More than we even suspected at the beginning
Success story from PHOENIX CONTACT Cyber Security
PHOENIX CONTACT (Innominate until 2016) has been developing network security devices since 2001. We also offer industrial users firewalls for both stationary and mobile use. We have been working with Projektron BCS since 2004, particularly in project management and time recording.
Innominate was founded in 2001 and was initially a venture capital-led company. In 2008, we became part of the electronics company Phoenix Contact. In January 2016, Innominate became PHOENIX CONTACT Cyber Security AG.
We offer our customers - primarily from the fields of mechanical and plant engineering, industry, healthcare and satellite communication - security solutions in two core areas. The first is our Industrial Network Security firewall system. This system protects networked industrial systems such as robots, production cells and industrial control systems against attacks or failures caused by viruses, malware and operating errors.
It also provides secure remote maintenance of technical systems via virtual tunnels over the Internet (VPN). Our firewall and VPN systems help to use the Internet securely. This means that systems can be maintained remotely without the service technician teams having to travel to our customers' companies.
Why an external project management tool?
We carry out around three to four projects per year, which have an average duration of 6 to 12 months. As our portfolio consists almost exclusively of in-house developments, these have to be customised to our customers' needs. To do this, we first specify the steps that need to be taken and draw up a schedule before our developers start work. Almost all of these projects are cross-departmental and involve requirements that our internally developed Excel tools could no longer handle at some point.
One of the main requirements for new project management software was that it had to be web-based. This is necessary because about half of the work is done with Linux/open source software and half with Windows. We also wanted a central server with a database that we could use to run project planning and monitoring in all phases.
Why we decided in favour of Projektron BCS
The path to Projektron BCS could not have been shorter. Our board of directors had contact with one of Projektron's managing directors and had him demonstrate the project management software, which was still quite new at the time. We came to the conclusion that Projektron BCS would be a good fit for us. A trial installation reinforced this impression, and it should not be concealed that the price of BCS convinced us. We therefore had BCS permanently installed in January 2004.
Projektron BCS in daily use
In the first phase since 2004, we mainly used Projektron BCS to record project data. At that time, we didn't even realise what the tool could do. The more routine the 10 or so employees who work with BCS became, the broader the use cases became. Today, BCS is used throughout project management, particularly in time recording, holiday management and the evaluation of individual projects. Resource planning and the ability to monitor the entire progress of the project at any time are also important to us.
Although we have been working with Projektron BCS for twelve years, we have not yet ordered any significant functional enhancements. However, this is because we are still discovering new functions that we have not yet utilised. This is another reason why we will continue to work with BCS, and we are looking forward to many positive discoveries.
