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The
STEM newsletters for October 2008 and January 2009 were shelved due to overwhelming
project commitments (the best of ‘operational reasons’). In their place, we
conducted some primary market research on STEM, Excel and other modelling tools,
and how these products relate to our clients’ work on a daily basis. The feedback
is summarised below, and will directly inform our future product strategy, as part
of our ongoing commitment to continually improve the functionality of STEM and its
integration with other tools.
The shape of the survey
We asked a few questions about the nature of our clients’ work, and the modelling
tools that they use on a regular basis. Current users of STEM were asked some additional
questions exploring their views on our software and support services. Finally, we
invited comment on the STEM newsletter and related pages on our Web site.
Summary of responses
Here is a headline summary of responses to date:
- No one is modelling anywhere near full time; but STEM was cited as the main tool
by 80% of respondents…
- …which is perhaps why the ability to create models quickly is the top priority.
- STEM’s light, manageable format, is clearly a benefit (avoids Excel ‘bloat’), but
the current tight integration with Excel remains a vital capability and may be improved.
- Transparency and transferability to colleagues are key issues which should be addressed
(partly by increasing awareness of existing functionality, partly through innovation).
- Only a minority see STEM as essential to achieving deadlines; probably because the
headline saving/efficiency is undermined by not using the software every day.
- Cost is a barrier except where the benefits of the tool directly facilitate a business
solution.
- However, a majority believe that five or more colleagues could benefit from STEM,
especially if the known issues were addressed.
- Demonstration of a new tool is twice as popular as ‘just trying it’.
There is universal demand for more case studies, as a constant stream of current
material is necessary to demonstrate relevance to newcomers.
Provisional conclusions
Our initial conclusions from the above points are as follows:
- STEM’s consistent, pre-validated modelling approach, with results available out-of-the-box,
is an attractive proposition and time-saving and confidence-building in practice.
- This core proposition is not always readily understood or exploited to its full
potential, and a major spring-clean of existing functionality and review of the
user experience is now underway to create a more compelling solution to the regular
problems experienced with Excel.
- A specialist tool like STEM won’t sell by itself; punchy technical demos which illustrate
real user benefits will continue to be key ingredients of success.
To differentiate a future STEM from its present implementation, the new offering
would combine a (potentially free) desktop application with access by subscription
to a hosted solution, including IM-access to support as part of the value add.
A range of interactive model micro-sites and pre-recorded demos would be available
to encourage self-service evaluation and better viral marketing. We remain
committed to a vision of better working practice than the current, familiar ‘spaghetti
code’ in Excel.