Sample Project Management Metrics

Looking for metrics to see how well your organization is managing its projects? The site below has a good list of questions to ask to see how well you're doing - certainly beyond the typical on-time, on-budget measurements. Check it out...


Project Management Measurments - iDashes, Inc

Project Management Soft Skills; Communications, Conflict Management, Ethics, and More

With all the focus on project management techniques, such as planning, scheduling, cost management, etc., it's easy to forget that communication is 90% of a project manager's job. And that includes conflict management, resolving ethical dilemmas, team building - all the soft skills that can make or break projects.

In fact, most project failures are in some way tied to a lack of communication. I've seen many projects where all the techical stuff was done right, but the project was perceived as a failure due to poor communication. Likewise, I've seen project where one mistake after the other was made, but the project was seen as a shining success because it was well communicated.

The site below offers a wealth of valuable articles on the soft skills of project management, including communication, conflict management, ethics in project management, organizational development, and more. Perusing these articles would be time well spent by any project manager or leader.

Point Lookout Archive by Topic - Chaco Canyon Consulting

Excellence in Program Project Management: Public Sector ...

Excellence in Program Project Management: Public Sector: Via OGC: Government to Recognise Excellence in Public Sector Projects

... "the Office of Government Commerce launches its 2005 Awards for excellence in programme and project management across the public sector. The Awards, known as the Delivery Awards scheme, is a joint initiative between the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and the Cabinet Office. It is designed to promote, recognise and reward effective use of programme and project management skills in achieving the successful delivery of public sector programmes and projects.

All nominations need to be with the Service Desk by 23rd September 2005. " ...

The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) is an office of HM Treasury, with its own Chief Executive. OGC works across government as a catalyst to achieve best value for money in commercial activities and supports government departments in successfully delivering major acquisition programmes and projects. Its remit now also covers implementation of the Government's Efficiency Programme, and implementation of the Lyons Review on relocation. OGC has a target to secure £3bn. of value for money gains in central civil government by 2006 and oversees the delivery of £21.5bn. by 2008 under the Government’s Efficiency programme.

Project Management Oversight: Key Learning

Project Management Oversight: Key Learning: Via courant.com | UConn's Great Leap University's Enormous Strides Wrongly Overshadowed

Karla Fox, professor of business law at the University of Connecticut, explores the growth at UConn and identifies opportunity for improvements in project management ...

... "Among the many successful building projects, there have been a few notable construction issues resulting from weaknesses in oversight. In some cases the university should have been more diligent in its project management. When problems were identified, President Austin demonstrated strong leadership by working to correct them and improve procedures. " ...

Project Management: Drives Procurement Success ...

Via Purchasing.com: Project management strategies for procurement ...

William Atkinson writes about the new skills required for procurement success: project management of cross-functional teams ...

... "But today procurement's role is much more cross-functional and involves working with various parts of the enterprise in a much more project-based strategy. Goals are established, teams are set up and results are measured and driving that kind of work presents a new set of management challenges for procurement. " ...

MOBIS Program Management Growth ...

MOBIS Program Management Growth: Via Federal Times: MOBIS: General Services Administration: New requirements spur agencies’ need for business service ...

Dan Davidson writes about the growth in Management, Organizational and Business Improvement Services MOBIS ...

... "Program integration and project management services is the second most popular MOBIS services category, totaling $264 million in sales this year compared with $12 million in 2001, he said. " ...

Simple Project Management Tool: Easy Projects .NET

Via Logic Software, Inc: Web based system for software development project management and tracking - Easy Projects .NET

... "Easy Projects .NET - the latest generation web based system for managing and tracking software development projects. It is called Easy Projects for a good reason - it was specifically designed to make software project management hassle free and straightforward. " ...

Logic Software, Inc. is a rapidly growing custom development and software outsourcing company with headquarters in Toronto, Canada. Our offshore development department is located in Belarus (Eastern Europe). We specialize in the development of custom software applications and offshore software outsourcing services. Specifically, our company carries out custom programming, database design, client-server and internet/intranet software application development.

Mastering Work Breakdown Structures

From the same author who wrote the Rolling Wave report in my previous post, Greg Githens of Catalyst Management Consulting, here's a well-written and informative report on the proper use of a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).

