<PAGE>   1

                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

                                    FORM 10-Q

(MARK ONE)

[X]  QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OF 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES
     EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

     FOR THE QUARTERLY PERIOD ENDED JUNE 30, 1998 OR

[ ]  TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES
     EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

     COMMISSION FILE NUMBER 0-20059


                                   ----------


                              ARDENT SOFTWARE, INC.
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)


          DELAWARE                                             04-2818132
(State or other jurisdiction of                            (I.R.S. Employer
incorporation or organization)                             Identification No.)


        50 WASHINGTON STREET                                   01581-1021
       WESTBORO, MASSACHUSETTS                                 (Zip Code)
(Address of principal executive offices)


REGISTRANT'S TELEPHONE NUMBER, INCLUDING AREA CODE:          (508) 366-3888

                                   ----------

     Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports
required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the
registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such
filing requirements for the past 90 days.

     YES  [X]                  NO [ ]
 
     The number of shares outstanding of each of the registrant's classes of
common stock as of:

     DATE                      CLASS                       OUTSTANDING SHARES
June 30, 1998        Common stock, $.01 par value             14,726,649




                                       1

<PAGE>   2

                              ARDENT SOFTWARE, INC.
 
                                    FORM 10-Q

                       FOR THE QUARTER ENDED JUNE 30, 1998



                                TABLE OF CONTENTS

                                                          PAGE NUMBERING IN
                                                    SEQUENTIAL NUMBERING SYSTEM
                                                    ---------------------------

PART I     FINANCIAL INFORMATION                                     
                                                                     
Item 1.    Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements               
                                                                     
           Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of               
                                                                     
           June 30, 1998 and December 31, 1997                               3  
                                                                                
           Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations                      
           for the   three and six months ended June 30, 1998                   
           and June 29, 1997                                                 4  
                                                                                
           Condensed Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income             
           (Loss) for the three and six months ended June 30, 1998 and          
           June 29, 1997                                                     5  
                                                                                
           Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the              
           six months ended June 30, 1998 and June 29, 1997                  6  
                                                                                
           Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements              7  
                                                                                
Item 2.    Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial                    
                                                                                
           Condition and Results of Operations                               9  
                                                                                
PART II    OTHER INFORMATION                                                    
                                                                                
Item 1.    Legal Proceedings                                                15  
                                                                                
Item 4.    Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders              15  
                                                                                
Item 6.    Exhibits and Reports on Form 8-K                                 16  
                                                                                
           Signatures                                                       17  
                                                                                
           


                                       2

<PAGE>   3
Part I  FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Item 1. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

                              Ardent Software, Inc.
                      Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
                                 (in thousands)

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                  June 30,        Dec. 31,
ASSETS                                                             1998            1997
                                                                  -------         ------- 
<S>                                                              <C>              <C>     
Current assets:
   Cash and equivalents                                           $19,434         $24,155 
   Accounts receivable - net                                       20,345          21,161 
   Prepaid expenses, deferred income taxes                                      
      and other current assets                                      8,575           7,546 
                                                                  -------         ------- 
     Total current assets                                          48,354          52,862 
                                                                  -------         ------- 
                                                                                          
Property and equipment - net                                        6,345          15,916 
                                                                  -------         ------- 
                                                                                          
Long-term assets:                                                                         
   Intangible assets - net                                          9,866          10,616 
   Other long-term assets                                          10,166           8,020 
                                                                  -------         ------- 
     Total long-term assets                                        20,032          18,636 
                                                                  -------         ------- 
                                                                                          
Total assets                                                      $74,731         $87,414 
                                                                  =======         ======= 
                                                                                          
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY                                                      
Current liabilities:                                                                      
   Line of credit                                                 $    --         $ 7,357 
   Accounts payable                                                 5,082           4,995 
   Accrued expenses and other current liabilities                  18,800          14,103 
   Accrued merger and restructuring costs                           4,063           1,068 
   Deferred revenue                                                16,922          13,248 
                                                                  -------         ------- 
     Total current liabilities                                     44,867          40,771 
                                                                  -------         ------- 
                                                                                          
Long-term liabilities:                                                                    
   Non-current debt and other long-term liabilities                 6,758          21,190 
                                                                  -------         ------- 
                                                                                          
