iRise Introduces Industry's First Requirements Management Solution for Business Users; iRise Manager Designed to Assist Non-Technical Users in the Definition of Software Applications.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- iRise(R) the world's leading application definition software and services company, today announced the immediate availability of iRise Manager, the industry's first Requirements Management (RM) solution for non-technical users. Designed for business stakeholders involved in the definition of mission-critical business software, iRise Manager provides a cost effective, easy-to-use mechanism for documenting, managing and tracing the thousands of requirements that make up complex applications. This complete RM solution is fully integrated with the iRise simulation solution allowing detailed business requirements to be logged and tracked within the context of visual simulations, speeding time to market, eliminating costly rework and providing an audit trail for all requirements defining complex projects.

"The average business user can be overwhelmed by the complexity of today's standard RM solutions," said Scott McDowell, partner and founder of OneSpring. "iRise has created a simple solution by integrating a text-based requirements management capability while allowing users to create a compelling visual simulation. We now have the best of both worlds -- all in one product."

Traditional RM tools have been inherently difficult to use for business people tasked with defining essential business applications. Unlike traditional RM tools, with iRise Manager business people can now view static, text-based requirements in the context of a visual simulation, giving stakeholders an accurate blueprint for what to build -- before a single line of code is written.

"RM tools have been ineffective in solving the endemic problem of large scale project failures," said Melinda Ballou, senior research analyst at International Data Corporation. "Developer-centric tools packed with unusable features typically fail to provide a valuable visual blueprint for business users, who require something more practical and visual to ensure overall understanding and success of a project."

iRise Manager is now shipping with the latest update of the award-winning iRise platform. It provides new visualization features as well as a focused set of the RM capabilities most valued by business users:

--Simulation and text together -- Direct links in each requirement to the simulation of that requirement provide ground-breaking clarity in communicating requirement intent.

--Requirements Capture -- Detailed text requirements can be created and associated with specific projects, users, versions and simulations.

--Traceability -- The ability to link requirements to each other clarifies relationships and dependencies, ensuring coverage and speeding change impact assessments.

--Control -- iRise Manager provides a central repository, customizable filters for singling out certain sets of requirements, full historical views and the ability to add files as attachments, creating a thorough audit trail.

--Reporting -- Impact analysis and orphaned requirements are examples of reports that provide quick summaries of critical items inside the complete requirement inventory, quickly identifying areas of concern.

--Communication -- iRise Manager includes a convenient dashboard that shows urgent tasks, a blog that simplifies communication among participants and the ability to email contributors and stakeholders with any late-breaking impacts or updates, ensuring changes never catch team members by surprise.

"Our customers requested a user-friendly method of recording requirements, tracking changes, and reviewing them while simultaneously test driving the associated visual simulation," said Maurice Martin, president, chief operating officer and founder of iRise. "iRise Manager delivers a new approach to the RM challenge -- offering business people a product set that integrates interactive, visual simulations with associated text requirements into a single, enforceable and easy-to-use application definition package."

Customers purchasing the latest release of the iRise application simulation platform, iRise 5.1, will receive iRise Manager included at no additional charge.

For additional information, please visit: (www.irise.com).

About iRise

iRise(R) (www.irise.com) is dedicated to bridging the communication gap between business and IT by improving the process of defining software. Leading corporations like Agilent, Fireman's Fund, Sprint, Wachovia, Sun Trust Bank, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and Motorola use its market leading application definition platform to get requirements right -- the first time. iRise application simulations cut rework costs, accelerate time to market and reduce the risks associated with global development on mission-critical business systems initiatives. Unlike text-based requirements, visual iRise simulations are unambiguous and enforceable specifications that ensure the needs of the business are clearly understood and met. iRise simulations can be built by business experts and used in a collaborative global model to quickly iterate on stakeholder requirements with business people, dramatically improving project success. Headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., iRise is backed by Morgan Stanley Venture Partners and has sales offices across North America.

iRise is a registered trademark of iRise. All other companies and products mentioned are trademarks and property of their respective owners.