HRS Harris Corp.

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Avineon, Inc., a successful provider of IT, geospatial, engineering and program management services, announced today a mentor-protege agreement with Harris Corporation (NYSE:HRS) under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Mentor-Protege program. The DHS Mentor-Protege program fosters partnering between large business prime contractors and small, disadvantaged firms to increase business opportunities through mutually beneficial relationships. Avineon is the first company to participate in Harris' mentor-protege program with the DHS. Under this agreement, Harris Corporation will provide advisory assistance to Avineon to further develop the company's technical and management capabilities. "We are pleased to formalize this mentor-protege relationship with Avineon which will help both companies leverage our strengths and enhance our capabilities to better support our customers," said Rick Simonian, vice president of Homeland Security, Harris Government Communications Systems Division. "Avineon has been a trusted subcontractor to Harris Corporation in the past and we're committed to further developing and building upon the company's reputation for providing quality software and system solutions to the federal government." Under the three-year agreement, Harris will assist Avineon in competing for contract awards and additional business opportunities with the DHS. Harris will also provide technical training and professional development, training on business acquisition processes and support for Avineon's process improvement initiatives. Avineon was externally appraised at Capability Maturity Model(R) Integration (CMMI) Maturity Level 3 in November 2005, demonstrating that its systems and software engineering solutions apply systematic, disciplined and quantifiable approaches, enabling results-oriented outcomes for clients. Harris will support Avineon's initiatives in software process improvement to quantitatively manage and optimize processes as the company moves forward to CMMI Levels 4 and 5. Charles Erdrich, vice president of business development for Avineon, stated, "Harris Corporation is an established industry leader and it's a great opportunity for Avineon to be selected as the company's first small business protege partner with DHS. There is a strong synergy between our firms and we look forward to benefiting from Harris' experience as a successful prime contractor and jointly pursuing opportunities in homeland security." About Harris Corporation Harris is an international communications and information technology company serving government and commercial markets in more than 150 countries. With headquarters in Melbourne, Florida, the company has annual sales of over $3 billion and more than 13,000 employees -- including 5,500 engineers and scientists -- dedicated to the development of best-in-class assured communications(TM) products, systems, and services. The company's operating divisions serve markets for government communications, RF communications, broadcast communications, and microwave communications. Additional information about Harris Corporation is available at http://www.harris.com/. About Avineon Avineon, a CMMI Maturity Level 3 and ISO 9001:2000 registered company, is a diversified high technology company that provides information technology (IT), geospatial, engineering and program management services. With headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, and offices in Alabama and Florida, Avineon employs more than 140 staff in the United States, and with subsidiaries in Europe and India employs a total staff of 450. In IT, Avineon specializes in web-based architecture, systems engineering, application development and on-going network and security support. For additional information please visit http://www.avineon.com/. Press Contact: Company Contact: Kara Schiltz Charles Erdrich DPR Group Avineon, Inc. 919-678-9200, ext. 101 703-671-1900 DATASOURCE: Avineon CONTACT: Charles Erdrich of Avineon, Inc., +1-703-671-1900, ; or Kara Schiltz of DPR Group, +1-919-678-9200, ext. 101, , for Avineon, Inc. Web site: http://www.avineon.com/ http://www.harris.com/

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