Posted by Randy Flamm on Fri, Aug 06, 2010 @ 02:19 PM
In my last blog (IQMS Community Server – Game Changing Technology) I discussed the affects that Community Server has had on our Design, Programming, Testing and Documentation departments. This time I will discuss how the rest of our organization has been impacted.
The Professional Services Group is charged with successful implementations by focusing on meeting the client’s business goals. During the implementation GAP analysis, when software workflows are compared against currently used business processes, it is not unusual to uncover issues that need to be addressed with software modifications. By using Community Server to input and track these software change requests (SCRs), the overall turn around time has been shortened as we are able to give priority to these SCRs. The rest of the customer community is able to comment on best practices regarding individual business processes that will be affected by the proposed changes. Remember that all enhancements to the core modules are made available to all EnterpriseIQ customers at no extra cost.
Community Server has had an immense impact on the day-to-day operations in the support department. Prior to managing SCRs through Community Server, all SCRs had to be reviewed by a support technician to ensure that the requested functionality was not already a part of the latest version of the software. Often this would require additional correspondence between support and the customer to get all of the necessary details. When it was determined by support that the SCR was valid, it could then be escalated to the development group. By removing the “middle man”, we have not only freed up additional time for our support staff, but also decreased the steps necessary and the time it takes to get a response to the customer. A decreased call volume in support can also be seen because users are now able to check the status of their SCRs on their own. Plus, due to the visibility of other users' SCRs, the number of duplicate SCRs has decreased as well. The use of Community Server for managing SCRs has truly created a “win-win” situation for our technical support group and the customers we serve.
I feel that the biggest win this technology has enabled lies in our product offerings. The EnterpriseIQ family of products offers more integrated modules for every aspect of the manufacturing enterprises than any system on the market - bar none. With the input of thousands of Community Server members, we work toward the goal of making every module “best of breed” in both quality and functionality. Not only has customer satisfaction improved but our new licensing sales have increased. Our sales staff enjoys showing off the product in comparison to our competitor’s products.
The following are new modules directly related to requests and ideas that came in via Community Server: Expense Reporting, Quality Audit, Process Monitoring, UPS / FedEx Certified Shipment Manager, and the Environmental Regulation Tracking and Reporting Module.
Although the advent of Community Server has increased the development, testing, and documentation workload the payoff has been very good for both IQMS and our customers.
Posted by Randy Flamm on Mon, Jun 14, 2010 @ 08:15 AM
It's been a year since we introduced the IQMS Community Server. It's clear to me that this project is "game-changing technology" on many levels.
The IQMS development effort encompasses many different departments. All have been directly affected by the advent of Community Server.
The design team is charged with evaluating each software change request (SCR) in regards to the module(s) to be affected. The Community Server users have averaged three SCRs per day including weekends and holidays. The content ranges from brilliant to not so brilliant. Sometimes it's a challenge to really understand what the author of the SCR is trying to achieve. This is when the collaboration tools (ability of the author to include other documents including screen shots) become essential. When a designer approves the SCR he or she must then submit a workable design to the programmers and mark the SCR as being "Approved" and "Designed". Community Server SCR Workflow enables the life cycle of an SCR to be transparent to not only IQMS employees but to all customers.
The programmers are sent the SCR designs with enough information to complete the development. Some designs require significant detail including changes to database structures, flow charts and most importantly screen shots. Other easier designs are straight forward but pretty much always include screen shots. All EnterpriseIQ modules are "owned" by a designer/programmer/tester team. The average tenure of these IQMS employees is over 6 years with senior members over 10 years. This is why the constraining activity to fulfill SCRs is not the programming department. They can knock this stuff out with uncanny speed due to their experience and the modern object oriented development tools they utilize. They are also very good at what they do.
When the programmers are finished they check their development source code and scripts into our state of the art version control system. The Community Server workflow is updated which notifies the testing department that the ball is now in their court. This is when it gets very interesting. The testing technician is charged with testing the development on many different Oracle and operating systems as well as adherence to our own "prime directive". Our prime directive, unlike the Star Trek one, has to do with not undertaking any development that will negatively affect how our customers are using the current functionality of a module. At times this directive can be difficult to adhere to when customer users find ways to use undocumented functionality that we hadn't thought of.
