The applications of the FORTRAN 77 / WITNESS interface have been subject to further academic Research and Development. The latest version of Lanner's Witness was released in summer 2017.
The WITNESS system was launched on IBM PC in 1986 and has been revised frequently since.
WITNESS was the first of the industrial strength 4GL simulators. BL System's SEE WHY tool, programmed in Fortran 77 and launched in 1980, was the world's first commercially available visual interactive simulation package and the precursor to Lanner Group's current core software product WITNESS. Lanner Group's previous owner, AT&T Istel, formerly known as ISTEL, was initially called BL Systems, and was a spin out formed in 1979 following a Merger of all the computer departments under the then British Leyland umbrella. Lanner Group formed in 1996 after completing a Management Buyout from AT&T Istel the company was initially named SEE WHY SOLUTIONS and was incorporated in 1995. Lanner Group services automotive, aviation, criminal justice, defence and aerospace, financial services and contact centres, food and beverage, health, logistics and supply chain, manufacturing, nuclear, oil and gas, pharmaceutical, and consumer health industries. Lanner Group was formed following a Management Buyout of AT&T Istel, a spin-off from the operational research department of British Leyland where, in 1978, the world's first visual interactive simulation tool was developed. The company has subsidiaries in the USA, China, France and Germany and a distributor network selling the company's products in 20 different countries. The business develops, markets and supports business process simulation and optimisation systems. Lanner Group Ltd is a software company specialising in simulation software such as discrete event simulation and predictive simulation, headquartered in Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire. Ken Briddon, non-executive chairman David Jones, CEO Andrew Aitken, COO