Stockholders' equity                                               26,062          28,409 
Cost of treasury stock                                             (2,956)         (2,956)       
                                                                  -------         ------- 
     Total stockholders' equity                                    23,106          25,453 
                                                                  -------         ------- 
                                                                                          
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity                        $74,731         $87,414 
                                                                  =======         ======= 
                                                                                          
</TABLE>



                                       3

<PAGE>   4

                     Ardent Software, Inc. and Subsidiaries
                 Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
                      (In thousands, except per share data)

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                         Three Months Ended            Six Months Ended
                                                       ---------------------         ---------------------
                                                       June 30,      June 29,        June 30,      June 29,
                                                         1998          1997           1998           1997
                                                       -------       -------         -------       -------
<S>                                                    <C>           <C>             <C>           <C>    

Revenue:
   Software                                            $17,460       $16,193         $32,252       $29,494
   Services and other                                   11,777        11,519          22,695        22,012
                                                       -------       -------         -------       -------
     Total revenue                                      29,237        27,712          54,947        51,506
                                                       -------       -------         -------       -------

Costs and expenses:
   Cost of software                                      1,884         1,881           3,555         3,953
   Cost of services and other                            5,597         6,336          10,952        12,283
   Selling and marketing                                 9,924        10,014          19,213        19,252
   Product development                                   4,543         4,214           8,783         7,889
   General and administrative                            2,578         3,297           5,206         6,238
   Merger costs                                             --            --          14,895            --
                                                       -------       -------         -------       -------
     Total costs and expenses                           24,526        25,742          62,604        49,615
                                                       -------       -------         -------       -------

Income (loss) from operations                            4,711         1,970          (7,657)        1,891

Other income (expense) - net                               (76)         (432)             78          (949)
                                                       -------       -------         -------       -------

Income (loss) before provision for income taxes          4,635         1,538          (7,579)          942

Provision for (benefit from) income taxes                1,667           595          (1,190)          534
                                                       -------       -------         -------       -------

Net income (loss)                                      $ 2,968       $   943         $(6,389)      $   408
                                                       =======       =======         =======       =======

Basic income (loss) per common share                   $  0.20       $  0.07         $ (0.44)      $  0.03
                                                       =======       =======         =======       =======

Basic shares used in calculation                        14,618        13,570          14,412        13,713
                                                       =======       =======         =======       =======

Diluted income (loss) per common share                 $  0.18       $  0.07         $ (0.44)      $  0.03
                                                       =======       =======         =======       =======

Diluted shares used in calculation                      16,753        14,251          14,412        14,211
                                                       =======       =======         =======       =======

</TABLE>







                                       4

<PAGE>   5

                              Ardent Software, Inc.
         Condensed Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income (Loss)
                                 (In thousands)


<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                          Three Months Ended          Six Months Ended
                                        ---------------------       ---------------------
                                        June 30,      June 29,      June 30,      June 29,
                                          1998          1997         1998           1997
                                        -------       -------       -------       -------
<S>                                      <C>           <C>             <C>          <C>

Net income (loss)                        $2,968        $  943        $(6,389)       $408
Change in translation adjustment            249           266            158         154
                                         ------        ------        -------        ----
  Comprehensive net income (loss)        $3,217        $1,209        $(6,231)       $562
                                         ======        ======        =======        ====

</TABLE>







                                       5

<PAGE>   6

                     Ardent Software, Inc. and Subsidiaries
                 Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
                                 (In thousands)

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                     Six Months Ended
                                                                 ------------------------
                                                                 June 30,         June 29,
                                                                   1998            1997
                                                                 --------         -------  
<S>                                                              <C>              <C> 

Cash flows from operating activities:
Net income (loss)                                                $ (6,389)        $   408  
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net                                          
 cash provided by operating activities:                                                    
 Depreciation and amortization                                      3,260           4,505  
 Amortization of restricted stock awards                               14              14  
 Loss on disposal of assets                                         1,023              88  
 Deferred income taxes                                             (2,937)            220  
 Increase (decrease)in cash from:                                                          
    Current assets                                                  1,910           5,637  
    Current liabilities                                            12,157          (2,681) 
                                                                 --------         -------  
     Cash provided by operating activities                          9,038           8,191  
                                                                 --------         -------  
                                                                                           
Cash flows from investing activities:                                                      
 Expenditures for property and equipment-net                         (946)         (1,387) 
 Expenditures for capitalized software costs                       (1,669)         (1,167) 
 Increase in cash surrender value of officers' life                                        
   insurance and deposits and other                                (1,815)           (736) 
                                                                 --------         -------  
      Cash used in investing activities                            (4,430)         (3,290) 
                                                                 --------         -------  
                                                                                           
Cash flows from financing activities:                                                      
 Borrowings under line-of-credit arrangements                       7,720             600  
 Repayments under line-of-credit arrangements                      (8,357)         (2,212) 
 Sale of common stock                                               3,871             558  
 Repurchase of common stock                                            --              --    
 Repayments under capital lease and other obligations             (12,352)           (235) 
                                                                 --------         -------  
     Cash used in financing activities                             (9,118)         (1,289) 
                                                                 --------         -------  
                                                                                           
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash                              (211)           (132) 
                                                                 --------         -------  
                                                                                           
Increase (decrease) in cash and equivalents                        (4,721)          3,480  
                                                                                           
Cash and equivalents, beginning of period                          24,155          15,545  
                                                                 --------         -------  
Cash and equivalents, end of period                              $ 19,434         $19,025  
                                                                 ========         =======  
</TABLE>










                                       6


<PAGE>   7


              NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

1.   Basis of Presentation

     The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have
     been prepared by the Company pursuant to the rules and regulations of the
     Securities and Exchange Commission regarding interim financial reporting.
     Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes
     required by generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial
     statements and should be read in conjunction with the audited financial
     statements included in the Company's Annual Report to Stockholders for the
     year ended December 31, 1997 and the Company's Registration Statement on
     Form S-4, filed on December 31, 1997, related to the merger with Unidata,
     Inc. ("Unidata").

     In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited condensed
     consolidated financial statements have been prepared on the same basis as
     the audited consolidated financial statements and include all adjustments,
     consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, necessary for a fair
     presentation of the interim periods presented. The operating results for
     the interim periods presented are not necessarily indicative of the results
     which would be expected for the full year.

     On February 10, 1998, the Company merged with Unidata. The merger was
     accounted for as a pooling-of-interests and, accordingly, the consolidated
     financial statements have been restated to include the accounts of Unidata
     for all fiscal periods presented.

2.   Income (Loss) Per Common Share

     Basic income (loss) per common share is computed using the weighted average
     number of common shares outstanding during each period presented. Diluted
     income (loss) per common share reflects the effect of the Company's
     outstanding options (using the treasury stock method), except where such
     items would be anti-dilutive.

3.   Income Taxes

     The Company provides for income taxes at the end of each interim period
     based on the estimated effective tax rate for the full fiscal year,
     adjusted for significant non-deductible costs. Cumulative adjustments to
     the tax provision are recorded in the interim period in which a change in
     the estimated annual effective rate is determined.

4.   Litigation

     The Company is a defendant, together with certain of its officers, in two
     actions initially filed in October 1995 in the U.S. District Court in the
     District of Massachusetts. Those actions have been consolidated through the
     filing of a Consolidated Amended Complaint (the "Complaint"). The
     plaintiffs allege in the Complaint that the Company and certain of its
     officers, during July through October 1995, made certain untrue statements
     and failed to disclose certain information regarding the Company's
     prospective financial performance in violation of Section 10(b) of the
     Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder and that such
     statements and omissions artificially inflated the market prices of the
     Company's stock. The plaintiffs purport to bring the actions on behalf of
     certain classes of stockholders and seek damages in unspecified amounts.
     The Company has denied the allegations in its answer to the Complaint. The
     discovery stage of the proceeding is




                                       7
<PAGE>   8

     now substantially complete. Although the Company's motion for summary
     judgement has been denied, management of the Company believes that the
     actions are without merit and plans to continue to oppose them vigorously.

