The company was founded in 1983 as Sophisticated Business Systems (SBS) by Tom Howard and Cindy Howard. The focus of the company was to serve the information management community with mainframe IDMS database and application and consulting services. In the late 1980's SBS introduced a new software product line that provided additional capabilities to its IDMS clients.

In the early 1990's, SBS began converting IDMS applications and databases to relational technologies such as DB2 and Oracle. It developed toolsets to assist with the labor-intensive, up-front analysis that was required to prepare for any transformation. Throughout the 1990's, SBS performed manual conversions that included re-engineering of client databases and applications, including the ADS/Online code and the IDMS DML calls.

Extensive research in 2000 resulted in the development of automation technology called DB-Shuttle™. SBS continued enhancing the DB-Shuttle automation technology for migrating non-relational to relational technology including solutions for IDMS, IMS, VSAM and Adabas to DB2, Oracle and SQL Server. DB-Shuttle provides everything from comprehensive assessments of existing IT applications to fully automated conversions. Mission critical applications and databases are migrated from mainframe to mainframe or to newer platforms such as the Microsoft .NET Framework. There is no limit on the database types or languages that can be modernized. The unique rules-based automated conversion approach provides repeatable "click once/convert all" delivery concept.

Scott Miller joined the company in December 2005, as President and CEO.

Miller has propelled ATERAS to global leadership in the legacy migration and modernization marketplace. Using his 20 years experience in providing foundational leadership to high-growth, world class technology companies in highly competitive markets, Miller has successfully expanded the ATERAS market share and profitability through technology partnerships, global partners and strategic alliances.

In May 2006, SBS was re-launched as ATERAS. The company’s strategic focus remains unchanged: to provide fully automated solutions for legacy migration and modernization. ATERAS delivers solutions by working through leading systems integrators and alliance partners in markets including Insurance, Financial Services, Healthcare, Government and Universities in both domestic and in global markets.

Since 2006, the focus has been on research and development in order to add and enhance the automated tools and solutions. The result produced a series of new products from ATERAS, including Enterprise Field Change Manager, Enterprise Application Viewer (eav), and eavRPM™ for rapid program modernization.