Remsoft’s User Group 2013 Draws Global Audience
Fredericton, NB, Canada (PRWEB) September 18, 2013 -- Fifty-five representatives from 30 companies, stretching from Europe to North and South America, came to Remsoft’s 2013 Annual User Group conference expecting to hear something new and exciting. They weren’t disappointed.
The 2013 session was held Sept. 11-12 in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, where Remsoft was founded in 1992 and continues to maintain its head office.
"Remsoft’s vision is bigger than ever,” said Co-CEO Andrea Feunekes in her presentation, View from the Top. "Over two decades, we have provided the standard in resource analytics for forest planning and management. Now, we intend to provide the common optimization technology platform for other industries, including oil and gas as well as for infrastructure planning and management across geography and organizations.”
At the same time, Feunekes said the Remsoft team will be looking at ways to make risk management part of its regular product offering. In recent years, Remsoft has been working with some clients on specific risk management challenges, but the need and demand for risk management tools is growing.
"Right now, it’s a value-added service,” said Remsoft Co-CEO Steve Palmer who moderated the 2013 User Group roundtable discussion for business executives on Risk Modeling, Management and Mitigation. There was general agreement among participants that a changing world is forcing companies to think differently about risk in everything from financial, environmental, regulatory, technical and security matters.
"Our designers used to plan for the one in 100 years storm event, but with the extreme weather we’re seeing so often now, designers have to consider the one in 10- or one in 50-year possibility,” said Don Mason with the New Brunswick Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, a Remsoft client.
The annual User Group session in Fredericton has become a "must attend” on the calendars of clients—even when it means traveling thousands of miles. Participants reflect the diversity of clientele that rely on Remsoft software and solutions.
This was the fourth time Scott Howell has made the trip to Fredericton. A forest planning supervisor with F & W, a forest services consulting firm headquartered in Albany, Georgia, Howell said the session provides value by seeing how other companies are using and applying the Remsoft tools to their businesses. "It’s also a time to interact with the Remsoft people—to bounce ideas off them and see what they’re working on.”
Andy Ferguson, Senior Vice President and Director of Investment Services for American Forest Management of Charlotte, North Carolina, has attended User Group seven of the past 10 years. "It’s always good to see what Remsoft is planning for new additions to the next release of software,” he said. "We all manage natural resources and are connected, and this is a product that can deal with almost anything—it’s just a matter of how to formulate the problem.”
One of Remsoft’s European clients is Latvijas valsts mezi which manages the state-owned forests of Latvia. Three members of the company were at User Group 2013, and for Andris Meirans, it was his second time. "The User Group helps us with our own models, to understand how we can do more and do better,” said Meirans. "Remsoft people are talking with companies around the world on how they’re dealing with problems. The knowledge they gather is beneficial for us.”
Dave Peoples, Business Analyst for Weyerhaeuser in North Carolina, a leading forest owner/manager and wood products company, was attending his third User Group and was both a presenter and participant. "I come mostly for the opportunity to take more training with the Remsoft group,” he said. "The conference also is good for networking—seeing what problems are out there and how others are doing things. With Remsoft’s broad clientele, you get exposure to both the government and private sectors, getting their tips on how they’re using Remsoft products.”
Feunekes said the trend toward actually integrating analytics across your business has the power to really change the status quo for companies. In forestry, for example, planning would not be done in traditional silos like planting, harvesting, transportation, processing and so on. Everything would be integrated and analyzed in a practical, holistic way.
"When predictive analytics are part of the daily process across your entire operations, you can anticipate, identify actionable items and, when necessary, change decisions quickly along the way. With integrated analytics, you have the information you need about your total operation to make decisions that have a broad and appropriate impact. Now, we have the core pieces to operationalize analytics. It’s an opportunity for companies to get ahead of things before the rubber hits the road.”
About Remsoft
Remsoft develops optimization technology and services that enable organizations to maximize the performance and value of their assets. Through advanced analytics, modeling and spatial planning technology, Remsoft simplifies complex, high-variable decisions to fuel long-term sustainability. Hundreds of organizations worldwide use Remsoft to manage their assets and increase their bottom line. Please visit http://www.remsoft.com to learn more.
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Sandi MacKinnon, Remsoft Inc., http://www.remsoft.com, +1 506 450 1511, [email protected]
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