Product Launch

Embargoed Release: 07:00hrs Tuesday 19 May 2009                                                                       


                                  SOPHEON PLC                                  

                         ("Sopheon" or the "Company")                          

   Sopheon Launches Idea Labâ„¢ Software Solution: Linking Idea Development to   

                   Strategic Product Planning and Execution                    

Sopheon, the international provider of software and services for product
lifecycle management, today announces the introduction of an addition to its
flagship software system, Accolade®, designed specifically for use in
generating, nurturing and developing new product ideas. Called Idea Labâ„¢, the
new solution is the result of a partnership between Sopheon and Hype Software,
a German-based supplier of idea management software. The new offering expands
Accolade's capacity to strengthen the front-end of the product innovation
process, creating the first solution in the industry to provide all-in-one
support for strategic product planning, idea development and innovation process
execution.

In most companies, ideation efforts suffer from a lack of focus: too many ideas
and not enough resources. Idea Lab can be used to launch and manage campaigns,
publicise and motivate participation, and to establish communities of
innovators who can solicit, share and evaluate ideas. Idea Lab supports scoring
and filtering of ideas, as well as voting-based assessment. The software
contains process elements that allow submitted ideas to be challenged and
expanded. High-value ideas are forwarded into a gated process for concept
development. The rest can be stored in an idea bank for future consideration.
Idea Lab allows users to arrange ideas by categories such as innovation type,
product line, enabling technology or target market, making it easy to find
those that are relevant to specific business issues. Ideas can be ranked,
merged or rejected, and similar ideas can be grouped inside portfolios. Staff
are incentivised by built-in reward and recognition mechanisms. Idea Lab also
features a navigation engine, Idea Browserâ„¢, that enables easy discovery within
the solution's repository of concepts, campaigns and idea challenges, inspiring
further ideation.

One of the greatest shortcomings of traditional idea and innovation management
software is that it focuses entirely on the generation, organisation and, in
the best cases, evaluation of ideas. There is no systematic alignment of
ideation with strategic planning, and no support to help users traverse the
potential "dead zones" that separate the generation of ideas from getting those
ideas into the developmental pipeline and through to the market. Idea Lab,
however, can be linked out of the box to Accolade's broader capabilities
including product planning, product portfolio management, and innovation
process automation and governance. This integration surmounts the challenges of
transitioning from one process stage to another. At the front end of the
innovation cycle, Accolade's Vision Strategistâ„¢ component delivers automated
support for the development of strategic product plans. The plans feed into
Idea Lab, where they contribute to the evaluation of the strategic fit and
viability of submitted ideas. The most promising concepts seamlessly migrate
from Idea Lab into the user's Accolade-supported gate- or phase-based
innovation processes, reducing the time it takes to turn ideas into products.
Accolade also supplies the product portfolio management, commercialisation and
post-launch support required to manage newly created products until they are
retired from the marketplace.

"Many organisations struggle to effectively integrate ideation with other
phases of the innovation process," said Andy Michuda, chief executive officer
of Sopheon. "In the absence of such integration, potentially valuable ideas are
easily mired in repositories or fumbled in the hand-off to development. With
the introduction of Idea Lab, we can help companies bridge the process gaps at
the front-end of the innovation cycle and establish direct connections between
product planning, ideation and execution. We expect that Idea Lab will have
strong appeal both to current Accolade customers and to the broad population of
companies that are looking for ways to ensure that they get maximum business
benefit from the ideas they generate."


Accolade® is a registered trademark of Sopheon plc.
Idea Labâ„¢, Idea Browserâ„¢ and Vision Strategistâ„¢ are trademarks of Sopheon plc.
All other trademarks are the sole property of their respective owners


For further information contact:

Barry Mence, Chairman   Sopheon plc                  + 44 (0) 1483 685 735     
                                                                               
Arif Karimjee, CFO                                                             
                                                                               
Vikki Krause            Hansard Communications       + 44 (0) 207 245 1100     
                                                                               
                                                     + 44 (0) 7515 922906      
                                                                               
Claire Verhagen         Citigate First Financial     + 31 (0) 205 754 010      
                                                                               
Paul Davies             Seymour Pierce               + 44 (0) 207 107 8000     

About Sopheon

Sopheon (LSE: SPE) is an international provider of software and services that
help organisations improve the business impact of product innovation. Sopheon's
solutions automate and govern the innovation process, enabling companies to
increase revenue and profits from new products. Sopheon's solutions are used by
industry leaders throughout the world, including BASF, Cadbury Schweppes,
Corning, Electrolux, General Motors, Honeywell, Motorola and SAB Miller.
Sopheon is listed on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange and on the
Euronext in the Netherlands. For more information, please visit
www.sopheon.com.