Optym is building decision automation and optimization products to meet specific needs. We build such products jointly with launch clients or with strategic development partners and enhance, support and maintain them through a community supported model. We are building such software products for railroads, airlines and trucking companies. In this section, we next describe our typical engagement model for the licensing of these software products.
This process begins with educating potential clients about our software products by giving product presentations and demonstrations through web meetings. We also share product white papers that give a deep dive into product functionalities and capabilities. If our software product is aligned with your needs, then we recommend doing a pilot study.
The pilot study is comprised of the following tasks:
1. Data Delivery: We share with you a document that describes the data and its format needed for the pilot study. You provide us your business data in this format.
3. Model Case Creation: Then, we run the data though our model, which is either an optimization model or a simulation model. We validate the model with you to ensure that its results are implementable.
2. Base Case Creation: We perform complex calculations of your data and work with you to repair any data-related issues. Next, we create a base case of your current operations and obtain your approval. This base case serves as a benchmark for comparison.
4. Business Case Preparation: We compare the model case with the base case and assess potential benefits for using the product. We collaboratively perform a ROI (return on investment) analysis and make a business case for your investment in the product.
The pilot study typically takes one to three months depending upon the complexity of the product. We generally do not do product enhancements to meet your specific needs in the pilot product, but we can do this in special cases if it is deemed necessary for a successful pilot. With our very high success rate with recent pilot studies, almost all clients move to the next stage of product licensing.
In this stage, we license the product to you, perform enhancements to model your unique business needs, assist in the deployment of the product with your operational system, and train your users in using the product.
1. Product Licensing: Our standard licensing model is the SaaS (software as a service) model, in which you pay annual licensing fees for using our product. Our average contract period is three years.
3. Deployment: Our products are multi-user systems that perform heavy number crunching and thus need powerful computer servers. Our products are generally cloud-hosted, but in special cases they can also be hosted within a client’s data center. Our deployment team works with your IT team and integrates the product with your upstream and downstream systems. Our products can also be used as stand-alone systems, and data can be imported and exported in several ways.
2. Enhancements: Should you require any enhancements of the model, our team will perform these, provided they do not break our community-supported model of product development. Some enhancements become a standard part of the product, while others are optional capabilities that may or may not be used through the configuration of parameters. These enhancements are generally done on a time and material basis using our standard software development rates.
4. Training: Our deliverables are sophisticated systems, so we permit any users to receive thorough training. Our deployment team works closely with your business team to prepare data, do data confirmations, fix data issues, set the right values of configuration parameters, and interpret results with recommendations. We offer training at the client’s site and some training at our company’s offices.
After we have licensed the software product to you, enhanced it to meet your needs, and integrated it with your operational systems, we continue to support you and the system as necessary.
Our software product is supported, maintained and enhanced over time to meet users’ evolving business needs. These tasks are an integral part of our offerings.
Support: We provide different levels of support for our products depending upon their business criticality and service level agreements. We typically offer support during business hours (for planning systems) and 24 x 7 x 365 support (for real-time operational systems). Users receive email and phone support, and we expeditiously handle their requests. We also continue to train new users on an as-needed basis.
Maintenance: We monitor system performance continually, and address any performance issues. Any bugs discovered by us or users are fixed through periodic updates. We also upgrade the system as new versions of the operating system, database and other components are released.
Enhancements: We are open to clients’ suggestions for new functionalities and capabilities to be added to our products to make them more useful to their business. We hold a user group meeting every year and, in addition, we make an in-person visit to our clients to take their feedback. Based on the feedback received, we create a roadmap of product enhancements and share it with our clients. We provide some enhancements as a part of the ongoing licensing fee and offer some enhancements as add-on modules for extra licensing fees.
