VCM NEWS

Leading Supply Chain Applications

The vastness of the manufacturing industry makes it virtually impossible for companies to operate without effective supply-chain management. From ordering materials to production scheduling to shipping products, every aspect of manufacturing depends on an infrastructure for matching goods to customers' orders. ILOG has become a top supplier of software components for building applications used within the supply chain and to support it. In this issue, we see how Novient uses ILOG optimization to match consultants to jobs, and Reef applies ILOG JRules in Internet personalization.

Novient Reinvents Service Industry
Service process leader applies ILOG optimization

The top provider of Internet-based service process optimization (SPO), Novient has begun using ILOG optimization technology in its latest offering for matching jobs with consultants, using such criteria as skills, employee preferences, and revenue and profit expectations.

Novient counts among its leading customers Compaq, SAP and Nortel Networks, and has more than 140,000 users in 48 countries. Its proven SPO solution has consistently resulted in rapid return on investment by improving operational efficiency, increasing profitability and meeting the challenges of today's competitive marketplace.

The company has adopted ILOG optimization to precisely match people to projects based the vast number of criteria a service provider must take into consideration in meeting customers' needs.

"We selected ILOG because they are the recognized leader in optimization technology," says David Keil, executive vice president of strategy and business development at Novient. "Early feedback on the Novient-ILOG solution has been outstanding, as numerous customers and prospects have indicated that our SPO solution will reinvent how they run their service organizations by lowering operational costs, improving performance and quality, and increasing responsiveness to customer needs."

Optimally matching people to projects is the primary activity of SPO. However, most SPO solutions today use manual mechanisms based on standard reporting technologies and business rules. With ILOG optimization, Novient's solution can refine the selection process by applying a broad range of constraints in a highly flexible software environment.

"As the standard for optimization technology, we are pleased to see it expanding into new, emerging markets like service process optimization," says Todd Lowe, executive vice president and general manager of ILOG's Value Chain Management Division. "We are confident that optimization will be as successful in SPO as it has been in areas like supply-chain management and customer relationship management."

According to its agreement with ILOG, Novient can use several products in the ILOG Optimization Suite, including ILOG CPLEX, ILOG Solver, ILOG Scheduler and ILOG OPL Studio.

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Reef Extends Internet Personalization
ILOG JRules to be available with e-business InternetWare suite

A leading provider of applications for managing e-business, Reef plans to offer ILOG JRules, ILOG's pure-Java business rule engine, as an add-on for the next release of the Reef InternetWare suite. ILOG JRules will be available for use throughout the suite to support personalization facilities for up- and cross-selling solutions.

Companies of all sizes use InternetWare to give their non-technical businesspeople direct access to online content, in order to keep e-business applications current and competitive. TIME magazine has ranked Reef among Europe's hottest technology companies, and its CEO and co-founder, Philippe Brawerman, as Europe's most influential high-tech entrepreneur of 2000.

"With customers in many of our industries paying increasing attention to the management of business rules as a strategic corporate asset," says Jürgen Obermann, vice president of worldwide marketing at Reef, "we recognized that many of our customers' e-business initiatives required a robust and flexible business rule engine. We selected ILOG JRules because of its tight Java integration, superior performance and easy-to-use rule creation features. This allows us to continue empowering business users in the management of their e-business, a core value we share with ILOG."

InternetWare is 100% Pure Java, enabling users to easily integrate Reef's open platform and update it as their businesses evolve. Reef customers can electronically access, manage and share information internally or externally through extranets, intranets or Web portals. IntranetWare is also optimized for use with portable devices: cell phones, personal data assistants, laptops and others.

"We are pleased to be partnering with a fast-growing e-business software company in promoting the powerful new functionality that business rule technology can bring to portals and Web storefronts," says Todd Lowe, executive vice president and general manager of the ILOG Value Chain Management Division.

Funded by Goldman Sachs, Cisco Systems, Net Fund Europe and other prestigious investors, Reef serves a broad range of industries, including entertainment, communications, healthcare, finance and retail. It has offices in Europe, Asia Pacific and North America.

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