Corporate Decision-Makers Address Strategic Alignment of Business Investments.

LONGMONT, Colo. -- September Conference will Highlight Best Practice Investment Planning Solutions Currently Sought by Top Organizations

A premier industry association is taking a leadership role in helping decision-makers deploy and manage enterprise portfolio investments that generate maximum return by meeting corporate goals and objectives.

For over 20 years, the Artemis Users Association (AUA), an independently run, international consortium of experienced, professional project and portfolio managers, planners, schedulers, resource managers, and IT support personnel, has played a key role in directing best practices in the project and investment management arena to achieve these goals.

The AUA will mark its 23rd anniversary this year with its annual U.S. Conference in September. Participating companies represent a variety of industries including energy and utilities, pharmaceutical, technology, aerospace and defense, manufacturing, financial services, telecommunications and government agencies. AUA members include GE, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Rolls Royce, Philips Medical Systems, Exelon, Pfizer, Dupont, Nokia, Schering-Plough, EDS, USAA, NASDAQ, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, M&T Bank, Starbucks, and Travelers Express, Alcatel, Dresdner Bank, Essilor, Eurofighter, France Telecom, La Poste, Michelin, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Nissan Motor Co., Siemens, T-Systems, Telecom Italia, and Toshiba.

AUA is focused on driving the agenda for the solutions offered by Artemis, a leading global provider of investment planning and control solutions that help organizations execute strategy through effective portfolio and project management. Artemis attendees, including senior executives, consultants, training staff, development staff, and support staff among others, are there to garner feedback from Artemis users in the form of Client Involvement Workshops and Special Interest Groups. Interactions range from formal presentations and training sessions to less formal workshops and discussions between Artemis users and staff. The alliance between Artemis and the AUA is significant in enabling both groups to work toward the same goals.

"As a preeminent industry forum, the AUA leverages a collective knowledge of the sophisticated management requirements that are driving today's business strategies around investment planning and project management," said AUA president Kevin Byrnes. "Our membership is dedicated to continually finding ways to better execute those strategies to gain maximum return on investment for their organizations."

Among the AUA's most significant initiatives are the formation of solution-centric Special Interest Groups for IT Management, New Product Development, Fleet and Asset Optimization, Public Investment Management, and Aerospace and Defense Program Management. AUA Special Interest Groups drill down to identify solutions along business issues, looking at the challenges that are faced in each particular discipline. The Special Interest Groups advance education in the specific disciplines through workshops and promote informal access to a wide range of individuals and organizations involved in each area. Members are involved in the design, implementation and use of processes, tools and techniques used to manage resources seeking to understand the issues and best practices employed by major corporations to improve the value of their investments, programs and projects.

AUA also sponsors Customer Involvement Workshops to discuss specific Artemis solution features and functionality. Through this unique technical forum, AUA significantly shapes and improves the best practices that Artemis delivers to customers.

Byrnes noted more mature solutions such as the Investment Planning and Control(TM) framework from Artemis, as opposed to tools and applications, are taking a more central focus at the conference this year. Over the past few months, leading analyst groups including META Group, Gartner Inc. and AMR Research have recognized the benefits of Artemis' Investment Planning and Control framework, which provides a tangible demonstration of strategy by helping decision-makers focus on investments that generate maximum value, linking the portfolio of investments to business goals, achieving the right balance and mix of investments, optimizing the value of the portfolio by prioritizing and funding the most valuable investments, and ensuring actual execution and performance is in line with business objectives.

The 2004 AUA Conference will be held September 24-29, 2004, at the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel and Marina. More information can be found at the association's website: www.aisc.com/aua/.

About The Artemis Users Association

Founded in 1981, the Artemis Users Association is organized and operated by and for the benefit of users of products sold by Artemis International Solutions. The AUA provides a forum for users to share the benefits of their combined experience with Artemis products and to collectively interface with Artemis International Solutions Corporation.