     The Company is a defendant in two actions filed against Unidata prior to
     its merger into the Company, one in May 1996 in the U.S. District Court for
     the Western District of Washington and one in September 1996 in the U.S.
     District Court for the District of Colorado. The plaintiff, a company
     controlled by a former stockholder of Unidata and a distributor of its
     products in certain parts of Asia, alleges in both suits the improper
     distribution of certain Unidata products in the plaintiff's exclusive
     territory and asserts damages of approximately $30,000,000 under claims for
     fraud, breach of contract, unfair competition, RICO violations, and
     trademark and copyright infringement, among other relief. Unidata denied
     the allegations against it in its answers to the complaints and the
     proceedings are currently in their early stages. Management of the Company
     believes that the actions against it are without merit and plans to oppose
     them vigorously.

     The Company is a defendant in an action brought in the U.S. District Court
     for the Southern District of Ohio. The plaintiff, with whom the Company
     entered into a joint venture in 1996 to develop the Object Studio product,
     alleges in its complaint that the Company is obligated to support the joint
     venture in amounts up to $1,400,000 per year for an aggregate present value
     liability of up to $8,000,000. Although the Company has not yet answered
     the complaint, it believes the allegations are without merit and intends to
     oppose them vigorously and assert certain counterclaims against the
     plaintiff.

5.   Acquisition Costs

     In connection with the merger with Unidata, the Company recorded a one-time
     charge for merger costs of $14,895,000 in March, 1998. Included in these
     costs were $3,910,000 for financial advisor, legal and accounting fees
     related to the merger and $10,985,000 for costs associated with the
     combining operations of the two companies including expenditures of
     $6,209,000 for severance, benefits and other, $2,170,000 for closure of
     facilities and $2,606,000 for the write-off of redundant assets. As of June
     30, 1998, $3,183,000 remains unpaid, comprised principally of severance and
     facility costs.

6.   Comprehensive Income (Loss)

     Effective January 1, 1998, the Company adopted the Statement of Financial
     Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 130, "Reporting Comprehensive Income,"
     which requires the presentation of an additional primary financial
     statement providing a prominent display of the components of items of other
     comprehensive income. The only item that the Company currently records as
     other comprehensive income is the change in cumulative translation
     adjustment resulting from the changes in exchange rates and the effect of
     those changes upon translation of the financial statements of the Company's
     foreign operations. As of June 30, 1998 and December 31, 1997 the
     cumulative translation adjustment was $3,000 and ($155,000), respectively.





                                       8
<PAGE>   9


ITEM 2  MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS
        OF OPERATIONS.


                              VMARK SOFTWARE, INC.
           MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION
                            AND RESULTS OF OPERATION

INTRODUCTION

On February 10, 1998, the Company completed the merger with Unidata, Inc. The
merger was accounted for as a pooling-of-interests, and the accompanying
financial statements have been restated to include the accounts of Unidata, Inc.
with those of the Company for all fiscal periods presented.

The discussion which follows analyzes the combined results of operations for the
three and six months ended June 30, 1998 and the comparable fiscal periods in
1997.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following table sets forth certain data as a percentage of total revenue for
the three and six months ended June 30, 1998 and the comparable fiscal periods
in 1997.

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                       Three Months Ended           Six Months Ended
                                      ---------------------      -----------------------  
                                      June 30,      June 29,     June 30,        June 29,
                                        1998         1997          1998           1997
                                      -------       -------      -------         -------
<S>                                     <C>           <C>           <C>            <C>  

Revenue:
  Software                              59.7%         58.4%         58.7%          57.3%
  Services and other                    40.3          41.6          41.3           42.7
                                       -----         -----         -----          -----
    Total revenue                      100.0         100.0         100.0          100.0
                                       -----         -----         -----          -----

Costs and expenses:

  Costs of software                      6.5           6.8           6.5            7.7
  Costs of services and other           19.1          22.9          19.9           23.8
  Selling and marketing                 34.0          36.1          35.0           37.4
  Product development                   15.5          15.2          16.0           15.3
  General and administrative             8.8          11.9           9.5           12.1
  Merger costs                            --            --          27.1             --
                                       -----         -----         -----          -----
    Total costs and expenses            83.9          92.9         114.0           96.3
                                       -----         -----         -----          -----

Income (loss) from operations           16.1%          7.1%        (14.0)%          3.7%
                                       =====         =====         =====          =====
</TABLE>


REVENUE

The Company's total revenue increased 6% to $29,237,000 in the second quarter of
1998 from $27,712,000 in the second quarter of 1997 and increased 7% to
$54,947,000 for the first six months of 1998 from $51,506,000 for the first six
months of 1997. This increase in revenue is primarily due to the increase in
sales of the data warehouse and object database product lines.

