The basic, 'out-of-the-box' system (including Order Management, Scheduling, Archive etc., as well as standard workflows, reports and interfaces) can be used productively within a day or two. For these standard implementations the following work is performed:
- System installation and configuration,
- Setting up master data and definition of standard processes,
- Report, interface and layout customization.
If there are individual requirements for the solution over and above the standard functionality, these can be implemented without programming on the basis of the workflow platform in a large or small project.
A Workflow
After the process is modeled, a real reusable workflow is implemented from it. Each cube represents a work step for a person or system. The lines visualize the dependencies between the work steps.
We do not stop at consultation and specification; we also take responsibility for implementation. Therefore, we offer our customers the complete package of services:
- Consulting
- Software Technologies and Products
- Implementation
- Maintenance
The workflow implementation is about technically implementing the specification approved by the customer (i.e. transforming):
- an Excel spreadsheet into a web form
- a field-mapping into an interface
- a flowchart into a workflow, etc.
This happens without hard code programming, rather in human understandable description languages, so it can be performed by customers with a little training.
As usual, the implementation goes through various test and modification cycles before going live.
Project management is an important component of each project and unfortunately is very often underestimated — both in its importance and with regard to the required qualifications. It is a task only for experienced managers who have mastered a range of different project management methods, from waterfall model to agile methods.
The Project Manager must ensure that the agreement struck be maintained between the partners (usually the customer and supplier) such as:
- Budget
- Cost
- Delivery time
- Mutual commitment to performance.
He/she has to draw up plans to document and communicate the performance and progress, make decisions, request deliveries, resolve conflicts and so on.
Even a simple project can fail due to bad project management. Therefore, we provide support here and safeguard projects with professional structured management.
Before and After
A diagram to show end-users the old Excel-based work document (left) beside the new WOF-based one, to simplify understanding of the new working method. The colors also show where the old familiar items have moved to in the new WOF. Numerous improvements are realized with this new WOF.
While some parts of our solutions are so self-explanatory to end-users where training is not required, we offer training and certification for three other areas at various levels:
- User Training
for specific applications - Admin Training
for operation and customization - Developer Training
for designing workflows, reports, interfaces etc.
Developer training is especially interesting for partners and customers who want to implement workflows and systems themselves and to evolve their processes independently of us, or set up completely new ones.
The training will be based on the standard framework and adapted to the specific requirements and participants. We also offer Train-the-Trainer courses to provide additional background and depth to our customers.
CEITON's Core Process
This is the process which CEITON controls using various workflows to handle all activities for clients from software development, via quality assurance and release management to support in a coordinated, efficient and transparent way. The process is divided into so-called 'swim lanes', to display the role membership of the various tasks.
In support, we understand the guarantee of operation of our solution at all times for our customer. This means the contractual promise to fix any errors as quickly as possible and to resolve questions about operation or custom implementations quickly and competently.
For the handling of support we have developed a number of procedures (e.g. documentation, e-mail and telephone responsibilities) and workflows (e.g. bug and change request tracking) to efficiently allow us and our customers systematic, comprehensive and transparent processing.
The service organizations of our locations in Germany and the United States enable us to offer 24/7 global support. Each customer can select, depending on their needs, the service levels they require.
