24 Mar 2020
Rob Petley-Jones
Director of Professional Services



This is our final post in our four-part series on proper implementation practices and the training packages we offer Helm CONNECT users. If you haven’t already, check out the previous posts on the four key phases of implementation, our remote training packages, and our onsite training packages. This week, we’ll be focusing on our Custom Implementation Packages and how one company followed best practices to get the most value possible out of their implementation.

Custom implementations offer a preferred level of service from the very beginning to the very end of your implementation; the process isn’t complete until you are happy and live in the system. This typically applies to larger complex operators, implementations that include custom development, or for Helm CONNECT Jobs or Personnel implementations. This option provides end-to-end service that is flexible to your needs and offers additional oversight to ensure that you’re successful.

Westug is a port operations provider that has been operating in Western Australia for over 25 years. It currently provides a range of towage and emergency response services, for which it saw an opportunity for improved management with Helm CONNECT. The company was looking for an advanced platform that would enable its users to achieve more and continuously improve. Due to its size and requirements, we recommended that Westug do a custom implementation, which took place in late 2018.

Drew Pirrit, Technical Manager at Westug, spearheaded the Helm CONNECT implementation and from day one showed a clear sense of ownership for the project. With a limited timeline and 28 vessels to implement, good organization and motivation were needed for the implementation to be successful.

During the week-long custom onsite training, we covered Helm CONNECT Maintenance, ComplianceInventory, Events, and Certifications. Westug’s superusers were highly engaged, ensuring that they made the most of the time they had with their implementation specialist. Not only were they interested in learning how Helm CONNECT worked, but they were interested in how Helm CONNECT would work best for them, which is an invaluable perspective to have during an implementation.

After the onsite training, Westug’s superusers remained focused on configuring Helm CONNECT for go-live. They worked hard to configure the software for their specific needs, with constant feedback from their crew members. They even came up with the fantastic idea of adding an optional section at the bottom of each template asking for crew members’ feedback on how to improve the template. This was a positive measure for involving the crews in the configuration which also improved their adoption of the software.

Westug’s Helm CONNECT implementation was a significant project with a limited timeline. In the end, it was able to achieve its targets due to good organization, proactive configuration and effective crew engagement practices. Having a Custom Implementation Package allowed the company to ensure that its users got exactly what they needed in order to confidently make the transition to Helm CONNECT.

That’s a wrap! Thanks for following this series on our implementation practices and package options. If you have any questions regarding an implementation of Helm CONNECT, fill out this form. Our Professional Services team is focused on ensuring that customers get exactly what they need from Helm CONNECT from the very first day, so don’t hesitate to reach out!