Aspen Technology Wins SSPA Service Award

May 6, 2003

(San Diego, CA - May 6, 2003) - The Service & Support Professionals Association (SSPA), the leading industry Association for IT support professionals, announced today that Aspen Technology, (Nasdaq: AZPN), was awarded a prestigious WebStar Service Award at the annual SSPA Conference@San Diego, where professionals and industry experts of service and support companies met. The annual WebStar Service Awards are presented to recognize SSPA Member Support Centers that excel and ultimately provide superior customer service to their online customers. The SSPA Advisory Board reviews, judges and selects the winners for the WebStar Awards.

“Aspen Technology delivers world class web-based services and the WebStar Service Award serves as the highest form of recognition they can receive in the service and support industry,” said Bill Rose, SSPA Founder/CEO. “They are truly deserving of a WebStar Service Award.”

Aspen Technology (AspenTech) supplies engineering and manufacturing/supply chain software to the $6 trillion process industries. The firm serves more than 1,500 clients—including 46 of the world’s 50 largest chemical companies, 23 of the world’s 25 largest petroleum refiners, and 18 of the world’s 20 largest pharmaceutical companies. AspenTech’s software enables these companies to improve the competitiveness of their enterprise by maximizing operating margins, and by increasing the return on their assets.

“Delivering outstanding web-based support to customers is one of the core elements of our support strategy,” said David McQuillin, President and CEO of AspenTech. “Our On-line Support and Training Centers provide a wealth of valuable resources to our customers, and help to ensure that they realize maximum value from our solutions. We are proud that these efforts have been recognized through this prestigious Award.”

The WebStar Service Awards are one of the vehicles that companies can use to promote themselves. By prominently displaying the WebStar logo on corporate web sites, customers can quickly identify which companies have met the criteria needed to be WebStar Service Award Winner. As a result, online consumers should get a high level of assurance as to the level of customer service they will receive if they choose to use customer support on that particular site.

About Aspen Technology
Aspen Technology, Inc. provides industry-leading software and implementation services that enable process companies to increase efficiency and profitability. AspenTech's engineering product line is used to design and improve plants and processes, maximizing returns throughout an asset’s operating life. Its manufacturing/supply chain product line allows companies to increase margins in their plants and supply chains, by managing customer demand, optimizing production, and streamlining the delivery of finished products. These two offerings are combined to create solutions for Enterprise Operations Management (EOM), integrated enterprise-wide systems that provide process manufacturers with the capability to dramatically improve their operating performance. Over 1,500 leading companies already rely on AspenTech's software, including Aventis, Bayer, BASF, BP, ChevronTexaco, Dow Chemical, DuPont, ExxonMobil, Fluor, Foster Wheeler, GlaxoSmithKline, Shell, and TotalFinaElf. For more information, visit www.aspentech.com.

About SSPA
Founded in 1989, the Service & Support Professionals Association (SSPA) was formed to focus on the specific needs of service executives who are responsible for support centers and overall customer relations. Today, the SSPA represents over 21,000 service professionals at 2,400 support centers worldwide. These executives look to SSPA to provide insight into the future of support services, a road map of best practices within our industry and access to the best service and support vendors. SSPA has become the center of support providing a reliable and comprehensive resource for news, research, benchmarking, standards and collaboration.

SSPA was created for professionals, managers and executives that make their living in the IT support services community. It is not a generic, one-size-fits all website where nobody ever feels like they belong. SSPA is dynamic, interactive, living resource specifically designed for the unique needs of support professionals. This exciting virtual community creates a forum for constant interaction with peers, industry experts, technology vendors and much more. For more information regarding the SSPA and other related divisions, log on to www.thesspa.com or send an email to info@thesspa.com.