ARLINGTON, Va., September 12, 2005 -- Expert Choice(R), a leading provider of enterprise portfolio analysis solutions, has helped the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) with the successful development of its information technology (IT) portfolio management initiative.

This past year, the bureau's Information Technology Investment Board (ITIB) -- which is responsible for the allocation of the bureau's IT budget -- has been developing and refining a process to prioritize IT projects against the objectives outlined in the BLM's strategic plan. The board examined all IT assets in light of BLM business objectives and assumptions of a restricted budget in fiscal year 2007. Using Expert Choice's enterprise portfolio analysis software, EC11, the ITIB prioritized a list of about 15 business objectives and then evaluated a list of more than 100 proposed IT investments against those objectives. Once those results were approved, the board used the add-on EC Resource Aligner(TM) for portfolio optimization -- determining which IT projects should and shouldn't get funded.

The ITIB is continuing to use EC11 and EC Resource Aligner for IT portfolio prioritization and optimization for fiscal year 2008. BLM is also considering non-IT-related usage of the products.

"Expert Choice's portfolio analysis solution has helped streamline our IT investment management process, enabling us to plan earlier and forecast changes better," said Ronnie Levine, vice chair of the ITIB and chief information officer of BLM. "It also has helped point out specific IT projects whose overall return on investment needs to be reevaluated. We're very pleased with its results and are looking at employing it in other areas," she added.

Based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) -- a mathematical model that is considered one of the most accurate and successful decision-making methodologies -- EC11 enables companies and government organizations to define, prioritize and align project portfolios with overall strategic objectives for improved business performance. The software guides decision makers through a process comprised of defining objectives; using pairwise comparison to identify priorities for the objectives; evaluating projects and performing "what-if" testing on them; using the add-on EC Resource Aligner product to determine the optimal blend of projects, given costs, risks and dependencies; and evaluating the ongoing performance of projects.

"Over the years, we've helped approximately half of all U.S. government departments and agencies define and prioritize project portfolios," said Rich Dougherty, chief executive officer of Expert Choice. "BLM has gone a step further by using our Resource Aligner to conduct portfolio optimization, aligning their resources behind the most effective means of achieving agency objectives. We applaud BLM for their leadership, as well as for further approaching their goal of achieving stage three maturity in the General Accounting Office's (GAO) Framework for Information Technology Investment Management (ITIM) by September 2005," he added.

The GAO's ITIM maturity framework provides guidance to agencies in implementing the Clinger-Cohen Act's requirements for capital planning and investment management. ITIM identifies critical processes for successful IT investment using a framework of five stages of increasing maturity. The GAO framework identifies creation of a mature IT investment selection process as the key benchmark for an organization moving from stage two to stage three maturity.

About BLM

The BLM, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, manages more land -- 261 million surface acres -- than any other federal agency. Most of this public land is located in 12 western states, including Alaska. The bureau, with a budget of about $1.8 billion, also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on the public lands.

About Expert Choice

Headquartered in Arlington, Va., Expert Choice, Inc. is a leading provider of enterprise portfolio analysis solutions. Founded in 1983, the company helps business and government organizations around the world with their portfolio analysis, project prioritization and resource allocation challenges. Today, more than 15,000 individuals in 60 countries, including 25 percent of the Fortune 500 and half of U.S. federal government agencies, rely on Expert Choice to help them achieve improved business performance and greater ROI. For more information on Expert Choice, please visit www.expertchoice.com.

CONTACT:                                        
Erika Christ                                        
703-619-0306                                
erikachristpr@aol.com