Follow this approach and you can't go wrong.

Visions, PDMA's product development e-magazine

Practical Project Management; All About Rolling Wave Planning

We've seen all the battles over project planning approaches; the traditional Big Design Up Front (BDUF) vs. iterative phased planning (Rolling Wave). Certainly there are appropriate times for each, although most IT projects and new product development projects tend to benefit more from a Rolling Wave approach. The white paper below, from Greg Githens of Catalyst Management Consulting, is the best writeup I've seen on Rolling Wave project planning.

For best readability, make sure to click on the link for the PDF version.

"Rolling Wave Project Planning"

Ready or Not; Here comes ITIL

The folks at the OGC in Britain have really started something with ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library). Sooner or later, most IT project managers will be working with ITIL in some way (either implementing an ITIL framework or managing projects that must adhere to ITIL processes). ITIL is fast becoming the de facto standard for IT services and operations management.

Check out this edition of CIO Magazine, which is all about ITIL...

ITIL Power - Editorial - CIO

Project Management Events for 2005/2006

From PM Forum, here's a list of project management events for the rermainder of 2005 and 2006. Bet you didn't know that November 3rd is International Project Management Day!

PMFORUM, Connecting the World of Project Management - Calendar of Events

EPM Software: Artemis China Presence ...

EPM Software: Artemis China Presence: Via Artemis: ARTEMIS INTERNATIONAL SOLUTIONS CORP OPENS NEW CHINA OFFICE - Investment Planning and Control Solutions

Artemis expands China presence with Shanghai office ...

... "Artemis International Solutions Corporation (OTCBB: AMSI), global provider of Investment Planning and Control solutions, announced the company has established a direct operation in Shanghai, China, to meet the growing demand for its line of Investment Planning & Control solutions including IT Management, New Product Development and Strategic Asset Optimization. " ...

OnDemand Portfolio Management Solution: SMB Market ...

Via 3 Olive Solutions: on-demand project portfolio management solution ...

... "3 Olive Solutions develops Portfolio Intelligence™, the popular on-demand project portfolio management solution. Portfolio Intelligence™ is the solution of choice for mid-sized and small organizations or departments of larger companies such as the project management office (PMO) due to its affordability, quick implementations and easy-to-use methodology. Portfolio Intelligence™ gives executives and managers oversight for groupings of work efforts with its organization, control and decision support capabilities that result in increased business value from projects, better resource utilizations, and lower costs. " ...

Three Olive Solutions, LLC was founded with the mission of developing software solutions that help executives and managers be more effective leaders within their organizations. 3 Olive’s initial application, Portfolio Intelligence™, is an ondemand project portfolio management solution that is ideal for small and mid-sized organizations or departments within larger companies such as the project management office (PMO). Portfolio Intelligence™ is an affordable and easy-to-implement solution that enables executives and managers to organize, control and make better decisions on their work efforts resulting in higher business value, better resource utilizations, and lower costs.

PMO Project Milestone Reviews ...

PMO Project Milestone Reviews: Via ADTmag.com: Seven Habits of Highly Successful Business/IT Aligners ...

In this article, by Stephen Swoyer, on the Seven Habits of Highly Successful Business / IT Aligners, Dr. Tushar Hazra describes the importance of project milestone reviews by the PMO ...

... "Another practice that's well established in most large companies is that of periodic milestone reviews, particularly with respect to project deliverables. The best practice for the mid-size or large companies is setting up the project management or roadmap management office, and giving somebody a specific responsibility to maintain some of these reviews and inspections, and keeping track of them as you grow ..." ...

Free Project Management Software: Katrina Recovery Work ...

Via SharedPlan: Free Project Management Software For Hurricane Katrina Recovery Work ...

... "Post-Hurricane Rebuilding Planning Tool: We are providing up to 1000 copies of SharedPlan Pro free of charge to people and organizations working to rebuild the areas of the Gulf Coast stricken by Hurricane Katrina. " ...

Enterprise Project Management Tool Launch: PMComplete ...

Enterprise Project Management Tool Launch: Via TSI: TSI TO LAUNCH PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOL AT PMI GLOBAL CONGRESS: TSI Anticipates PMComplete™ will Revolutionize Enterprise Project Management ...