Software revenue for the second quarter and first six months of 1998 increased
by 8% and 9%, respectively, from the comparable periods in 1997. This increase
is due principally to the increase in DataStage revenue which represented
approximately 16% and 15% for the three and six months ended June 30, 1998
compared to 5% and 4% for the three and six months ended June 29, 1997. The
increase in the object database product, O2 System, also contributed to the
increase in software revenue. The object database product was acquired through
the 




                                       9
<PAGE>   10

acquisition of O2 Technology on December 31, 1997, and therefore was not
included in the 1997 results of operations.

Software revenue increased to 60% and 59% of total revenue in the second quarter
and first six months of 1998 compared to 58% and 57% for the same fiscal periods
in 1997.

Services and other revenue, consisting of consulting, training, and software
maintenance increased slightly by 2% and 3% for the quarter and six months ended
June 30, 1998, as compared to the quarter and six months ended June 30, 1997.
This increase is due primarily to the services revenue associated with the
DataStage and O2 System products. The combined service revenue attributable to
these two products represented 9% and 8% for the three and six months ended June
30, 1998, compared to less than 1% for the comparable periods in the prior year.

Services and other revenue decreased to 40% and 41% of total revenue in the
three months and six months ended June 30, 1998, compared to 42% and 43% for the
same fiscal periods in 1997.

COSTS OF SOFTWARE

Costs of software, which consists of amortization of technology licenses and
capitalized software, product royalties, product documentation, packaging, media
and production costs, remained flat at $1,884,000 for the second quarter of 1998
as compared to $1,881,000 for the comparable period in the prior year, and
decreased 10% to $3,555,000 for the six months ended June 30, 1998 from
$3,953,000 for the six months ended June 29, 1997. Cost of software as a
percentage of total revenue remained constant at 7% for the second quarter of
1998 and 1997. This percentage decreased slightly for the six months ended June
30, 1998 to 7% from 8% for the six months ended June 29, 1997. These relatively
flat levels of expense year over year are due to the fixed nature of these costs
and the minimal change in the mix of product revenue with associated royalties.

COSTS OF SERVICES AND OTHER

Costs of services and other, which consist of consulting, training, and other
customer support service costs decreased 12% to $5,597,000 for the second
quarter and decreased 11% to $10,952,000 for the first six months of 1998 as
compared to the same periods of the prior year. The profit margin associated
with services and other revenue increased to 52% from 44% for the first six
months of 1998 as compared to the first six months of 1997 and increased to 52%
for the second quarter of 1998 from 45% for the second quarter of 1997. This
decrease in costs, and the resulting increase in profit margins, is due to a
higher percentage of services and other revenue in 1998 being comprised of
customer maintenance support revenue which typically has a higher profit margin
than training and consulting services revenue. Maintenance represented
approximately 70% of services and other revenue in the six months ended June 30,
1998 compared to 60% in the six months ended June 29, 1997.

SELLING AND MARKETING

Selling and marketing expenses, which consist primarily of sales organization
costs and marketing programs, decreased to 34% and 35% of total revenue or
$9,924,000 and $19,213,000 in the quarter and six months ended June 30, 1998 as
compared to 36% and 37% of total revenue or $10,014,000 and $19,252,000 in the
comparable periods of the prior year. The relatively flat levels of spending
year over year is due to the increase in the investment in the DataStage product
offset by the decrease in selling and marketing programs for the relational
database technology and tools products. The selling and marketing resources have
been reallocated to the new technology, which represented 51% of spending for
selling and marketing in 1998 as compared to 5% in 1997.




                                       10
<PAGE>   11
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Product development expenses, which consist primarily of salaries and related
benefits of development personnel and facility costs, increased 8% to $4,543,000
in the second quarter of 1998 and increased 11% to $8,783,000 in the first six
months of 1998, as compared to the same fiscal periods of the prior year.
Product development expenses as a percentage of revenue were 16% for the first
quarter and the first six months of 1998, as compared to 15% for the same fiscal
periods in 1997. The increase in spending is due primarily to the development
efforts dedicated to the DataStage and O2 System products. The Company allocated
57% of its research and development funds into these new technologies in the
first six months of 1998 compared to 6% in the first six months of 1997.
Relational database technology and tools development represented 43% of research
and development costs in the first six months on 1998 as compared to 94% in
1997.

GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE

General and administrative expenses include the costs of finance, human
resources, legal, information systems, and administrative departments of the
Company. General and administrative expenses decreased 22% in the second quarter
of 1998 to $2,578,000 from $3,297,000 in the comparable period of 1997. General
and administrative expenses decreased 17% to $5,206,000 in the first six months
of 1998 from $6,238,000 for the six months ended June 29, 1997. This decrease is
due to the elimination of duplicate positions and facilities in conjunction with
the merger of the Company and Unidata.

MERGER COSTS

The Company recorded a one time charge of $14,895,000 associated with the merger
with Unidata in the quarter ended March 31, 1998. This amount included
$3,910,000 for financial advisor, legal, and accounting fees related to the
merger and $10,985,000 for costs associated with the combining operations of the
two companies including expenditures of $6,209,000 for severance, benefits and
other, $2,170,000 for closure of facilities and $2,606,000 for the write-off of
redundant assets. As of June 30, 1998, $3,183,000 remains unpaid comprised
principally of severance and facility costs.

INCOME TAXES

The Company recorded a provision for income taxes of $1,667,000 for the second
quarter of 1998 and a benefit of $1,190,000 for the first six months of 1998
compared to provisions of $595,000 and $534,000 for the same periods in 1997.
The effective tax rate recorded in the quarter ended June 30, 1998 was 36% which
is consistent with the statutory rate. The benefit for the six months ended June
30, 1998 represents an effective tax rate of 16%. This effective tax rate is
substantially less than the statutory rate due to certain non-deductible merger
charges incurred in the first quarter of 1998.

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

The Company has funded its operations to date primarily through sales of equity
securities and positive cash flow from operations. At June 30, 1998 the Company
had $19,434,000 in cash and cash equivalents and $3,487,000 ($20,409,000
excluding deferred revenue, the satisfaction of which will have no significant
cash impact) in working capital. The Company has a working capital line of
credit with a bank under which the Company may borrow, on a secured basis, up to
the lesser of $12,500,000 or 80% of eligible domestic accounts receivable and
70-80% of eligible foreign accounts receivable, conditioned upon meeting certain
financial covenants, including maintaining specified levels of quarterly
earnings, tangible net worth and liquidity. The line of credit also limits the
Company's ability to pay dividends. At June 30, 1998, there was $6,720,000
outstanding under the Company's line of credit which has been classified under
long-term liabilities as the line of credit expires in March 2000. There was
approximately $1,500,000 available for borrowing under the line of credit at
June 30, 1998.

The Company believes that its available cash, anticipated cash generated from
operations based upon its operating plan and amounts available under its credit
facility will be sufficient to finance the Company's operations and meet its
foreseeable cash requirements at least for the next twelve months.

During the quarter, the Company transferred its rights to certain accounts
receivable to a finance company in exchange for cash payments from the finance
company. Total cash received by the Company in the quarter ended June 30, 1998
under these arrangements totaled approximately $3,000,000.

RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENT

In June 1997, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) released Statement
of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 130, "Reporting Comprehensive
Income," and SFAS 131, "Disclosure About Segments of an Enterprise and Related
Information," both of which were adopted by the Company in the first quarter of
1998. SFAS 130 requires the Company to provide a prominent display of the
components of items of other comprehensive income. SFAS 131 requires the Company
to provide information about segments of its business based upon discrete
components of its businesses; such information will be provided in the Company's
Annual 




                                       11
<PAGE>   12

Report on Form 10-K.

In June 1998, the FASB released SFAS No. 133, "Accounting for Derivative
Instruments and Hedging Activities," which the Company will be required to adopt
effective January 1, 2000. SFAS No. 133 establishes standards for reporting and
accounting for derivatives instruments, and conforms the requirements for
treatment of hedging activities across the different types of exposures hedged.
The Company has not yet completed its evaluation of SFAS No. 133, but does not
expect it to significantly affect the accounting and reporting of its current
hedging program.

