Innovation & Technology

Last week I attended a conference here in Gothenburg on high performance computing (HPC). There were several very interesting presentations on different types of simulation. However, one presentation stood out as it did not go into the technical details of simulation and instead talked about evaluating investments in HPC based on business value. Since I am also promoting the idea about business value when talking to development managers it is nice to hear that there are companies who are following that direction.

I meet many companies about to invest in simulation software. Often their position is that they have come to the conclusion that they should do a certain type of simulation and they have started a project to buy a software. The end result of the project is usually to have the software installed and maybe had a training. What happens after such a project is likely that people get sucked into everyday problems and only spend a small amount of time on the new technology. In the end the software is hardly used and the new technology is not adding to the organization. This type of failure is usually blamed on the software.

What people tend to forget is that implementing a software tool is not a goal in itself.

What every development organization about to invest in simulation software should ask themselves is what the goal is for their organization. Is it to improve quality of products to increase sales? Or is it shorten development lead-time to lower cost of development? To reach these goals the organization has to continue the project to also include a new improved development process where the simulation activities are implemented. Not until the organization is working according to the new development process and have reached the business goal can they claim to have completed the project successfully. And only then is it a project that have added value to the company.