SPE.L Regulatory News (SPE)

6 Feb 2008 07:01

Sopheon PLC06 February 2008 Embargoed Release: 07:00hrs Wednesday 6 February 2008 SOPHEON PLC ("Sopheon" or the "Group") Product Development Sopheon, the international provider of software and services that improve thefinancial return from innovation and product development investments, announcesthe introduction of the world's first software solution that ties strategicmarket, product and technology roadmapping directly to the operational aspectsof product development. The solution was created by integrating the Group'sAccolade(R) product portfolio and process management software with the latestversion of the strategic product planning software, Vision Strategist(tm)('VS').Sopheon acquired VS through its purchase of Alignent Software Inc in June 2007. An estimated 65% of companies struggle to keep product portfolios anddevelopment activity aligned with corporate strategic plans. A principal reasonis that in most organisations, product planning and product developmentexecution are independent, complex processes. What's more, they are typicallycarried out by multiple, geographically dispersed teams and functions withinsufficient emphasis on making sure that innovation projects fit the business'long-term product strategies. Sopheon's new solution captures and manages thedetailed, up-to-date project data needed to support gate and portfoliodecision-making, while simultaneously modeling short and long-term scenariosaround market factors to inform planning decisions. Gate decisions improvebecause they consider strategic plans, and operational and external issues. Atthe same time, roadmapping decisions are made more dynamically and with greaterconfidence because they leverage accurate, up-to-date details on currentprojects. The result is stronger synchronization between product innovationplanning and execution, helping companies to create a continuous innovationstream that predictably and reliably supports achievement of corporate goals. Central to today's announcement is version 4.0 of Sopheon's Vision Strategistproduct planning and roadmapping solution, which was completed in December.Earlier versions of VS have been deployed by a broad range of companies,including leading manufacturers such as BAE Systems, Corning, Honeywell,Medtronic, Motorola and Northrop Grumman, and government entities such as theU.S. Navy and Air Force. Recent studies found that approximately 30% ofcompanies now use roadmaps; the same research showed that twice as many topperformers in product innovation employ roadmaps compared to poor performers.Roadmaps created by the VS system can be used to project and analyze - in ahighly visual manner - the future of everything from products, technologies andmarkets to the competitive landscape. The software is pre-populated withbest-practice charts and reports that allow users to generate presentations andother deliverables with ease. Suresh Verma, lead science & technology strategic planner for the Naval AirSystems Command (NAVAIR), commented: "Our success as a developer of weapons systems depends upon being able toanticipate the direction of key technologies and make the right investmentdecisions. We're rolling out Sopheon's Vision Strategist within our PMA 209Common Avionics organization, one of NAVAIR's key programs. The solution allowsus to chart and analyze the impact that forecasted events and trends will haveon the technologies that we expect to be core to the Navy's capabilities in thefuture. That is an enormous performance advantage." -Ends- For further information contact: Barry Mence, Chairman Sopheon plc Tel: + 44 (0) 1483 685 735Arif Karimjee, CFOAndrew Tan Hansard Communications Tel: + 44 (0) 207 245 1100 + 44 (0) 7957 203 685Claire Verhagen Citigate First Financial Tel: + 31 (0) 205 754 010David Newton Seymour Pierce Tel: + 44 (0) 207 107 8000 About Sopheon plc Sopheon (LSE: SPE) is an international provider of software and services thathelp organizations improve the business impact of product innovation. Sopheon'ssolutions automate and govern the innovation process, enabling companies toincrease revenue and profits from new products. Sopheon is listed on the AIMMarket of the London Stock Exchange and on the Euronext in the Netherlands. Formore information, please visit www.sopheon.com. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange