The Visual Resource Viewer (VRV) was our guinea pig with which we learned how to build visual scheduling extensions for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. In terms of developing software, for us it was a landmark app. It followed our approach to start small, and learn focused. However, a development guinea pig not necessarily translates into a commercial success. In case of the VRV, the market resonance showed that a static (i.e. non-interactive) resource Gantt chart may be great for development (testing) purposes. However, it falls short in providing true customer value. Hence, we retire the Visual Resource Viewer (VRV) with immediate effect.
No customers, no right to exist
When it comes to assessing customer value and benefit, there is one unbiased measure: the number of customers using a product, and paying for it. Truth is: when it comes to the VRV, this number equals zero. Hence, the decision to retire the VRV does not impact any customer as nobody has ever paid for using the product.
Saying goodbye to a product never is easy.
However, ultimately we are building products for the market and not for ourselves.
Hence, zero customers is a super strong statement. Given that the pure existence of a product comes with (hidden) opportunity and complexity costs, the decision to retire the VRV is economically the right thing to do.
Less products, more focus: visual scheduling
In addition to this, the VRV always stood a bit at the side. It was a static, non-interactive resource Gantt chart.
However, we at NETRONIC aim at providing operational agility with visual scheduling. Admittedly: the VRV was visual. But, it fell short when it comes to scheduling as it was not interactive. Hence its ability to deliver operational agility was limited.
Operational agility is achieved by visual scheduling in its entirety: the combination of visualization, gaining immediate insights and taking actions immediately by drag & drop. The last bit for missing with the VRV. But all bits are provided by all other extensions we have: the VAPS, the VPS and the VJS.
To some degree, our development guinea pig never lived to the promise we at NETRONIC make to our customers.
Ultimately, having less products to care for (in development, in support, in sales, in marketing, and in management) overall makes us more focused on what we are good at: providing operational agility with visual scheduling. Especially to manufacturing companies with both the VAPS and the VPS, and to engineering-to-order companies as well as to professional services companies with the VJS.
This is what we focus on. This is where we keep on bringing proven value to our customers. And this is what now gets our unbiased attention