Release Details

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 12, 2003--

Magic Quadrant identifies AspenTech as a Visionary supplier of

supply chain planning solutions for the process industries

Aspen Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: AZPN) today announced that it has been positioned in the Visionary quadrant in the latest Magic Quadrant report on supply chain planning (SCP) solutions for process manufacturers(a) produced by Gartner, the leading technology research and advisory firm. This recognition was based on a comprehensive analysis of AspenTech's current and future SCP solutions, and discussions with a range of current process industry customers.

"AspenTech has a long track-record of delivering best-of-breed supply chain solutions to the process industries," said David McQuillin, President and CEO of AspenTech. "These solutions help companies realize significant value and a rapid return on investment, even in complex environments not suited to more generic supply chain technologies. We are proud that Gartner recognized the strength of our vision in its recent report. Our initiatives in supply chain inventory visibility, performance management and portal technologies are important competitive differentiators, and leverage the value of linking plant floor activities to decision support solutions."

AspenTech offers a comprehensive family of SCP solutions that enable petroleum, chemical, pharmaceutical and other process manufacturers to increase their profitability by reducing inventories, maximizing plant utilization, optimizing sourcing and satisfying customer demand more effectively. The solutions are pre-configured to suit the specific needs of each industry, ensuring simple, low-risk implementation and a fast return on investment. Examples include products for refinery planning and scheduling, and solutions that deliver advanced functionality like Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) and Capable-to-Promise (CTP).

In its research note entitled "Options Expand in SCP for Process Manufacturers in 1Q03", Gartner, Inc.'s Magic Quadrant positions vendors in a particular market segment based on their vision and ability to execute that vision. According to Gartner, Visionaries have a clear vision of market direction and are focused on preparing for that, but they can still improve in terms of optimizing service delivery. In order to be included in this Magic Quadrant, vendors must demonstrate a credible vision for a multi-product, process manufacturing-oriented SCP suite, and possess an effective sales distribution channel for global customers.

Supply chain planning applications are an important element of AspenTech's solutions for Enterprise Operations Management in the process industries. These integrated, enterprise-wide solutions combine engineering and manufacturing/supply chain technologies to help companies optimize the way they engineer and run their manufacturing and supply chain operations.

About AspenTech

Aspen Technology, Inc. is a leading supplier of enterprise software to the process industries, enabling its customers to increase their margins and optimize their business performance. AspenTech's engineering solutions, including Hyprotech's technologies, help companies design and improve their plants and processes, maximizing returns throughout their operational life. AspenTech's manufacturing/supply chain solutions allow companies to run their plants and supply chains more profitably, from customer demand through to the delivery of the finished products. Over 1,200 leading companies rely on AspenTech's software every day to drive improvements across their most important engineering and operational processes. AspenTech's customers include: Air Liquide, Aventis, Bayer, BASF, BP, ChevronTexaco, Dow Chemical, DuPont, ExxonMobil, GlaxoSmithKline, Lyondell Equistar, Merck, Mitsubishi Chemical, Shell, Southern Company, TXU Energy and Unilever. For more information, visit www.aspentech.com.

(a) Gartner "Options Expand in SCP for Process Manufacturers in 1Q03", K. Peterson, M.Jimenez. A. White, Feb 2003.

The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted Feb 2003 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission, which permission should not be deemed to be an endorsement of any company or product depicted in the quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is Gartner, Inc.'s opinion and is an analytical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It measures vendors against Gartner defined criteria for a marketplace. The positioning of vendors within a Magic Quadrant is based on the complex interplay of many factors. Gartner does not advise enterprises to select only those firms in the "Leaders" quadrant. In some situations, firms in the Visionary, Challenger, or Niche Player quadrants may be the right matches for an enterprise's requirements. Well-informed vendor selection decisions should rely on more than a Magic Quadrant. Gartner research is intended to be one of many information sources including other published information and direct analyst interaction. Gartner, Inc. expressly disclaims all warranties, express or implied, of fitness of this research for a particular purpose.

Certain paragraphs of this press release contain forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For this purpose, any statement using the term "will," "should," "could," "anticipates," "believes" or a comparable term is a forward-looking statement. Actual results may vary significantly from AspenTech's expectations based on a number of risks and uncertainties, including: AspenTech's lengthy sales cycle which makes it difficult to predict quarterly operating results; fluctuations in AspenTech's quarterly operating results; AspenTech's dependence on customers in cyclical industries; adverse global economic conditions; AspenTech's ability to raise additional capital as required; the FTC's investigation of the Hyprotech acquisition; the outcome of AspenTech's restructuring plans; intense competition; AspenTech's need to develop and market products successfully; and other risk factors described from time to time in AspenTech's periodic reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. AspenTech cannot guarantee any future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements. Moreover, neither AspenTech nor anyone else assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any forward-looking statements. AspenTech undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release.

AspenTech, and the aspen leaf logo are trademarks of Aspen Technology, Inc., Cambridge, Mass.

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