Standardizing the Design Process
Posted by Eileen Riordan on Thu, Jan 15, 2009
"I can get a BOM done in half a day or less, as opposed a full day doing it the old-fashioned way."
Neil Cockerill
Consulting Systems Engineer, Spanlink
OVERVIEW
Spanlink Communications did not have a standardized network design process, and relied on multiple separate steps, both slowing design turnaround. After allowing some of their Systems Engineers to standardize on Netformx DesignXpert®, the company has accelerated design turnaround, increased engineer productivity, and improved design accuracy.
CHALLENGES
- Multi-Step, Multi-Tool Process
- Slow Design Turnaround
- Reuse of Obsolete Designs
- Unreliable Online Configuration
- No Standard Process
- Slow Ramp Up for New Engineers
BUSINESS RESULTS
- Reduced Design Turnaround - by 50% or more
- Increased Productivity
- Improved Design Accuracy
- 100% of Designs Validated
- Deliver Superior Designs, Winning Designs
- Increased New Engineer Ramp Up by at least 50%
Time-Consuming Multi-Step Process
Spanlink Communications is a Minneapolis-based Cisco Partner specializing in Unified Communications solutions for Contact Centers and the enterprise at large. Prior to deploying DesignXpert, Spanlink's Systems Engineering (SE) team relied on a time-consuming and redundant multi-step, multi-tool process to design and quote solutions. Configuration and validation were done through an online configurator. Bills of Material (BoMs) and design drawings were created using separate tools, each requiring re-entry of data. Ultimately, all of this information had to be cut and pasted into Spanlink's customer-facing documentation.
"Turnaround time is critical to win a sale," explained Amber Cardillo, Director of Systems Engineering, Western Region, Spanlink. "Typically the customer wants to see everything yesterday, and turning it around in two weeks is no longer acceptable. But it takes time to put a cohesive design proposal together when dealing with multiple tools."
To save valuable design time, many Spanlink SEs reused spreadsheets from previous quotes that were similar, and built new designs on top of the old designs.
"The problem with this approach is that prices and/or the status of products may have changed. The SE wouldn't know this unless he or she took the time to check the online configurator every single time - somewhat defeating the objective of saving time," said Cardillo. "So the SE could be presenting the customer with a design that includes obsolete products or incorrect pricing information. Typically, we pay for that mistake."
The online configurator was slow, and if the system were to go down, or there was no network access available, SEs would have a hard time working on quotes. Additionally, in the middle of configuring an order, the configurator would occasionally lock up forcing the SEs to start over.
"Accuracy was a problem as well," added Tom Jensen, Senior Systems Engineer at Spanlink. "We had to spend time checking with subject matter experts, conducting conference calls, or checking the rules, because the system could not provide validation."
The lack of standardization was also a problem for Spanlink. Each employee had a slightly different approach to creating designs. Spanlink deals with very complex solutions and there was no standard methodology. Every customer engagement is slightly different, Cardillo notes. Because of this, it can take up to 6 months for a new SE to become familiar with the various approaches. Furthermore, when an SE went on vacation or left the company, the team could not easily pick up where the other employee left off on a project.
After researching alternatives, Spanlink chose DesignXpert from Netformx as the best solution to address these challenges.
Standardized Process for Higher Productivity
Spanlink deployed DesignXpert to all senior engineers early in 2008, and has plans to roll it out to all sales engineers in early 2009. Using the DesignXpert Favorites/Best Practices feature, Spanlink is in the process of building a library of design templates to standardize and accelerate the design process.
Netformx DesignXpert delivers the following business results for Spanlink:
Fast Design Turnaround: DesignXpert collapsed a time-consuming multi-tool process into an efficient process using a single integrated tool. DesignXpert generates a validated BoM that is easily exported directly into Spanlink's customer-facing deliverables, increasing productivity and dramatically cutting turnaround time.
"DesignXpert makes us more productive," Cardillo confirmed. "Because we can turn quotes around quicker we are able to support more customers in the same amount of time."
"DesignXpert enables us to build standardized templates for different deployment models, allowing us to hit the ground running on any design," said Neil Cockerill, Consulting Systems Engineer, Spanlink. "It is much easier to reuse previous designs and confidently map them to a new set of requirements instead of reinventing the wheel for each customer. I can generate a BOM in half a day or less as opposed to a full day doing it the previous way."
"Eliminating the need to cut-and-paste alone cuts the design time in half," Jensen added.
Improved Accuracy: In addition to eliminating the costly mistakes that cutting and pasting create, Cardillo explains that DesignXpert's real-time validation against an extensive KnowledgeBaseTM has enabled the Spanlink team to propose more accurate designs - from pricing and BoMs to Statements of Work and visual network blueprints.
"DesignXpert ensures design accuracy, making sure I have the right pieces to the solution, and that I am configuring according to the rules," added Jensen. "It gives me a high level of confidence that when I am done the design the customer signs off on is a design that can be implemented."
Superior Designs: The time saved also translates into better designs. With DesignXpert instead of spending time dealing with tools, Spanlink engineers can invest that valuable time better understanding their customer's technological as well as business needs and designing value-added solutions that will serve both objectives.
Faster Engineer Ramp Up: Using DesignXpert, new SEs can become productive team members quicker, due to the standardization of design templates and processes. Because of the benefits experienced to date and the intuitive features of DesignXpert, Spanlink plans to extend DesignXpert use to account managers - empowering them to generate simple quotes - allowing SEs to focus on opportunities that are more complex.
The Bottom Line: Essential Design Tool
Spanlink has discovered that DesignXpert is an essential and highly cost-effective design tool that helps the company remain competitive in this aggressive industry.
"DesignXpert has become the industry standard tool," Jensen concluded. "There is really nothing else like it out there."