Innovation Leader Stage-Gate Inc. Endorses CA Clarity for Managing New Product Development

CA Clarity for NPD Certified for Idea Management, Idea-to-Launch and Portfolio Management

ISLANDIA, N.Y.– CA (NYSE: CA) today announced that Stage-Gate Inc., the most widely recognized and trusted name in new product development (NPD), has endorsed CA Clarity for customers seeking to optimize total returns on their NPD investments.

Stage-Gate Inc. certified CA Clarity for NPD based on the sophistication of the solution for planning, resource allocation, scheduling, workflow, and reporting. These capabilities empower product development organizations to keep their NPD initiatives on track—so they can bring better products to market more quickly and at less cost.

CA Clarity for NPD underwent a rigorous evaluation process based on approximately 200 innovation-related criteria. Stage-Gate Ready certification assures potential buyers that CA Clarity for NPD provides the functionality necessary to successfully implement key Stage-Gate best practices—including Idea Management, Idea-to-Launch and Portfolio Management.

Stage-Gate Inc.’s endorsement follows closely on the heels of Gartner, Inc.’s positioning of CA Clarity as a “Leader” in its Magic Quadrant for IT Project and Portfolio Management, 2007. (1) The report evaluates each vendor according to its completeness of vision and ability to execute. That report is available online at http://www.ca.com/us/analysts/recognition/collateral.aspx?CID=148852.

“I strongly recommend all would-be buyers to ask specifically for Stage-Gate Ready software, such as CA Clarity for NPD, even if your company does not deploy a traditional Stage-Gate process,” said Dr. Robert Cooper, president, Stage-Gate Inc. “We want to help organizations take advantage of innovation tools that help increase business performance, and believe that if we reduce the risks associated with these decisions, it’s a win-win for everyone.”

Dr. Cooper, a world-renown expert on innovation, is appearing in a three-part webinar series with CA that addresses new product development and innovation. More information about the webinar series is available online at http://myclarity.com/ww/webinar-801.html.

The Stage-Gate process is a conceptual and operational road map for moving a new-product project from idea to launch. It has empowered almost 80% of all North American companies to achieve improved returns on their product development dollars and is the world’s most widely implemented and trusted product innovation process.

The importance of a Stage-Gate process and sound project management is highlighted in the third annual Booz Allen Hamilton Global Innovation 1000 study recently announced (2):

“The one R&D tactic employed by every company we spoke to was an insistence on managing the innovation process from start to finish as tightly as possible. That included, in every case, a disciplined stage-by-stage approval process combined with regular measurement of every critical factor, from time and money spent in product development to the success of new products in the market. This, combined with a strong portfolio management program, has allowed these companies to understand better how their innovation engines promote their company’s long-term growth.” The study can be found online at http://www.boozallen.com/publications/article/38906766?lpid=66005.

For organizations that employ a traditional or internally developed Stage-Gate process, CA Clarity for NPD provides integrated idea management, product portfolio management, project, resource and financial management and process and workflow management that streamline and optimize the entire cross-functional idea-to-launch process.

“In today’s highly competitive global markets, one of the best ways to improve bottom-line corporate performance is to ensure that R&D efforts are delivering maximum payoff,” said Carl Landers, vice president of marketing for CA Clarity PPM. “Working with Stage-Gate Inc. to certify CA Clarity for NPD means businesses can now take advantage of a leading PPM solution adapted specifically to support the needs of product development organizations.”

1. Gartner, Inc., “Magic Quadrant for IT Project and Portfolio Management Applications, 2007” by Matt Light, Daniel B. Stang, June 15, 2007.

2. Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., “The Customer Connection: The Global Innovation 1000”, to be published in strategy+business, Winter 2007 (www.boozallen.com).