... "TSI, a leading Project Management consulting firm headquartered in Dallas, announced the North American release of PMComplete at the PMI Global Congress 2005, North America in Toronto, in early September. PMComplete is a project and program management software developed and originally marketed in Australia. The enterprise-level solution facilitates the management and control of an organization's project portfolio, and offers comprehensive, integrated tools for program and project management. TSI is the first authorized U.S. distributor for PMComplete. TSI not only sells the product, it uses PMComplete to manage both its education and consulting practices.

TSI will demonstrate PMComplete at the PMI Global Congress in Toronto, September 10-13, 2005. " ...

Why Projects Fail ...

Via IEEE Spection Feature Article: Why Software Fails ...

Robert N. Charette writes about why software projects fail and how we waste billions of dollars each year on preventable mistakes ...

... "Most failures, in fact, can be traced to a combination of technical, project management, and business decisions. Each dimension interacts with the others in complicated ways that exacerbate project risks and problems and increase the likelihood of failure. " ...

Project Management: Organization Rituals ...

Project Management: Organization Rituals: Via Contractor Mag: The rituals of project management

H. Kent Craig writes about leveraging the rituals of your organization to drive project management success ...

... "As project manager, part of your duties is to try to understand the human mind, the set of emotions that drive us all, and use this understanding to make yourself and those under your supervision better as employees and people. " ...

Principle-Based Project Management

Methodologies, tools, and processes are all good to have. But what's really important is a set of good principles for managing projects.

This site lists 10 simple principles for managing projects. If you do nothing else right, follow these principles and you'll be on the path to success ...


Project Management Principles

Enterprise Program Management EPM ...

Via Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA): Project Management Division: Enterprise Program Management ...

... "Enterprise Program Management (EPM) is an ITIM-based methodology to manage programs and projects of enterprise significance. EPM focuses on the management and oversight of multiple related programs and projects that individually support the same mission or ongoing activity. " ...

Nebraska Project Management Portal ...

Nebraska Project Management Portal: Via Nebraska Information Technology Commission

Sample project documents, status reports, etc. used by Nebraska Information Technology Commission ...

... "The goal of this web site is to encourage the use of project management methods for information technology projects. The objectives are to provide state agencies with easy access to project management techniques, best practices, training opportunities, and other resources. " ...

Project Failure Rates; Are the Statistics Tainted?

We've all heard the horror stories about 50-75% project failure rates (depending on the industry). But how many projects that come on over-budget or behind schedule do so because the project manager succumbed to pressure to set an unrealistic target to begin with?

I'd argue that by increasing persuasion skills and learning tactics to negotiate proper targets, we'd see project success rates go up exponentially. Certainly there are issues with scope creep, lack of planning, lack of communication, etc., but many projects fail because the project manager was forced to meet an unrealistic and/or arbitrary deadline.

See my entry on Tuesday, August 30th on "Managing Projects with Unrealistic Deadlines," which points to an excellent article for dealing with this issue.

Earned Value Weighted Milestones in MS/Project

Looking for a way to get Earned Value Weighted Milestones out of MS/Project? Here's a NASA presentation showing how MS/Project can be configured to offer a real percent complete based on wieghted milestones. Again, click on the link to view the PDF version.

Project Portfolio Management Made Easy

Harvey Levine, past president of PMI and author of Practical Project Management: Tips, Tactics, and Tools, has written an excellent article on Project Portfolio Management and its integration with PPM tools. Well worth reading for a concise, yet thorough overview of PPM...

Integrating Project Portfolio Tools with Traditional Project Management Tools

Earned Value and Software Development

Even Software Developers are catching on to the value of Earned Value. And once again, the advantage of using weighted milestones comes up.

Here's a good article from Computing Canada that explains why weighted milestones are a good way to go.

The Software Engineering Instititute offers yet other alternatives, even using a modified version of Earned Value for Spiral Development. Once there, click on the link to view the PDF version.

Earned Value at NASA

Here's a good presentation from NASA back from 2002 on scheduling and Earned Value. The report is focused on R&D projects, but it's a valuable overview nonetheless. Pay particular attention to the "backup" slides, as they offer various alternatives for tracking Earned Value.

As those who have struggled with EV know, problems can occur when a simple percent complete formula is used, as all milestones are treated equally. Weighted milestones is a good solution, but not all project management software easily supports it. Another option is to use percent complete, but add a manual adjustment factor (perhaps in MS/Excel) that is based on weighted milestones (also see my entry on "Earned Value Weighted Milestones with MS/Project" for another solution). The fact is, Earned Value is a great tool, but it must be combined with weighted deliverables to be totally effective.

The link below is to the HTML version. Once there, click on the link to bring up the PowerPoint version for best readibility.

Earned Value for R&D-Type Projects

Project Completion Date: When?

Project Completion Date: When?: Via NUCLEUS RESEARCH: Nucleus Research Helps Organizations Avoid Costly IT Mistakes, Potentially Saving Companies Millions ...

When is a project complete? Go-Live? At stabilization? At tipping-point of adoption? At realization of benefits? ... a debated topic. Nucleus Research, in a recent independent study, explores the top five IT mistakes that cost companies dearly ...

... "The end of a project is not when it’s deployed but rather when it’s being effectively used, which can be months or years later. " ...

Nucleus Research is a global provider of IT advisory and research services that provides CFOs, CIOs and their staffs with the real-world information they need to maximize the business returns from their technology investments. Its analysts blend financial analysis and case-based investigations with comprehensive technology expertise to deliver factual return-on-investment (ROI) data to organizations worldwide. The company uses an uncompromising set of processes and tools to evaluate the financial return on IT assets and is the only firm to gain certification by the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. Nucleus Research has analyst experts across the entire enterprise software and hardware space and provides clients with ongoing advice to help with both short-term technology decisions and long-term strategic plans.

Collaborative Project Management Solution: Distributed Mobile Workforce

Collaborative Project Management Solution: Distributed Mobile Workforce: Via Autodesk: Autodesk Buzzsaw: Autodesk Expands Relationship with Maeda Corporation

Seven-Eleven Japan uses collaborative project management solution to monitor progress in a distributed environment leveraging a mobile workforce ...

... "Using Buzzsaw, Seven-Eleven has enhanced collaboration across its supply chain and continues to realize new operational efficiencies. Initially Seven-Eleven used Buzzsaw for collaborative design management, helping them more effectively share information with architectural offices across Japan and reduce the time it takes to open a retail outlet. Today, Seven-Eleven is using Buzzsaw to manage and track the progress of a construction project that will convert their store communication infrastructure from copper to fiber optics. One of the more valuable features that Buzzsaw provides to Maeda and Seven-Eleven is the ability to upload and review site photographs taken with mobile phones. This capability enables Maeda and Seven-Eleven to monitor progress and verify that work has been completed. " ...

Maeda was established in Japan in 1919. Since then, it has progressed to become one of Japan’s leading building and civil engineering contractors. Maeda has a well-earned reputation for completing contracts with high-quality work and technical standards within short construction periods at very competitive prices.

Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) is wholly focused on ensuring that great ideas are turned into reality. With six million users, Autodesk is the world's leading software and services company for the building, manufacturing, infrastructure, digital media and wireless data services fields. Autodesk’s solutions help customers create, manage and share their data and digital assets more effectively. As a result, customers turn ideas into competitive advantage by becoming more productive, streamlining project efficiency and maximizing profits. Founded in 1982, Autodesk is headquartered in San Rafael, California.

Critical Chain and P2M - A Case Study

From the folks at PM Forum, here's a great case study illustrating the power of P2M (Japan's standard for project and program management) and Critical Chain. It includes an excellent, easy to understand summary of Critical Chain concepts and underscores the importance of recognizing the all-important human element of project management.

PMFORUM, Connecting the World of Project Management - Case Studies

Managing Projects Like a Consultant

One of the most important parts of a project (and most often overlooked) is the project initiation phase. This phase sets the tone for the entire project and makes all the difference iin the world for a smooth execution phase. With this in mind, how we approach it is critical.

Dr. Glenn Strange has written an informative paper describing a "consultancy approach" to project management. Pay special attention to his Project Initiation Checklist of Requirements at the end.

Project Initiation - a consultancy approach

Project Management Lessons-Learned; A Lesson Learned

For a good writeup on Lessons-Learned, see this writeup as part of the OGC Successful Delivery Toolkit. The OGC (Office of Government Commerce) are the makers of the PRINCE2 project management methodology and the ITIL (IT Infrastructure LIbrary) service delivery management standard.

