Supernova Award Category

The Problem

Postponing the launch of a new product can have a number of negative consequences on revenues—from reducing the window of revenue- generating opportunity to causing the product to become obsolete faster. For InterMetro Industries, time to market is critical to maintaining competitive advantage. Missing an opportunity to introduce a new product at an industry event translates directly into lost revenue. Over the last decade, InterMetro Industries’ business has expanded its product lines through innovation and acquisition. Because each of its software development teams used a different set of new product development (NPD) processes, the company struggled to gain an accurate view of deliverables, issues, and resourcing across projects. It also had difficulty assessing risk.  InterMetro Industries also needed to standardize processes to improve delivery predictability—which meant resourcing more appropriately to meet deadlines. 

The Solution

To find the critical functionality it needed in a new work management tool, InterMetro evaluated 16 products—among them Microsoft Project, Siemens Teamcenter, Microsoft Project Central, and Daptiv Project Management. They concluded that easy-to-use Workfront would deliver the most tangible and intangible benefits.

The results

Workfront has enabled InterMetro Industries to address a primary NPD challenge which was getting multiple development teams to adopt a uniform process using a single system for tracking and reporting. Before, only about 15% of their R&D projects were following the corporate NPD process rigor. Now, they're over 80 and aiming for 100%.  They didn’t have a common language or project management tool to assess and report on all of the projects their team had underway.  Before, if development was late, they sometimes wouldn’t know until just before a tradeshow. Now they have data that allows them to step in and take action—not three days, but three months in advance—to ensure they don’t miss launch deadlines and other opportunities to drive revenue.

Metrics

INCREASED COMPLIANCE WITH NPD PROCESS FROM 15% TO 80%, AND SOON 100% 

IMPROVED VISIBILITY OF CAPITALIZED R&D COSTS FROM APPROXIMATELY 52% TO MORE THAN 95%, SAVING HALF A MILLION DOLLARS – With Workfront, the InterMetro Industries core team has greater visibility into where delivery bottlenecks are occurring and can now proactively address them, saving the business from potential cost overruns. Moreover, the team can better predict delivery dates and avoid product delays 

REDUCED THE AVERAGE NPD PLANNING SPAN FROM 11 MONTHS TO JUST UNDER 3 MONTHS 

IMPROVED TRACKING OF R&D LABOR COSTS FROM UNDER 50% TO OVER 90% IMPROVED RISK MANAGEMENT – Workfront dashboards provide InterMetro Industries management with accurate, easy ways to assess and report on project risks. 

PROVIDED SUPPORT FOR MIXED SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGIES – The InterMetro Industries development team uses both Waterfall and Agile development methodologies. Its code repository, TFS, is integrated with Workfront because it is easier for teams to track requirements and report using the Workfront solution.REDUCED MEETING TIME BY TWO-THIRDS - InterMetro Industries has increased meeting effectiveness while cutting meeting times from 1.5 hours to 25 minutes.

The Technology

Workfront Enterprise Work Management Solution

Disruptive Factor

With Workfront, the InterMetro Industries core team has greater visibility into where delivery bottlenecks are occurring and can now proactively address them, saving the business from potential cost overruns. Moreover, the team can better predict delivery dates and avoid product delays.  With greater visibility, management can determine whether or not projects have enough resources, if their benefits justify cost, or if they’re likely to encounter skillset challenges.

Shining Moment

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