EUROPEAN UNION CURRENCY CONVERSION

On January 1, 1999, eleven of the fifteen member countries are scheduled to
establish fixed conversion rates between their existing sovereign currencies and
the euro. The participating countries have agreed to adopt the euro as their
common legal currency on that date.

The Company has begun to assess the potential impact to the Company that may
result from the euro conversion. In addition to tax and accounting
considerations, the Company is assessing the potential impact from the euro
conversion in a number of areas, including the technological challenges to adapt
information technology, the competitive impact of cross-border price
transparency, the impact on currency exchange costs and currency exchange rate
risk, and the impact on existing contracts. At this early stage of its
assessment, the Company can not yet predict the anticipated impact of the euro
conversion on the Company.

YEAR 2000

    The Company has conducted a review of its computer systems to identify those
areas that could be affected by the "Year 2000" issue. The Company presently
believes, with modification to the existing software, the "Year 2000" problem
will not pose significant operational problems and costs to complete this
process are not anticipated to be material to its financial position or results
of operations in any given year.




                                       12
<PAGE>   13

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT

When used anywhere in this Form 10-Q and in future filings by the Company with
the Securities and Exchange Commission, in the Company's press releases and in
oral statements made with the approval of an authorized executive officer of the
Company, the words or phrases "will likely result", "are expected to", "will
continue", "is anticipated", "estimated", "project", "outlook" or similar
expressions (including confirmations by an authorized executive officer of the
Company of any such expressions made by a third party with respect to the
Company) are intended to identify "forward-looking statements," which speak only
as of the date made. Such statements are subject to certain risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from
historical earnings and those presently anticipated or projected. Certain of
such risks and uncertainties are set forth below and in Part II of the Company's
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1997. The Company
specifically declines any obligation to publicly release the result of any
revisions which may be made to any forward-looking statements to reflect
anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances occurring after the date of
such statements.

FACTORS AFFECTING FUTURE RESULTS

The Company operates in a rapidly changing environment that involves a number of
risks, many of which are beyond the Company's control. The following discussion
highlights some of these risks.

The Company's future operating results may vary substantially from period to
period. The timing and amount of the Company's license fee revenues are subject
to a number of factors that make estimation of revenues and operating results
prior to the end of the quarter extremely uncertain. Quarterly fluctuations may
be caused by several factors including but not limited to timing of customer
orders, adjustments of delivery schedules to accommodate customer or regulatory
requirements, timing and level of international sales, mix of products sold, and
timing of level of expenditures for sales, marketing and new product
development. The Company generally ships its products upon receipt of orders and
maintains no significant backlog. The company has experienced a pattern of
recording 60 percent to 80 percent of its quarterly revenues in the third month
of the quarter, with a concentration of such revenues in the last two weeks of
that third month. The Company's operating expenses are based on projected annual
and quarterly revenue levels and a substantial portion of the Company's costs
and expenses, including costs of personnel and facilities, cannot be easily
reduced. As a result, if projected revenues are not achieved in the expected
time frame, the Company's results of operations for that quarter would be
adversely affected. Accordingly, the results of any one period may not be
indicative of the operating results for future periods.

The market price of the Company's common stock is highly volatile. Failure to
achieve revenue, earnings, and other operating and financial results as
forecasted or anticipated by analysts could result in an immediate adverse
effect on the market price of the Company's stock.

The Company currently derives a substantial portion of its total revenue from
its core database product, UniVerse and Unidata. The Company's future results
will depend, to a significant extent, on continued market acceptance of this
product as well as market acceptance of new products, such as DataStage and O2
System. Any factor adversely affecting the market for these products would have
a material adverse effect of the Company's business and financial results.

The market for the Company's products is characterized by ongoing technological
developments and changes in customer requirements and industry standards. If the
Company is unable to develop and introduce new products or enhancements in a
timely manner in response to changing market conditions or customer requirements
or if 




                                       13
<PAGE>   14
errors are found in products after commercial shipments, the Company's business
and results of operations will be adversely affected.

Approximately 36% of the Company's total revenue in the quarter ending June 30,
1998 was attributable to international sales made through international
subsidiaries. Because a substantial portion of the Company's total revenue is
derived from such international operations, which are conducted in foreign
currencies, changes in the value of those currencies relative to the United
States dollar may affect the Company's results of operations and financial
position. If, for any reason, exchange or price controls or other restrictions
on the conversion of foreign currencies were imposed, the Company's business
could be adversely affected. Other potential risks inherent in the Company's
international business generally include longer payment cycles, greater
difficulties in accounts receivable collection and the burdens of complying with
a wide variety of foreign laws and regulations.

