Aras Certified as CMII Compliant by Institute of Configuration Management; Industry Leading Practices for Configuration and Change Management Incorporated into Aras Solutions.

LAWRENCE, Mass. -- Aras Corporation, a premier provider of enterprise product development software solutions for performance driven companies, today announced at the CMII World 2005 Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada that the Institute of Configuration Management has certified Aras Innovator (TM) as CMII compliant to the new, more stringent requirements. The ICM certification validates Aras Innovator's compliance with industry recognized best practices for configuration and change management essential to developing quality products.

The Institute of Configuration Management (ICM) is the leading provider of research, education, training, and certification in the field of configuration management. The ICM defines and administers the CMII certification for configuration and change management which expands the scope of configuration management beyond design definition to include any information that impacts safety, quality, schedule, cost, profit or the environment.

In today's highly competitive, global environment companies of all sizes are applying the CMII principles to improve business performance. Hundreds of leading companies around the world (http://www.icmhq.com/clients1.htm) have adopted the CMII model, and need affordable CMII compliant solutions that deliver strategic results.

"CMII is a methodology for accommodating change and ensuring that design and process-related information remain clear, concise and valid. Our software certification formally verifies the functionality required to support the CMII methodology and we find Aras very robust," said Vincent Guess, president of the Institute of Configuration Management. "We are impressed with the approach that the Aras has taken incorporating the CMII principles into a broad range of strategic business solutions, and are proud to certify Aras as CMII compliant."

"We recognize the benefits CMII delivers for our customers and are pleased to have achieved certification," said Peter Schroer, President of Aras Corporation. "Aras has embraced the CMII model as the basis of our configuration and change management strategy within our solutions because the CMII practices are time-tested and proven effective."

About The Institute of Configuration Management

The Institute of Configuration Management (ICM) is the leading provider of research, education, training and certification in configuration management. ICM evolved from an effort initiated in the 1970 to reengineer and streamline the configuration management process. The set of proven principles derived from that effort were given the name CMII in 1988. Several thousand professionals have since become certified with the ICM. The CMII model is being adopted by a growing number of leading organizations around the world as best industry practice. For additional information visit www.icmhq.com

About Aras Corporation

Aras Corporation delivers practical, affordable product development software solutions for performance driven companies. Product engineering, quality planning, and program management solutions provide a process-oriented approach to product lifecycle management (PLM) helping companies achieve alignment with customer requirements, ensure new product margins, and shorten development cycles. The underlying Aras Innovator(TM) application framework is a next generation model-based, service-oriented architecture (SOA) in Microsoft(R) .NET with unmatched flexibility enabling companies to deploy solutions quickly and adapt easily at a Total Cost of Ownership far lower than conventional enterprise systems. Customers include Rolls-Royce, Freudenberg-NOK, Ingersoll-Rand and ACCO Swingline. Aras is privately held and headquartered in Lawrence, Mass. For additional information call [phone] or visit www.aras.com