CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive

15 January 2007

Product News

Aras Delivers Microsoft-Based Open Source Enterprise Solutions

Aras® Corporation announced the immediate availability of the Aras Innovator® open source solution suite. The version 8 release offered exclusively on the Microsoft .NET platform includes business ready enterprise solutions along with a solution studio for customization, extension, and integration. The free download, additional open source solution projects, and further information are available at http://www.aras.com .

Aras simplifies enterprise software solution licensing and technology by delivering Aras Innovator as a commercial open source offering on the Microsoft platform. Companies can now take advantage of existing Microsoft skill sets and infrastructure while realizing the licensing flexibility and IT control of open source.

Aras Innovator Enterprise Open Source Solutions Highlights

Aras Innovator enterprise open source solutions address strategic business processes such as new product introduction [NPI], advanced product quality planning compliance [APQP], and enterprise product lifecycle management [PLM]. Solutions include:

Program Management - Phase-gate project management of milestones and deliverables for executive visibility and team collaboration

Quality Planning - Failure mode & effects analysis and closed-loop actions for mitigating risks and achieving compliance

Product Engineering - Bill of materials, document management, and change management workflows for development control and cost tracking

In addition, the comprehensive functionality of the solutions can be tailored to support a range of other enterprise lifecycle processes such as project lifecycle management, asset lifecycle management, and service lifecycle management. Aras Innovator solutions are designed to operate either as stand-alone enterprise applications or as an integrated complement to existing systems.

"Aras brings a new value proposition to the enterprise software solution market by delivering direct customer benefits to companies running Microsoft technologies," said Bill Hilf, general manager of Platform Technology Strategy at Microsoft Corp. "We are supportive of Aras' move to offer enterprise open source solutions on the Microsoft stack, and we continue to see tremendous growth in the Microsoft partner ecosystem as a variety of industry partners are finding innovative ways to take advantage of the value of the Microsoft platform under a wide range of licensing models."

"Aras recognizes the urgent need to simplify enterprise software complexity and reduce risks," said Peter Schroer, President of Aras Corporation. "By delivering the Aras Innovator solutions as enterprise open source on the Microsoft platform we provide software licensing simplicity and align with the technologies that companies already have and understand."

Aras Innovator Specifications

Developed exclusively on the Microsoft .NET platform, Aras Innovator's proven application framework technology is a unique model-based, service-oriented architecture [SOA] that delivers flexibility enabling companies to deploy quickly and adapt easily while maintaining upgradeability. Aras Innovator requires minimal infrastructure to run:

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 with .NET 2.0

Microsoft SQL Server 2005

Aras Innovator supports Windows Vista and Internet Explorer 7 and provides configuration options [not required] for: the 2007 Microsoft Office system; Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 or SharePoint Portal Server; Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 or Business Scorecard Manager; Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006; and Active Directory.

Aras Innovator is based on open standards, including XML / SOAP Web services, for simplified integration with conventional enterprise systems such as SAP, Oracle, UGS, PTC, Dassault, and Infor legacy applications; enterprise application integration suites; or enterprise service bus [ESB] products.

Aras Innovator open source projects for new solutions, solution extensions, Microsoft Office clients, and system integrations are hosted on the Microsoft CodePlex collaborative development site at http://www.codeplex.com .

Availability and Pricing

Aras Innovator version 8 is immediately available. Aras provides unlimited user access to all the solutions. Because there is no charge for the enterprise production-ready software Aras removes the need for up-front capital and eliminates expensive software licensing requirements for users, modules, and servers.

Aras sells enterprise-class support subscription packages. Standard package prices are $8,300 / month for the Enterprise Edition and $4,100 / month for the Small Business Edition. Implementation consulting services and training are also available. Support subscription packages are purchased directly from Aras, for details visit http://www.aras.com .

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