The market for application development software is intensely competitive. The
Company competes with many companies offering alternative solutions to the needs
addressed by the Company's products. Many of these competitors may have greater
financial, marketing, or technical resources than the Company and may be able to
adapt more quickly to new or emerging technologies and standards or changes in
customer requirements or to devote greater resources to the promotion and sale
of their products than the Company.





                                       14
<PAGE>   15

PART II  OTHER INFORMATION

ITEM 1.  LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

     The Company is a defendant, together with certain of its officers, in two
     actions initially filed in October 1995 in the U.S. District Court in the
     District of Massachusetts. Those actions have been consolidated through the
     filing of a Consolidated Amended Complaint (the "Complaint"). The
     plaintiffs allege in the Complaint that the Company and certain of its
     officers, during July through October 1995, made certain untrue statements
     and failed to disclose certain information regarding the Company's
     prospective financial performance in violation of Section 10(b) of the
     Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder and that such
     statements and omissions artificially inflated the market prices of the
     Company's stock. The plaintiffs purport to bring the actions on behalf of
     certain classes of stockholders and seek damages in unspecified amounts.
     The Company has denied the allegations in its answer to the Complaint. The
     discovery stage of the proceeding is now substantially complete. Although
     the Company's motion for summary judgement has been denied, management of
     the Company believes that the actions are without merit and plans to
     continue to oppose them vigorously.

     The Company is a defendant in two actions filed against Unidata prior to
     its merger into the Company, one in May 1996 in the U.S. District Court for
     the Western District of Washington and one in September 1996 in the U.S.
     District Court for the District of Colorado. The plaintiff, a company
     controlled by a former stockholder of Unidata and a distributor of its
     products in certain parts of Asia, alleges in both suits the improper
     distribution of certain Unidata products in the plaintiff's exclusive
     territory and asserts damages of approximately $30,000,000 under claims for
     fraud, breach of contract, unfair competition, RICO violations, and
     trademark and copyright infringement, among other relief. Unidata denied
     the allegations against it in its answers to the complaints and the
     proceedings are currently in their early stages. Management of the Company
     believes that the actions against it are without merit and plans to oppose
     them vigorously.

     The Company is a defendant in an action brought in the U.S. District Court
     for the Southern District of Ohio. The plaintiff, with whom the Company
     entered into a joint venture in 1996 to develop the Object Studio product,
     alleges in its complaint that the Company is obligated to support the joint
     venture in amounts up to $1,400,000 per year for an aggregate present value
     liability of up to $8,000,000. Although the Company has not yet answered
     the complaint, it believes the allegations are without merit and intends to
     oppose them vigorously and assert certain counterclaims against the
     plaintiff.

ITEMS 2 - 3   NONE

ITEM 4.  SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS

An annual meeting of stockholders of the Company was held on April 30, 1998. Of
the 14,468,119 shares eligible to vote, 12,777,224 were represented at the
meeting. The following matters were approved at the meeting:

1)   The re-election to the Board of Directors of James T. Dresher and Robert M.
     Morrill, each for a term of three years expiring in 2000. Dresher received
     favorable votes of 12,713,983 shares and Morrill received favorable votes
     of 12,733,856.




                                       15
<PAGE>   16

ITEM 5.  NONE.

ITEM 6.  EXHIBITS AND REPORTS ON FORM 8-K

         (a)   Exhibits

         27    Financial Data Schedule

         (b)   The Company did not file a report on Form 8-K during the quarter
               ended June 30, 1998.






                                       16
<PAGE>   17



                                   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.



                                      Ardent Software, Inc.
                                      (Registrant)


                                       /s/ Peter Gyenes
Dated: August 14, 1998                ------------------------------------------
                                      Peter Gyenes
                                      President and Chief Executive Officer
                                      (principal executive officer)




                                       /s/ Charles F. Kane
Dated: August 14,  1998               ------------------------------------------
                                      Charles F. Kane
                                      Vice President, Finance
                                      and Chief Financial Officer
                                      (principal finance and accounting officer)