At the end of the testing phase the Community Server workflow is updated which sends the SCR to the Documentation department. Each SCR that has been approved, designed, programmed and tested is now documented based on input from the SCR (what we want to achieve), the design (how are we going to achieve it), the programmers and testing technician notes. As it happens the documentation department technicians also retest the change to fully understand what needs to be documented. This method is the next best thing to having the change being used in a production environment.
The IQMS development workflow process can best be described as an "Agile Software Development System". All work is done in house which allows complete control over both the process and the outcome.
My next blog will discuss the impact that Community Server has had on our Training and Professional Services departments and our product offerings.
Posted by Tina Jolicoeur on Wed, May 26, 2010 @ 11:33 AM
Call me old-fashioned, I still enjoy a good commercial or print ad. Not only are they entertaining, but I appreciate the skill, innovation and imagination put in to them. Right now one of my favorite ad campaigns is Microsoft's 'I'm a PC and Windows 7 is my idea'. Of course I know that it's just an ad campaign and those are actors, but I'm sure Microsoft considered change requests when they developed Windows 7. Wouldn't it be great if we had a voice in the improvement of all of the devices, software, appliances, vehicles, etc. that we use everyday? That got me to thinking about EnterpriseIQ software and we've always been customer driven, taking and implementing literally hundreds and hundreds of software change requests (SCR) per year. That's evident especially now that we have reached our one year anniversary since implementing IQMS Community Server. Anyone who logs in can see We have over one thousand SCRs posted to Community Server - in just one year! Not only are there over one thousand SCRs, over half of them have been approved. Our customers, real users not actors, can say they have a voice in the improvement of our ERP software.
All SCRs can be viewed by all customers. Customers can comment good or bad on any SCR; they provide input on whether or not they like a feature and if it would be beneficial to them and/or all users. They also comment when they disagree with a change request. Which leads me to my next train of thought. I sometimes picture our lead developers, who review EVERY SCR, as Jim Carrey in Bruce Almighty. There's a scene when he is going through the prayer emails and is so overwhelmed he grants every prayer. Not only do our Developers read every SCR, they have to sometimes take the time to decipher what the customer is requesting and then consider, "Is this in the best interest of all users?" That's because our software is fully integrated and we don't make changes to the core software without considering all of our customers and their manufacturing types.
A nice feature in Community Server is all customers can view the status of SCRs from submission, to review, to approval (or denial) to programming, testing and documentation. Customers can filter on the status of the SCR as well. For example a customer can choose to view only SCRs that are pending approval or just the SCRs they've submitted. A lot of our customers have been with us since the 'early' days and they know they sometimes had to contact IQMS to find out the status of their SCR, now they can go to Community Server any time they'd like and review the status without picking up the phone or sending an email.
IQMS employees love Community Server too. Support, Development, Testing, Sales, Professional Services- all of us view the requests, look at the status and view any notes. We can quickly see which customer and/or user made the request, refer back to what they were trying to achieve and how they were accomplishing that currently. We often have conference calls to review an SCR, it doesn't matter where we are, as long as we have web access, we have access to the SCRs. The turnaround time for SCRs has improved exponentially. There isn't a bottle neck at any level. And it's not that we weren't trying to get to all of the SCRs before in a timely fashion, but there were hindrances that are no longer there with this method.
So, if you are an IQMS customer or thinking about becoming one, let me give you some tips on how to get your SCR reviewed and approved.
- Attach a screen shot. We are visual people and a picture speaks loudly and clearly.
- Be brief but succinct in each area of the SCR; what is your request, what are you trying to accomplish and how do you achieve your goal currently. Is it a workaround, a separate report, etc. All three of the questions on the SCR are well thought out, we are trying to keep our customers focused on their request and ask leading questions that prompt our customers to provide well thought out responses. Re-read your request; if you can, have someone review it. I do a lot of proofing and always find errors or missing information in other people's work, but often miss it in my own writing.
- Make sure to leave the box checked to email responses to the SCR. When we reply we might be asking for further information or more detail and the faster you can respond, the faster we can push your SCR through the approval process. And when you respond to our reply, do so within the SCR not in the automatically generated email.
