The Met Office is using an application lifecycle management system to deliver commercial products to customers more quickly and efficiently.

In its role as a major science organisation, the Met Office creates bespoke climate and conditions software and services for clients around the world.

It is now looking to expand its products into new sectors by targeting clients in areas such as defence, retail, utilities and leisure, and plans to adapt its weather prediction models for use in these areas.

Nigel Reed, the Met Office’s head of technology development, says controlling adaptation projects so they do not run over time or budget is crucial to its future business plans.

‘We want to use application lifecycle management to make our processes more mature and make the best use of the science being developed here,’ he said.

‘That means our customers will be able to get the most value they can from what we do.’

Reed wants the new technology to make Met Office software production more reliable by creating products faster and more cheaply.

‘If we say to customers: “this is what it will cost and this is when you will get it”, we have to reach those deadlines,’ he said.

The Borland-supplied application lifecycle management system is part of a wider technology reform programme aimed at changing the Met Office’s tools and processes.

Reed says the programme will initiate a complete change in the weather prediction service’s culture. ‘For that we need our tools to be integrated and our processes to be as seamless as possible,’ he said.

Butler Group analyst Michael Azoff says that while the Met Office has invested in the right kind of tools, it also needs to make sure its staff are adequately trained and able to use the system to its full potential.

‘If you have a number of processes in place, including good management practices, a lifecycle management tool will deliver products through the system quicker, and nearer to the schedule,’ he said.

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