The OGC suggests questions that should be asked as part of a lessons-learned report, and raises the importance of reviewing prior lessons-learned at the beginning of all projects. They rightfully suggest that lessons-learned should be collected at a minimum after each project phase (ideally even more frequently - such as at regular status meetings).

They also raise the importance of having a quality control person or process owner be a recipient of all lessons-learned reports, in case standard processes need to be revised.

Lessons learned report

Enterprise project management vs. Fantasy Land

From the folks at 4PM, here's a great article on how to instill the right values when beginning your Enterprise Project Management endeavor.

It offers a correct vision as compared with Fantasy Land on such topics as:

• Strategic Thinking and Conceiving Project Objectives
• Managing Project Porotfolios
• Building Project Plans
• Tracking Project Progress

It preaches consistency and a focus on goal-based deliverables. Here's the full article (as usual, there's a link to view the PDF version)...


Enterprise project management

Agile Development vs. Big Design Up Front (BDUF); Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater

Darren Hobbs, in his blog, makes a good point that sometimes people design to leave everything to chance just because much is unknown early in a project.

Even though the traditional BDUF method (Big Design Up Front) often isn't effective on IT projects (where much is discovered as the project progresses), that doesn't mean that we don't still need to spend time doing requirements analysis and planning for what is knowable.

Like anything, there's a happy medium. I saw someone else refer to the proper way to handle it as EDUF (Enough Design Up Front).

I still like the Rolling Wave approach for most IT projects, where the whole project is planned and approved at a high level, but each phase is planned in detail (and re-baselined as appropriate) as the horizon approaches. It's a realistic and flexible approach that's proven successful. Of course, sometimes BDUF is quite appropriate. We just need to use the right approach for the job at hand.

Here's a link to Darren's blog...

Darren Hobbs: Analysis is not BDUF

Another Great Project Management Framework

It's amazing how many companies pay a fortune or spend an eternity trying to get their project management framework set up when there are so many best practices on the web to learn from for free.

Here's another one, this time from the State of Texas. Note particularly the Process for Project Planning section, which offers a table with scaleable processes, depending on the size/focus of the project.

Guidelines and Model Process Manual

Project Management White Papers Index

Found this excellent index of free project management white papers from Project Perfect. Check it out...


Project Management White Papers Index

Enterprise Portfolio Management Across Diverse Investment Areas ...

Enterprise Portfolio Management Across Diverse Investment Areas: Via Instantis: Driving Corporate Performance: Unmatched Customer Momentum Drives Four Consecutive Quarters of 40% Growth for Instantis: New Wins with Industry Leaders and Advanced Enterprise Performance Improvement Capabilities within Instantis EnterpriseTrack 4 Extend Company’s Market Leadership ...

Hexion leverages Instantis performance improvement tool to manage full breadth of project portfolios across enterprise investment areas, such as Capex, NPD, IT, M+A, etc. ...

... "Hexion; formerly Borden Chemicals (7,000 employees and over $4 billion annual revenues), headquartered in Columbus, Ohio with 86 production and distribution facilities in 18 countries in the Americas, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Hexion Specialty Chemicals is the world's largest producer and has the broadest range of thermoset resin technologies to offer the market, with world-class research, applications development and technical service capabilities. To install, the Hexion team was able to migrate seamlessly from an earlier competitive tracking solution to the more advanced and flexible enterprise performance improvement features of EnterpriseTrack 4 in order to support seven different languages and better manage initiatives within Capital Projects, New Product Development, IT, Product Execution and Mergers and Acquisitions. " ...

Instantis is a leading provider of Enterprise Performance Improvement software for Global 2000 companies like Lockheed Martin, McKesson and Xerox that have deployed Six Sigma and other structured, project portfolio based business improvement methodologies. Instantis software automates the end-to-end execution, management and reporting of these methodologies. With a unique capability to provide a bridge between strategic priorities and execution, Instantis solutions allow industry leaders to deliver improved financial results and better alignment of goals and activities throughout the organization.

