Centra's Online Learning and Training Software Increases Customer Retention and Technical Support Efficiency at Cognex.

LEXINGTON, Mass. -- World's leading supplier of machine vision systems improves global learning initiatives for customers and sales force

Centra Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTRA), a leading provider of software and services for online learning and training, today announced that Cognex (NASDAQ: CGNX), the world's leading supplier of machine vision systems, is keeping their sales force current, increasing customer retention and delivering higher ROI to its customer base by implementing Centra as their eLearning solution. Centra provides a blended eLearning delivery solution that helps organizations lower corporate education costs, enhance productivity and accelerate knowledge transfer across the extended enterprise.

"Customer and new employee product courses have dramatically improved using Centra's solutions, and the burden to Cognex technical support has been greatly reduced. Before Centra, some customers would call our technical support engineers to learn how to use our products instead of attending a class. We are always willing to help our customers, but this is an inefficient way to learn our products," said Dr. Cliff Fitzgerald, senior manager, Worldwide Educational Services, Cognex. "Providing online product courses using Centra makes learning more convenient. Knowledgeable customers are more successful, satisfied, and stay with Cognex products. Since implementing Centra, I have received many emails from customers extolling the value of Centra's online courses. And our technical support engineers can do what they do best: solve customer problems."

Prior to implementing Centra in March 2000, Cognex held classroom product courses for customers and employees to better understand the intricacies of their various machine vision systems. However, it soon became clear that because Cognex products provide a wide variety of capabilities, the need for a more efficient customer education tool was necessary. Because Cognex's customers are geographically dispersed, some prefer not to travel to the Natick, Massachusetts headquarters for classroom courses. A customer purchasing one vision sensor could spend nearly half the cost of the product itself on travel costs for two students. Cognex decided it needed a solution that would connect its global customer base remotely allowing for an easier, cost-effective and time-efficient learning experience. Cognex global sales engineers also benefit by receiving regular updates via Centra on the latest Cognex products and vision tools.

Because some of Cognex's products are configured to meet a customer's specific need, each Cognex solution is unique. In order to provide detailed product courses, Cognex has used Centra to implement a just-in-time learning program that provides customers and employees with instant online access to short learning sessions that cover just the tools they immediately need to solve problems unique to their particular Cognex solution. This program also allows customers to view or pause playbacks of specific learning sessions at a later time. Through these 60-90 minute downloadable online learning sessions, Centra facilitates just-in-time learning that is ideal for Cognex's interrupt-driven manufacturing engineering customers.

Cognex's use of Centra for online learning and training has been so successful that the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) has named Cognex an Authorized Provider. As an authorized provider, Cognex has the ability to grant Continuing Education Units (CEU) to employees or customers with a professional engineering license. These CEU's are necessary for renewal of professional engineering licenses, making access to Centra's online courses even more vital to Cognex customers and engineers.

Centra's online training solutions allow an organization to address the needs of the individual and the organization simultaneously; to capture, share, and manage information and skills in a variety of formats to meet the requirements of specific learners or job tasks while delivering highly effective blended learning programs. Centra's solution helps companies better plan, execute, and evaluate every aspect of corporate and customer training strategies. From creation of training materials, delivery of highly interactive virtual classes, and certification reporting, Centra has helped hundreds of organizations like Cognex accelerate knowledge transfer, while significantly lowering costs.

"Cognex's successful use of Centra as a training application speaks to our strength in the eLearning space and the value eLearning can provide to global organizations that have customers spread across the country, or even the continent," said Leon Navickas, CEO of Centra. "We are pleased that Cognex has been able to improve customer retention and sales efficiency through the implementation of Centra."

About Cognex

Cognex Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and markets machine vision systems, or computers that can "see." Cognex is the world's leader in the machine vision industry, having shipped more than 225,000 machine vision systems, representing over $1.7 billion in cumulative revenue, since the company's founding in 1981. Cognex's Modular Vision Systems Division, headquartered in Natick, Massachusetts, specializes in machine vision systems that are used for automating the manufacture of a wide range of discrete items and for assuring their quality. Cognex's Surface Inspection Systems Division, headquartered in Alameda, California, specializes in machine vision systems that are used for inspecting the surfaces of products manufactured in a continuous fashion, such as metals, papers and plastics. In addition to its corporate headquarters in Natick, Massachusetts, Cognex also has regional offices located throughout North America, Japan, Europe, and Southeast Asia. Visit Cognex online at http://www.cognex.com.

About Centra

Online learning and training solutions from Centra create workforce efficiencies and enable organizations to share and exchange business-critical information with geographically distributed customers, partners, prospects and employees. Centra's solutions integrate real-time communications, collaboration and learning and departmental business processes with specialized applications that increase sales effectiveness, improve collaborative learning and accelerate enterprise application rollouts. Currently available in 9 languages, Centra solutions can be deployed as on-site software or through its ASP service and are supported by an active ecosystem of value-added partners, including Siebel, PeopleSoft, SAP and Deloitte Consulting. Organizations across every major industry and market sector choose Centra, including Wyndham International, Weyerhaeuser, Underwriters Laboratories, BMW and Stanford University. Headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts, Centra serves a worldwide customer base throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia. For more information, visit www.centra.com.

Safe Harbor Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

With the exception of the historical information contained in this release, the matters described herein contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, statements about the beliefs and expectations of management regarding the Company's future performance, the Company's strategic initiatives, its ability to achieve and maintain a leadership position in real-time conferencing and collaboration, demand for the Company's software services and management's goals and objectives regarding future results of operations. These statements reflect management's beliefs and expectations as of the date of this statement, and involve risk and uncertainties that may cause actual results, events and performance to differ materially. These risk factors include, but are not limited to, risks associated with the Company's ability to successfully execute its strategic plan, the effect of the Company's cost-cutting measures on its operations, acceptance by customers of the Company's Enterprise Advantage Subscription pricing model, significant changes in our senior management team, customer fulfillment of the entire term of multi-year subscription contracts, uncertainty of market reaction to the Company's sales and marketing efforts, product demand for and market acceptance of the Centra 7 collaboration platform, the Company's ability to sell and deliver its Enterprise Application Rollout and Sales Effectiveness solutions and other future products, the effect of economic conditions generally on the market for IT spending and for the Company's products, the results of future research and development activities, the impact of competitive products and pricing, technological difficulties and/or other factors outside the control of the Company. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to implement its growth and operating plans as anticipated, or achieve its revenue and earnings goals. For a description of additional risks, and uncertainties, please refer to the Company's filings with the SEC, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004 and its Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2005, which are available at www.centra.com/investorrelations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained herein, which speak only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Centra is a registered trademark, and Centra 7 is a trademark of Centra Software, Inc. All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners.