Last week we featured our second post in this four-part series on proper implementation practices and the implementation packages we offer Helm CONNECT users. We’ve already heard about the four key phases we follow during an implementation, as well as details about our remote training package and a company who used it. This week, we will be focusing on our Onsite Training Package, our most popular option.
With an Onsite Training Package, a Helm Implementation Specialist will help you gather your data, train you in person at your office to be an expert in Helm CONNECT, and offer additional support to guarantee that you have the skills you need to perform the roll out yourself. This type of training package is designed to maximize benefit and minimize cost so that you can successfully deploy without breaking the bank.
One company who chose this option is the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority (VFPA), which has five vessels in the port of Vancouver and up the Fraser River. Its assets range from a smaller harbor patrol boat to a larger vessel that is regularly used for tours of the harbor. In March 2019, one of our Implementation Specialists visited VFPA to set up Helm CONNECT on their vessels, as it needed to consolidate the several spreadsheets, paper checklists, and simple programs it was using to track the daily routines of the crew.
The primary reason why VFPA was successful in implementing Helm CONNECT was because it appointed their most computer-savvy team member, Rob Grant, to lead the implementation. With his knowledge of their daily routines, access to the vessels, and close relationship with the Port Engineer who wrote their maintenance manuals, Rob was able to quickly and accurately gather the information needed to configure Helm CONNECT. He also made great use of the sandbox environment by testing out configuration ideas before using them in VFPA’s production tenant. By doing so, the company avoided entering several mistakes in their real tenant.
During crew training, Rob split his crew into two smaller groups so he could easily manage the sessions and ensure everyone was learning what they needed. When facilitating the training, Rob used a slideshow tailored to his crew and included screenshots of their fully configured tenant so they could visually see the system they would be working in. Following this, he gave his crew access to the sandbox tenant and walked them through a variety of routines that they would need to complete as part of their daily and weekly tasks.
Overall, having someone with strong computer skills in charge and utilizing a test environment to practice in were both implementation best practices that led to VFPA’s successful use of Helm CONNECT. Along with the in-person guidance of a Helm Implementation Specialist provided by the Onsite Implementation Package, VFPA found the right combination of elements they needed to hit the ground running.
Next week, in our final post of this series, we’ll be focusing on custom implementations and featuring Westug from Australia to show how valuable this option can be. See you then!