Managing Projects with Unrealistic Deadlines

One of the most frustrating challenges for project managers is attempting to manage a project with an unrealistic deadline, especially if the date seems arbitrary. This excellent and insightful article from TenStep, Inc. (note the link to view the PDF version) explores several approaches one can take to deal with this common problem, including:

• Using the triple constraint of time, scope, and cost to make the case for adding time, reducing scope, or adding resources/cost if appropriate
• Pointing out the risks early and managing risks tightly
• Considering reducing the scope
• Aggressively monitoring the schedule and raising issues immediately
• Involving the sponsor in offering ideas for meeting the date
• Exploring other project approaches or methods that may shorten the time
  
  Read the article below for more details.
  
  Managing Projects with Unrealistic Deadlines

Automate Portfolio Management Process: Neilsen ...

Automate Portfolio Management Process: Neilsen: Via Mercury: Mercury IT Governance Center Rates High with Nielsen Media

Neilsen leverages Mercury ITG to automate their portfolio management process ...

... "Nielsen was looking for a way to improve customer response time and transform their time-consuming manual portfolio management process to an automated process across business units. They wanted a portfolio management process to provide increased visibility and efficiency to quickly get proposals and requests for different audience rating services into the work flow. Nielsen was also looking to gain a more strategic approach to matching daily demand versus tactical demand. " ...

Mercury IT Governance Center™ helps customers automate IT business processes from demand management to portfolio, program and resource management, to change management. Mercury IT Governance Center is comprised of integrated applications, a real-time dashboard and an enterprise foundation. Mercury IT governance products and services help customers with compliance regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley, and it supports quality programs and process control frameworks such as Six-Sigma, CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration), ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library), ISO-9000, and COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and related Technologies).

Nielsen Media Research is the world’s leading provider of television audience measurement and advertising information services. In the United States, Nielsen’s National People Meter service provides audience estimates for all national program sources, including broadcast networks, cable networks, Spanish language networks, and national syndicators. Local ratings estimates are produced for television stations, regional cable networks, MSOs, cable interconnects, and Spanish language stations in each of the 210 television markets in the U.S., including electronic metered service in 56 markets.

Business Sponsors Critical to IT Project Success

How many of us have had IT projects fully embraced and sponsored by a senior business executive?

I didn't think so.

Unfortunately, lack of full participatory business sponsorship is one of the leading causes of IT project failure. This article from Computerworld offers some compelling reasons why business sponsors fail to get involved, and offers some tips on how to remedy the situation.

The Elusive Executive Sponsor - Computerworld

Value Management: Pricing Perspective

Value Management: Pricing Perspective: Via SmartPros: Who's in Charge of Value in Your Firm?

Eye-opening perspective, by Ron Baker, on value management and its potential for competitive advantage ...

... "Why are these organizations investing such an enormous amount of human capital into the pricing function? Because they realize they can only cut costs, re-engineer, implement TQM and Six-Sigma programs to a certain point, and diminishing returns have already arrived. By focusing on creating value, and then capturing it through pricing more intelligently, they are realizing large returns for their investment. " ...

Gantt Chart Graphics Tool

Gantt Chart Graphics Tool: Via ILOG: ILOG Launches the First Gantt Chart Graphics Tool with Custom Project Management Features for Microsoft .Net

ILOG launches Gantt chart graphics tool for the Microsoft .NET environment, enabling more visual project management applications ...

... "The new Project Management Option in ILOG Gantt for .NET 3.0 provides a comprehensive tool set for designing a visually-rich user interface and a scheduling engine that adds project scheduling capabilities to a Gantt chart. This functionality provides the foundation for a pre-built project management application that can be deployed across the entire enterprise as-is or customized to the organization's own specifications in Visual Basic or C#. It also allows developers to rapidly create and deploy custom project applications in a more cost-effective and time-efficient manner. For example, a developer can easily implement a new way of managing custom calendars for special working hours and days (i.e. vacations, holidays), so that tasks are automatically adjusted and assigned to available people. " ...

ILOG delivers software and services that empower customers to make better decisions faster and manage change and complexity. Over 2,500 global corporations and more than 465 leading software vendors rely on ILOG's market-leading business rule management system (BRMS), optimization and visualization software components, to achieve dramatic returns on investment, create market-defining products and services, and sharpen their competitive edge. ILOG was founded in 1987 and employs more than 650 people worldwide.