integration solutions for mission-critical IT environments, today announced that Marconi Corporation plc (London: MONI and NASDAQ: MRCIY), a global provider of telecommunications equipment and services, has selected Artix™, IONA's extensible Enterprise Service Bus (ESB), to enable Web services-based integration in the company's various products and solutions. Marconi chose Artix for its ability to make the company's network devices and applications compatible with the existing and emerging standards that drive the telecommunications industry.

Telecommunications carriers recognize that the key to retaining customers and generating new revenue streams is their ability to create and deploy new service offerings quickly, securely and cost effectively. However, carrier agility can be hampered by the multiple generations of systems, platforms and network environments that comprise the typical carrier's IT infrastructure. Companies like Marconi that supply equipment and services to the carrier market can help ease the challenges faced by their customers by delivering products that support network and protocol convergence and can be easily integrated into their customer environments. As an extensible ESB, Artix is designed to provide the high-performance, mission-critical integration and interoperability required by Marconi.

"With Artix, we can achieve seamless, non-invasive Web service enablement of our products with minimal code changes. And because of Artix's extensibility, we can be confident of our ability to support any standards we face in a deployment environment," said Graham Francis, Network Intelligence Product Manager, Marconi. "As a long-term Orbix customer, we know IONA understands the complexities and performance demands of mission critical systems for the telecommunications industry. Particularly valuable to us is Artix's ability to link established CORBA® applications with those built on the telecommunications industry's emerging Parlay standards."

Parlay is an evolving industry standard developed by an open consortium of network providers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and independent software vendors (ISVs) serving the telecommunications market. The Parlay standard and its Web services version Parlay-X are designed to promote interoperability of applications across multiple networking platform environments. By incorporating Artix into its products and service offerings, Marconi provides a carrier-class solution that is designed to enable previous technology investments to support new Web Services based applications built in accordance with the Parlay standard.

"ESBs provide the software infrastructure required for building the new, service-oriented and event-driven applications that are vital to compete in today's tough markets," said Massimo Pezzini, Gartner. "The standard-based enterprise interoperability enabled by ESBs is crucial for telecommunications network operators and service providers, where multiple technology platforms and standards need to integrate seamlessly and exchange huge volumes of information. Thanks to ESB technology carriers can compete more successfully at the customer service level without worry of system incompatibility between new and established standards."

"Our significant experience in the telecommunications sector has given us a competitive advantage in our ability to deliver the next generation integration solutions required to meet the ongoing needs and complexities of this market," said Chris Horn, CEO, IONA Technologies. "Web services enable traditional businesses to open up their assets to new partners and in turn, generate new revenue. We look forward to working with Marconi to successfully exploit this opportunity."

About IONA

For more than a decade, IONA® Technologies (NASDAQ: IONA) has been a world leader in delivering high-performance integration solutions for enterprise IT environments. IONA pioneered standards-based integration with its CORBA-based Orbix® product family. The Artix? product family, IONA's new generation of integration solutions, enables existing enterprise systems to be integrated with an organization's common infrastructure components. Customers use Artix to incorporate current IT assets into valuable new business applications through enterprise-class, standards-based connectivity.

With its partners, IONA can deliver NOW on the promise of service-oriented integration, making it possible for customers to achieve system longevity and agility at a significantly lower cost.

IONA's customers include Global 2000 companies in telecommunications, financial services, aerospace and manufacturing, including AT&T, Verizon, BellSouth, Deutsche Telekom, British Telecom, Hong Kong Telecom, NTT, Credit Suisse, Merrill Lynch, Winterthur Insurance, Zurich Insurance and Boeing.

IONA is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, with U.S. headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts and offices worldwide. For additional information about IONA, visit our Web site at http://www.iona.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements concerning plans and objectives of management, expectations regarding future financial performance, profitability and economic and market conditions. The forward-looking statements made are neither promises nor guarantees and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated or indicated, including risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's cost reduction efforts; the launch and acceptance of IONA's high-performance integration software products; growth in market demand for Web services and integration; IONA's sales model; volume, timing and seasonal patterns of product sales; impact of competitive products and pricing; development, launch and market acceptance of new and improved products; the integration of any future acquisitions; undetected errors in software; and general economic conditions, including their effect on the acquisition of new accounts and the time required to close sales transactions. For a more detailed discussion of the risks and uncertainties, please refer to our most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F and other periodic reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements in this press release, which are current only as of the date when made. You should not expect that these forward-looking statements will be updated or supplemented as a result of changing circumstances or otherwise, and IONA disavows and disclaims any obligation to do so.

IONA, IONA Technologies, the IONA logo, Orbix, High Performance Integration, Artix, Mobile Orchestrator and Making Software Work Together are trademarks or registered trademarks of IONA Technologies PLC and/or its subsidiaries. CORBA is a trademark or registered trademark of the Object Management Group, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks that may appear herein are the property of their respective owners.

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