ILOG SA, a French software tools developer specialising in artificial intelligence, and Cap Gemini Sogeti SA have announced a beta version of KADS Tool, a software engineering tool based on technology that emerged from Esprit’s Project KADS. KADS Tool, say the two companies, is the first industrial software product to implement the methodology Common KADS, […]
ILOG SA, a French software tools developer specialising in artificial intelligence, and Cap Gemini Sogeti SA have announced a beta version of KADS Tool, a software engineering tool based on technology that emerged from Esprit’s Project KADS. KADS Tool, say the two companies, is the first industrial software product to implement the methodology Common KADS, Knowledge Acquisition and Design Support, the European standard for modelling complex activities. It was developed by ILOG in partnership with Cap Gemini. The product is based largely on KADS I, the first phase of the KADS Esprit Project, although certain results from KADS II, which will finish in about two years, have already been integrated, said Eric Brunet, KADS technical manager for Cap Gemini Innovation. The rest of KADS II results will be eventually integrated into the product as well, he added. Interest in the product worldwide is high, particularly in the US, where there is no comparable product, said company executives. I’ve been amazed by the number of people I’ve talked to who say either, ‘I’ve heard about KADS and I’m interested in the product,’ or ‘I’ve been using Common KADS and I need a tool,’ said Pierre Haren, director general of ILOG. Given the manifest interest, he said, the two companies in a year could capture 50% of the market for tools supporting KADS. Jose Breval, director general of Cap Gemini Innovation, said 40-odd organisations in the US are already experimenting with Common KADS. Cap Gemini is already using the technology at client sites in France, including Electricite de France. The partners promise that a version of KADS Tool for Unix and VMS workstations will be on the market at the beginning of 1993.
