Microsoft Accelerator for Six Sigma

The accelerator is free, but you need to have loads of other MS stuff to be able to use it (MS Project professional, MS Project server, Windows 2000 Server, SQL Server etc, Sharepoint etc).  If you have these already it may make sense – but when I looked it became very expensive and the implementation a nightmare.  This may affect the views of your IT dept!
There was a co at the Miami summit with a web-based application that seemed more pertinent to SS including templates etc if you wnated them.  They were called i-solutions and seemed to be very busy.

Please don’t take offense, but can we stay focused on the topic? I am very interested in following this thread for my corporation, but we don’t need promotions for other products. There is plenty of information on iSS about the other products, but there is little about the benefits and pitfalls of MS Accelerator. I am interested in learning about Accelerator. Please no offense intended.
P. When

I saw the introduction of this product at an MPUG meeting last year. The others pointed out something very important – this is really IT intensive and a major undertaking. You must dedicate a server, load up three or four other products in a very specific order, then you can load up the Accelerator. Then, if you are using MS Project Server, they recommend you use another server with all the different products running. Lots of hardware and software can be involved. But you are not done because the Accelerator is designed to be programmed to do what you want it to do. In other words, you don’t just install the CD like Word or Excel or Minitab and away you go. Think more like a Visual Basic to Basic comparison. It is an ‘accelerator’ because it does some of the behind the scenes programming for you but you still need to ‘create’ what your company needs. There is a whole cottage industry building specializing in programming accelerator. That is why they recommend hiring a partner who specializes in it. Best bet is to contact 3 or 4 partners, then go out and see current installations of theirs and talk to those companies about what was involved, then bring your decision makers and IT people to see it. And, in most cases, it would be wise not to let the IT people decide they could do it internally.All that aside, it does provide a wonderful tie in with MS Project and gives a wonderful dashboard including red/yellow/green lights and dollars so the C Levels can get a one screen look at how things are moving.

thank you. it was a pleasure to contribute something back after all the great advice I’ve received.

Can anybody tell me where can I download from a demo of Microsoft Accelerator for Six Sigma.
Thanks.
Isabel

I thought you weren’t supposed to promote services on these discussion groups?
If we’ve established that the accelerator may be free, surely the implementation costs of these ‘integrators’ and all the associated set up must more than make up for this?
You don’t get anything for free in this world!!

We seriously looked at implementing Accelerator for SS towards the end of last year but had insufficient budget to go ahead with it. We did however learn a lot about the product and its capabilities – which have already been touched on.
The route we adopted to learn more about the tool was to start with an in-house demo from MS which was extremely informative for both pro’s and con’s, and then collaborated with a MS Partner to determine an appropriate implementation path (including costs) as we already had Project Server implemented.
I would like to provide the following insights:

you do need MS Project Server (Project Professional, Project Server, Project Web Access, SharePoint, etc.) to be installed and implemented – not an easy task, I assure you!
Accelerator is a variant of the standard Project Server product in that it has specific customizations already pre-installed that provides SS specific features
If you have Project Server installed already, an installation of Accelerator will overwrite that installation – it will probably blow away your own customizations, especially if you have used the same custom fields.
Accelerator (like Project Server) relies on updated information being fed from Project Professional [and Project Web Access] for all projects/work being undertaken
Schedule managers (BB’s & GB’s) require individual Project Professional licenses, other users (team members, champions, etc.) require individual Client Access Licenses
Schedule managers need to be competent in using MS Project and there needs to be organizational standards in place to provide consistency in the data fed to Project Server. This may lead to a high learning curve at the beginning of the implementation.
Organizations need to provide adequate commitment and support to ensure a successful implementation. There is an ongoing need for administration, customization, training, etc. (especially as senior management discover the full capabilities of a tool such as this)
For most organizations, successful implementation requires a change in culture, and we all know how difficult that can be to accomplish!
Accelerator can be, and has been, successfully implemented but requires adequate planning, support and commitment. Without these being in place, it could turn into a costly failure.