FOXBOROUGH, MA — May 6, 2008 — Today, ICONICS, an award-winning Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and provider of Web-enabled, OPC-based, HMI/SCADA Visualization and Manufacturing Intelligence software for Microsoft Windows^® operating systems, announced an agreement with Kepware Technologies, a leader in OPC device communications for automation.

ICONICS and Kepware have signed a partnership agreement to create the world’s first total end-to-end OPC-UA solution. The “ICONICS OPC-UA KEPServer” integrates HMI/SCADA and visualization with a rich library of device connectivity from Kepware. This OPC-UA, 64-bit solution handles several different I/O devices and is certified for Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. The solution is truly OPC-UA-To-The-Core™ and uses Web Services technology, making it simple to integrate plant floor visualization with Manufacturing Intelligence and Enterprise solutions.

“ICONICS and Kepware have been working together for more than 10 years and have recently signed a partnership agreement to provide the first end-to-end OPC-UA solution,” said Russ Agrusa, President and CEO of ICONICS. “Both our companies were instrumental in helping create the OPC-UA standard and we are excited to be delivering products based on OPC-UA.”

“We see ICONICS as a leader in OPC technology” said Roy Kok, VP of Marketing and Sales for Kepware Technologies. “ICONICS is an early adaptor of OPC-UA and we are happy to have them as a partner, proving that OPC-UA technology is now ready. ICONICS is the first HMI/SCADA partner to deliver KEPServerEX with OPC-UA.”

“ICONICS and Kepware are both leading developers of OPC Unified Architecture solutions,” said Tom Burke, President of the OPC Foundation. “Both companies are pioneers in bringing OPC-UA from the theoretical into the physical and practical. This partnership agreement now makes OPC-UA a reality.”

According to Craig Resnick, Research Director, ARC Advisory Group, “OPC-UA is intended to expand the framework for moving information between applications in the enterprise space by taking the existing OPC specifications and integrating them all together, leveraging Web Services as the key technology enabler in the new architecture for deploying applications such as asset management and true resource modeling that can utilize the OPC-UA specifications to move data and information. This is why it is critical to manufacturers that any OPC-UA solution being implemented is sourced from partners who have extensive experience in deploying existing OPC solutions, which is certainly the case for both ICONICS and Kepware.”

ICONICS solutions are well known in the industrial automation software marketplace and are used in a wide variety of applications worldwide. ICONICS’ GENESIS64, GENESIS32 and BizViz products are recognized for their visualization capabilities and seamless integration with all Microsoft operating systems and applications, bridging information from “the shop floor to the top floor.”

ICONICS has provided award-winning industrial automation and Manufacturing Intelligence software for over 21 years, successfully deploying more than 225,000 solutions worldwide.

About Kepware

Kepware is the world leader in communication software for automation and offers a unique experience in both OPC and embedded device communications. Since 1995, Kepware has focused on the development of communication drivers to automation controllers, I/O and field devices. Operating system support includes; Microsoft Windows Desktop, Windows Server and Windows Embedded (Windows CE and Windows Embedded NT/XP). Today, with over 100 communication protocols, and through the efforts of our direct sales, distribution and embedded partners, Kepware is the leading provider of communications with annual shipments exceeding 100,000 units. Kepware’s responsiveness to customer needs and strong partnerships with other leading automation suppliers ensure that your next application will be a success. Ask around and you’ll hear why automation professionals everywhere consider Kepware Technologies "Automation’s Best Friend". (http://www.kepware.com)