Burlington, MA Ñ February 24, 2003 Ñ Framework Technologies, a decision support software provider, today announced it is partnering with Integral Inc. to provide its customers with advanced portfolio planning analytics derived from Integral's experience in providing tools for product and process development investment decisions.
According to the company, these practices will be developed and marketed by Framework through its extended ActivePortfolio software offerings. Integral will use ActivePortfolio to further automate the analysis activities within its management consulting efforts.
Using Framework's ActiveProduct solution suite software, Integral said it could automate the tasks of creating and maintaining graphical analyses of product development activity and commitments in a variety of strategic scenarios. Consultants and clients will input relevant project portfolio information, such as resource commitments, strategic fit, risk assessments and market projections, into adaptable templates that display key dimensions through a variety of "lens" views. Because ActivePortfolio provides access to the information, managers can evaluate opportunities in the context of all their other commitments with an objective apples-to-apples comparison.
Integral Director Brian Gorin, commented, ÒWith ActivePortfolio, time-intensive custom software development and burdensome maintenance overhead have all been eliminated. Consulting engagements are now expedited through the elimination of a previously lengthy preamble, allowing us to quickly turn our attention to what clients really want: expert counsel on how to turn their product portfolio into their most strategic asset.Ó
Framework and Integral said they have already collaborated with a Fortune 100 company that produces power transmission drives to create a business process for continuous assessment of their product portfolio and track the associated project activities.
Additionally, recent analyst reports have documented the growing demand for portfolio management software products and the anticipation of a continuing trend. "New application categories, like portfolio management and customer needs management lent some strength to software sales with growth of 32 percent and 57 percent, respectively," said Kevin O'Marah, vice president and research fellow, AMR Research, in a July 2002 report entitled ÒThe Product Lifecycle Management Applications Report, 2001-2006.Ó The report also noted that while the revenue forecast for portfolio management applications in 2002 is $654 million, by 2005, revenues are expected to grow to $1.4 billion.
"Integral's understanding of what companies need in terms of portfolio management solutions is unique in this industry. Together with Integral, we look forward to helping companies achieve the full promise of product portfolio management," said Donald Tomkinson, president and CEO of Framework Technologies.
