We fix it in post!
In the times of digitization we all know about the mission-critical nature of software.
So why do you hesitate, why don't you ask us for help? We know your mission, since we have been at the same place and at times still are at times. We believe that, if you write software for computer graphics people, you should better know, what you are talking about.
That is why we provide individual software solutions. Our small team is flexible and independent. We are agile, we care for usability and know IT-risk management practices (ISO 31 000).
We solve problems, especially in 3D computer graphic environments. We don't care if you are working on film projects, TV projects or games. We will fix post!
Our software solutions are different because, we have done visual effects, post production and digital compositing ourselves in hundreds of projects.
Software development services
We provide software and software development services for Film, TV, Civil and Military Engineering.
Our software changes the game for you and your company. We make high-end business software, we make next-horizon productivity gains possible.
As agile as possible, as bureaucratic as required.
Software sophistication at db&w is reached through our thoroughly process-oriented work. Lean tools are natural to us. Black box and white box testing are just parts of our testing, so that the software can easily be used even in important standard manufactoring processes.
These are our usual steps when we start a project:
- requirements elicitation
- requirements analysis
- solutions matrix
- requirements specification
- risk analyis
We do these things internally, since most of customers usually won't pay for it. It's simply in our DNA.
Software engineering
We understand the mission critical nature of software – new productivity gains. Processes that work. We don't sell software solutions, we sell software that solves problems.
Software engineering in general is described as the
application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software; that is, the application of engineering to software(Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers,1993)
We always do more than just coding. We calculate the efficiency of the process, find anything (hopefully) that’s going wrong to fix it or reduce its risk.
Usability User-Ability Engineering
Human-computer interaction should be based on ergonomics, the business process and accepted customs to get the best results. Since accepted customs change over generations, they are extremly difficult to weigh or to measure.
That is why we do user interviews, use cases and “in situ” studies, to observe how people work.
We look at the problems to be solved first, before we search for the right technology.
That is our operational discipline and that is what makes us different from many other software companies. We live usablity, but to us the most important part to us is to support and improve user abilties.
So when we creat a user interface design, it will be done especially for you and we might as always break rules written down in academia.
Then we take a step back and look at the interoperability with other products or other systems and the hardware. After this we come up with the most reasonable solution and start with our iterative development process, where we do periodic reviews, to make sure that we still walk in the right direction. Clear priorities and small steps, that is what avoids stumbling in your IT project.
This is what leads to smarter solutions.
"db&w hat, nach einer kurzen und sorgfältigen Analyse der Geschäftsprozesse des Vertriebs in unserem Hause, eine Benutzeroberfläche entworfen, um alle relevanten Produktinformationen für ein Vertriebsgespräch zu bündeln.
Als Grundlage dienten die vorhandenen Datenquellen sowie die Analyse der Arbeitsprozesse vor Ort und Interviews mit den Vertriebsmitarbeitern.
Die Ergebnisse, insbesondere das resultierende Benutzerkonzept und der erste grafische Entwurf, dienen uns weiterhin als Vorlagen für die technische Umsetzung auf die im Zuge des spezifischen Digitalisierungsprozesses immer wieder Bezug genommen wird.
Die Zusammenarbeit mit dem kleinen Team von db&w war unkompliziert und flexibel."
"db&w has, after a brief and careful analysis of the sales processes in our company, designed a user interface to bundle all relevant product information for a sales pitch.
The basis for this was the existing data sources as well as the analysis of the work processes on site and interviews with the sales staff.
The results, in particular the resulting user experience concept and the first graphical design, continue to serve as templates for the technical implementation, which are repeatedly referred to in the course of the specific digitization process.
The cooperation with the small team of db&w was uncomplicated and flexible."
Markus Berger, Geschäftsführer KAISER+KRAFT GmbH
Project Leadership
Are we really agile?
We know the rules, the programming processes and yes we are agile. To be agile means to us to combine speed and stability. Yet sometimes another tool doesn't really help, but if you want us to use a special tool, we don't mind. We make sure that each process is usable in the current project.
Which project management tool do we use?
We know the project management processes, that is why we can break them and break them, when we know they are overdone.
We learnt our project management, while using the rational unified process. You never heard about that? Then you are young.
We make them – the processes - fit to the problems we need to solve. There is no way to do it the other way around.
We don't talk about the end users, we talk to them.
Languages
- We speak more than one language:
- We speak sales
- We speak development
- We speak marketing
- We speak top-management
Business Process Management
There is still a difference between an academical process and the real process.
We hardly do interviews, we prefer to listen to the users, conducting interviews is a method we only apply to clarify topics.
So we gradually identify the recurring patterns. Our target is to support a productivity boosting process with software.
IT Riskmanagement
As bureaucratic as required.
The first step we take when bidding for a project is laying down an IT-risk-matrix. We generally do this for internal use, but we are happy to help you. Our methods are ISO 31 000 compatible. If you need an audit or just want to evaluate your IT-project, we're happy to support you. A risk analysis thoroughly done upfront is preferable to spending money on an IT project that runs out of scope, budget and time.
Risk-Analysis
Unlike an internal risk analysis, db&w can offer one without bias.
During huge IT projects we ensure that all business risks are well addressed by the organisation. Our long tradition to work internally and externally with risk matrices and our continuing ISO 31 000 education garantees a high end IT project management.
Consulting
We share our knowledge, so don't hesitate to ask for help.
Industry 4.0
We have been involved in the discussions about industry 4.0 from the start. During this time three different publications came to existence. They are in German, if you need a translation, please let us know.
Published Articles
Zukunftsvisionen für die Wirtschaft (German)
published in: NG|FH 5|2015
Industrie 4.0 Vermessen und funktional – aber nicht revolutionär (German)
published in: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Managerkreis impulse, Okt. 2014, ISBN: 978-3-86498-934-6
Vortrag: Wachstum, Politik und unternehmerische Verantwortung (German)
Dagmar Bornemann, 8. AKAD Forum - Wissenschaft triff Wirtschaft, 29.22.2016