- Take the time to review other customer's SCRs on occasion and reply to a SCR if you'd like to see the same change. Then when you submit a SCR your community is more likely to have your back. If you have a special area of use in EnterpriseIQ, for example, Quality Document Control, review just these SCRs on occasion. Not only will you know what's coming in the next version, you can comment on an area of the software that's important to you. You have a voice.
- Review other SCRs to see if what you've requested is already approved. If you are on an older version of the software, you can also read the What's Changed documents for the newer versions before you submit a SCR.
Our customers have a voice in the continuous improvement of IQMS' EnterpriseIQ software; they are IQMS customers and EIQ is their idea.
Posted by Neil Gow on Tue, May 18, 2010 @ 07:03 AM
What an exciting time to be involved in software development! Right now the economy is tough, but we can't rest and wait for things to get better. Here at IQMS headquarters in Paso Robles, California the development team is pushing forward and creating our own destiny. Some of the most extraordinary new ideas are coming to fruition as we explore the possibilities.
Last year we introduced the RealTime LightStick to bring visibility and awareness to the plant floor. It doesn't matter if you are using Wired or Wireless RealTime. EnterpriseIQ can give the entire plant a look at what is running "lean" or not. With a glance at the Work Center everyone will instantly know if a machine is down, running standard, or faster/slower than standard! If the red light is blinking it means the work order has been completed. It can also be used as a call for technical help, just push a button and the LightStick scrolls through all the colors, attracting attention right away. Once you respond and cancel the call you can address the situation whatever it is!
What is even more exiting is that some of the best ideas come right from you the customer! A new LightStick status shows a flashing yellow light which indicates the scrap is exceeding the allowable scrap percentage on the Bill Of Material (BOM). Great customer input! This is now available for both Wired and Wireless RealTime users.
For those of you who have EnterpriseIQ ERP systems you know we work very hard to accommodate the ideas brought to us. This is all made possible through Community Server. Our online forum allows the customer to submit a software development request and if it is feasible, everyone who is paying attention gets to vote on the change. So if it works for you, great! If not, then chime in and voice your concern to both IQMS and the rest of the customers! Our management staff and the primary designers are watching Community Server for more of the ideas that meet your needs for today's competitive manufacturing world.
I'm thrilled to say my next blog will be regarding the newest idea to come from IQMS. I won't say anymore right now, but don't miss it! Its full of ideas from you!
Posted by Liz Alflen on Wed, Feb 17, 2010 @ 03:40 PM
As we all know, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas...
Unless you are a manufacturing ERP professional attending the IQMS User Group Meeting, in which case you will want to take back to your manufacturing facility all you've learned about new EnterpriseIQ ERP and Manufacturing System functionality (plus all the neat promotional items you'll pick up - way better than just a hangover!).
IQMS is planning the most fun and informative event you will attend this year. In order to build the most valuable experience for you, we need to harness the collective wisdom and power of the user community. Tell us what you want for content and format so we can structure the event to best benefit you and your company's attendees.
The IQMS User Group 2010 will be open to all manufacturing industry professionals, providing an open forum for education and discussion. We want to share ways to make all our lives easier and make more money, and make connections with other industry colleagues with the same objectives. Past attendees have enjoyed open sessions about new development, breakout sessions on popular modules, customer applications and special presentations by vendors and partners. This is also the best opportunity to meet with the IQMS development team, management staff and industry peers to discuss features, functionality and best practices.
What would you most be interested in learning about and discussing? What format do you like?
- More focus on manufacturing?
- Brighter spotlight on technology?
- More general ("all play") sessions?
- More specialized breakout sessions?
- Did you like the overview sessions which debuted at our last event?
- More about new development?
- Customer applications?
- Training and education?
- Roundtable discussions?
- Networking luncheons?
Since we introduced the IQMS Online Community Server last spring, we are using that forum for IQMS customers and staff to collaborate on software modules and change requests. This means we can make the most of our time together at this fall's event on new content.
More information is available on the User Group page our website (http://www.iqms.com/); make your plans now as space will be limited. Please complete the on-line survey and post your additional comments here.
We're looking forward to seeing you there! Thanks!
P.S. We're also interested in building a better breakfast buffet for our attendees. Please also let us know what you would like in the morning to ease the transition from those late evenings...