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VirtECS® Project Methodology

Scheduling Software Projects Can Be Risky

Scheduling software projects are usually structured so that a significant fraction of the money is spent before the customer sees any deliverables. This practice suits the vendors but exposes the customer to a high level of risk. By the time the customer actually gets their hands on the system, a lot of time has passed and much of the money has already changed hands. Thus when the system is delivered and fails to live up to expectations, the customer is faced with a difficult choice. They can either live with a system that doesn't work, or go back to upper management and say the project is a failure. The more expensive the system, the higher the management level required to approve it, making the customer all the more reticent to call the project a failure. You can tell how much confidence a vendor has in their product by how much money you must sink with them before getting a look at it on your process.

VirtECS® Projects Minimize Risk

At APC, we do things differently, our projects are structured to play out in a series of well defined manageable steps, each with clearly understood costs and goals.

  • Develop process model
  • Work closely with customer to ensure detailed model validity
  • Fine tune optimization algorithm to improve schedule quality
  • Deliver initial version of tool suitable for process analysis
  • Determine methodology for live plant scheduling (e.g. tracking in-plant inventories)
  • Deliver final version of tool for live scheduling
  • Train users
This paradigm allows the customer to see the progress on a regular basis, instilling confidence as to the overall project trajectory. We usually deliver an initial model in a few weeks. At that point we can identify mismatches between product capability and customer expectations. If there is a problem, the customer can walk away having spent little money and more importantly, having wasted little time. We are willing to demonstrate our technology on your process early in the project because our technology works and we are confident that we will not lose sales when the customers see it.