THE BUSINESS ISSUE
ARCAD Software counts numerous software vendors among our clientele.
We have the same issues our customers do when it comes to testing, version management, software deployment and customer relationship management. ARCAD solutions allow you to save time and effort by reducing manual tasks, and improving the quality of your software:
- Automate all your non-regression tests, decrease their costs and increase the quality of your applications.
- Guarantee the integrity of your developments and improve your productivity with automatic impact analysis.
- Decrease time to distribute your software, their versions, PTFs, and even customer specific parameters.
- Improve customer relationship management.
THE ARCAD APPROACH
Testing
Customers are exerting increasing pressure on software vendors concerning the reliability of the software they provideaccomplished. The customer perceives the impact of the arrival of a new release as “a necessary evil.” Even if they are aware of added value, they know the risks involved and the time needed to stabilize the release. To reassure your customers and consolidate processes, you can automate testing. You can then demonstrate that, even in a customer’s configuration, your software is reliable.
The ARCAD-Verifier solution meets this need and more thanks to our test scenario management solution. You can conduct scenarios, even for corrective or minor releases, to ensure the smooth functioning of critical elements of your software. You can even provide the results of these scenarios to customers as PDF reports. If your customers acquire ARCAD-Verifier, you can send them the scenarios so that they can play them back on their own machines.
Version Management
Software vendors who come to us with a versioning problem are the ones who have to deal with new situations:
- A significant increase in the number of customers,
- An increase in custom development to maintain around the standard,
- Corrective maintenance that regularly conflicts with evolutionary changes.
In all these cases, regressions can seriously affect your image. In response, a vendor must put better-defined processes in place to avoid these setbacks and work on software stability. This is beneficial not only for development teams but also for all other services, including sales.
The ARCAD response is to implement the ARCAD-Skipper solution. This tool provides version control for all development. It allows perfect coordination of batches and developers, it manages compatibility between batches, and it controls their technical integrity. For the management of data, (see ARCAD-Datachanger page) ARCAD checks, for example, that when a parameter is added in a program, all called programs are modified accordingly.
Therefore, thanks to this solution, you can handle a significant number of changes without affecting the reliability of the whole, and at the same time, experience substantial gains in productivity.
Software Deployment
Problems that are more sophisticated appear with the integration of new technologies and the resulting diversity of elements to deliver. If the installation process at your customer sites is not automated enough, the customer will need to conduct a seemingly endless number of procedures, which represents a heavy workload.
In addition, many software publishers have lost control of what actually is installed at the customer site, making the process of installing new versions particularly risky. Finally, your customer may want to manage multiple software environments. This poses problems of transfers between local environments.
To meet these needs, you can implement ARCAD-Deliver. Through this solution, you can manage all your customer installations from a central console, namely what version level they use, and send PTFs or cumulative versions. You can establish installation acknowledgements, ensuring that this centralized information is relevant.
Thanks to ARCAD’s architecture, you have flexibility to define your installation process for any type of component and any type of task. The process automated by ARCAD offers interruption and recovery capabilities, so you can handle any unforeseen situations during installation.
Customer Relationship Management
Effective technical support is a key factor in your success and the main indicator of the quality of service you provide. Equipping technical support with modern tools reinforces a professional image.
To meet this need, we developed ARCAD-Customer. It is a complete request tracking solution that ensures close monitoring of all user requests, from simple questions to software anomalies. Its added value lies precisely in its integration with versioning. You will have a perfect record of what is installed at your customer sites.
Software Vendor Partnership Program
When software vendors use ARCAD technology for deployment, they can attain ARCAD partner status. As a partner, you enjoy special amenities and become a reseller of ARCAD “run-time” licenses to install at your customer sites.
You deploy elements of the ARCAD offer that are needed to install your software. Your customer can then go farther in the process and put in place:
That is why software vendors, like you, have a privileged position among our customers: you are more partners than customers. You are important drivers of the deployment of ARCAD technology and contribute significantly to our success. In return, we bring you a high level of professionalism and operational transparency in relation to your customers. It is a "win-win" relationship for all. |
