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AMS Advantage ERP Beta Program Paves the Way for Successful Product Launch
By Tara Arrington-Franklin, Director Consulting, CGI Solutions Management
Throughout the product development cycle, it's critical that the public sector community assist in identifying and eliminating issues, validating new product features, recording enhancement requests, promoting instruction accuracy and validating overall product readiness.
CGI has thus invested deeply in quality assurance practices and ultimately packages ERP solutions that deliver the performance and improvements that government demands for now and the future. In an effort to ensure a high-quality release for CGI's government-specific ERP applications, CGI has embarked on a mission to further enhance the development, testing and product launch process via the AMS Advantage Beta Program.
Paying off in the long-run
Software reliability and performance are critical to the efficiency and effectiveness of public sector clients. Recognizing this component for success, CGI has dedicated significant time and resources toward application planning, development, testing and subsequent product releases, resulting in numerous client benefits, such as:
- Providing direct government influence into AMS Advantage product direction
- Enhancing and optimizing existing operational efficiencies and performance
- Introducing new operational capabilities and functionality
- Improving documentation and training materials
- Providing stable code for deployment that mitigates and prevents application issues
- Increasing assurance that complexity and application multiplication will not overwhelm the AMS Advantage community
Dedicated collaboration
Collaboration is similarly a critical component throughout the Beta process to ensure that new product enhancements attain the highest possible levels of quality. For example, through partnering with CGI development and delivery teams, the City of Gainesville and Columbus Consolidated Government were exposed to and tested AMS Advantage 3.7 for Financial and Human Resources Management prior to market release. Each site committed to the following provisions to ensure an efficient process achieving desired results within the allocated timelines:
- Provided the required hardware to adequately install and test the product(s)
- Installed the product within 2 business days of receipt
- Tested the product for a minimum of 8 to 12 hours a week
- Completed system test cases covering numerous client business scenarios
- Reported issues found during beta testing within 1 business day
- Provided remote access to the site's test environment to expedite support and issue resolution, as required
- Applied issue resolutions to product code, where necessary
- Provided periodic feedback to CGI development and delivery teams on reliability, stability and readiness of the product for the marketplace
- Provided feedback regarding product training, documentation and overall application help facilities
Similarly, CGI provided significant time and resources to facilitate the Beta Program through the following activities:
- Provided detailed application-specific new release training
- Provided on-site technical installation assistance to expedite and optimize product installation
- Provided dedicated Beta project managers to facilitate the overall planning, installation, and testing efforts
- Provided dedicated functional and technical expertise to facilitate all subsequent client Beta testing efforts
- Facilitated ongoing communication channels such that constructive input from the Beta sites could/would be integrated into the final product
With AMS Advantage 3.7 now available for general release, public sector organizations will be able to leverage new and enhanced operational capabilities, functionality and performance. Acting on the three P's—process, people and product—CGI's AMS Advantage applications will continue to offer significant results, enabling government organizations to accomplish their mission and expand their horizons.
For More Information on AMS Advantage 3.7
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