20 Years in the Making

Since co-founding Primavera in 1983, Joel Koppelman has done as much as any individual to demonstrate how technology solutions can improve the management of people, projects and processes. Twenty years later, as software providers continue to come and go, it is estimated that projects valued at more than $5 trillion have been managed with the help of Primavera products. Among several honors and achievements, Koppelman received the "Distinguished Contributor Award" from the Project Management Institute in 1994, and co-authored the best-selling book Earned Value Project Management with Quentin Fleming.

As part of our ongoing series of conversations with industry thought leaders, Projects@Work covered ground earlier this year with Koppelman about current project management trends, how projects differ from one industry to another, what makes a good project manager, and the art of the (project software) deal.

Twenty years ago, you and chief technology officer Richard Faris decided a project management software company was a good idea. What did …