In this session, Bob Bixby, ILOG Chief Science Officer, discussed how optimization has become a key component in addressing common business and manufacturing problems today. He explained what has and hasn’t changed in approaches to optimization over the many years that he has been in the business.

Bob used IBM’s East Fishkill 300mm semiconductor wafer manufacturing plant as an example to explain the benefits that optimization and automated scheduling can…

Jon Ferraiolo works for IBM but works more or less full time heading up the OpenAjax Alliance. Ajax is the power behind mashups, and because mashups take components from different suppliers, interoperability, and therefore the work of the OpenAjax Alliance, is critical.

IBM quickly recognized the importance of defining an agile, open source industry group to defined standards for the industry.

The key concepts behind Web 2.0 are community, collaboration,…

ILOG’s Chairman and CEO Pierre Haren welcomed everyone to DIALOG with a fast-paced overview of ILOG solutions and how they are helping our customers around the world (many of whom who are represented in the packed auditorium this morning).

Pierre started by thanking our customers. ILOG only exists, he said, because our customers have trusted ILOG with their strategic issues, their core applications (and their money of course). He also…

I was in “fly-on-the-wall” mode this morning in the first of our two Ask the Analyst Breakfast sessions. Steve Hendrick from IDC and John Rymer from Forrester chatted with DIALOG attendees over coffee and croissants while I sat eavesdropping beside the Danish pastries…

A couple of topics in particular caught my ear…

The first of these related to user perceptions of business rule systems. One participant remarked that IT people…

It was a long first day, but apart from a few lingering travel issues for some, everything seems to have got underway smoothly.

I had the pleasure of meeting with several speakers at this evening’s welcome cocktail and everyone is really excited to be participating in this groundbreaking event and looking forward to the next two days of sessions, panel discussions and networking opportunities.

Today was hard work for the…

DIALOG is all about sharing industry breakthroughs and best practices. ILOG CEO Pierre Haren got in on the conversation early when he gave an interview and took phone-in questions on KLIV radio’s “The CEO Show” last Friday night.

In this show, Carl Guardino, CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group (SVLG), interviews prestigious CEOs who drive significant change in Silicon Valley. Previous guests on the show include Synopsys CEO Aart…

The day dawned bright and sunny this morning in Palm Springs. D Day is finally upon us. Let the DIALOG begin!

Talking of dialog, quite a few DIALOG attendees have their own blogs and most of them will be blogging directly from the conference over the next few days. The ones I’ve heard about so far are Steve Nunez, James Taylor, Anthony Baer, and Tony Garritano. If you’re planning to…

Well, it was a bit of a bumpy ride, but my flight just made it out of San Francisco before the worst of the weather moved in. By a stroke of luck I ended up sitting just behind Monika Raj, ILOG’s wonderful PR Manager for the US, who was able to quickly fill me in on the many press and analyst briefings that she has scheduled throughout the conference.

We…

Someone in the DIALOG team pointed out that I had not yet blogged about Allen Fahden. It seems that this is one keynote presentation that you really should not miss!

Allen’s groundbreaking books Innovation on Demand and Is Half the World Crazy? have apparently provided inspiration and insight to readers everywhere. The thing is, the only time I ever seem to get to read these days is when I’m traveling and temporarily disconnected from…

With just two days to go before DIALOG 08, I’m pleased to welcome ILOG Web Marketing Manager Daryl Pereira to the DIABLOG team.

This means that, together, we’ll be able to provide broader event coverage and bring you even more in-depth news and feedback direct from the conference floor in Palm Springs. As they say, two heads are better than one!

While we’re on the subject of broader event coverage,…