This is a question we get asked a lot, and the answer is not entirely simple.

O3 Solutions’ software was designed specifically to support Advanced Work Packaging (AWP).

This isn’t something that was conceived for another purpose and then pivoted to AWP when we saw the wind shifting. It was always the plan. So in this context, yes, it is custom software, but only because it focuses on a particular process.

O3 Solutions is a modern cloud-based solution for AWP and industrial construction.

As a modern cloud-based solution that supports over 13 work packages, it is also important to recognize that O3 uses a single code branch. What this means is that the software is the same for all of our customers. We don’t create a special version for customer A, and then modify that for customer B.

That is not to say that the software isn’t configurable. We have a series of settings that allow us to adapt to and cater for the processes of each of our clients to meet their AWP program needs. So you get that flexibility, but the software itself is universal.

O3 Solutions is built on AWP best practices.

The software is based on AWP best practices, so when you use it you are immediately getting the value from the industry thought leaders that created AWP. Because of this, I have had various people say that it feels like the software is guiding you through the steps of AWP maturity, because it directs you toward the right way to do things in creating, tracking and managing work packages.

O3 Solutions is battle-tested on the world’s biggest industrial construction projects.

You also get the benefit of our experience from more than 500 completed projects and hundreds of thousands of work packages created, tracked and managed inside of O3 Solutions. Working with a host of Owners, EPCs and Contractors all over the world for the last seven years, we have experienced what it takes to set up AWP software on a range of projects. And that single code branch means that all these lessons are built into the software, and you get immediate value from them.

O3 Solutions is improved constantly with feedback from users.

The development doesn’t stop there. We are constantly evolving and continuing to make the software better and better. We have a new release every TWO WEEKS!

A lot of this development comes from listening to our users and incorporating their ideas and concepts into the updates, as well as working on our own vision for the product and ultimately improve projects. And because we use that single code branch, all of our clients get each update. Nobody is left behind.

So, overall, does that make O3 Solutions ‘custom’ software?

Anything new and innovative can seem that way in the beginning. But as AWP becomes more and more commonplace, and as the need for a top-class digital tool to support your AWP program and manage work packages becomes more widely accepted, it will simply become the standard way of doing business.