The majority of these are built around the requirements of managing large and disparate groups, such as international research teams.

On the various web sites developed for the purpose, you will find a variety of tools that have been developed in response to some of these requirements. Not all are publicly visible.

These range from the "lessons learned" tool, on the K2 web site, to the tool for web site evaluation.

The rationale behind this last one is a good indication of how some of these things get developed. Some years ago, we were part of an activity coordinating a network of more than 20 technology transfer nodes. Each had its own web site, but they lacked coherence and focus. Thus, we devised an assessment scheme that was as objective as possible. It was done at the time with a spreadsheet. Now that the web has become a mainstream dissemination, sales and marketing tool, there is a need for an objective means of comparing your web site with others - typically those that are in the same business. Thus, Aspen have developed an on-line tool for doing this. You can rate the sites you want to compare and your own, against the objective criteria. You can ask a sample of customers or others to do the same rating, thus reducing any personal bias. The results can then be used to help you improve on your weaknesses and highlight your strengths.

Project Risk Management is an area that has been developed by Aspen. There are tools around that will provide a statistical probability of the risk. Most tools are quantitative, not qualitative. These are fine for projects where little is new, and where there are few external influences. However, we specialise in identifying, analysing, mitigating and managing the risks in projects where external influences could have significant impact on the project.