Virtually Simulated Realities

by Megan Santosus

December 18, 2000 —

You've got a plan to improve customer satisfaction. You're going to invest in a help desk, open nine regional service centers, and hire 32 more service reps. You know what such action will cost, but you don't know how it will affect revenues. One way to find out is to run your data through a program called a business simulation. Simulations are not new, but their currency has grown, along with the range of activities that they cover. That range is now apparent on Simresource (http://www.simresource.com), a new website where users can download simulations.

Developed and maintained by Powersim, a Reston, Virginia-based vendor of simulation tools aimed at Fortune 1000 companies, Simresource hosts more than 100 simulations, which fall under such topics as competitive strategy, inventory control, market growth, supply chain management and global and urban planning. Among the more interesting titles are "How Big is eBay's Market?," "Ability Dilution Through New Hires" and "Attractiveness Model Component."

Some simulations are free, but most cost between $10 and $150. All of the simulations are electronic, and a typical transaction takes about 15 minutes. According to Michael Bean, Simresource's managing editor, the site's purpose is not to generate tons of revenue, but to promote the use of simulations, which happens to be the main business of Powersim.

"It's a business-to-business exchange site designed to increase awareness of simulations," says Bean. "The simulation community is excellent for e-commerce because it's highly dispersed around the world."

Authors who want to make their simulations available fill out an online registration form and follow the uploading directions. While Simresource splits any revenues with authors, Bean says many authors choose to post simulations for free with the hope of landing consulting gigs down the road. For buyers, Simresource takes a lead from Amazon.com by offering descriptions, customer reviews and pointers to related products.

Bean says that Simresource took about a year to plan. One of the reasons for the slow evolution of the site was its connection with vendor Powersim. "We were thinking of different ways to implement it," he says, adding that the primary sticking point was deciding whether to keep the site connected to Powersim or operate it as a separate entity. Since the ultimate goal would be to spread the gospel of simulation, the site stayed linked with Powersim.

"We wanted to promote simulation in general," says Bean, "We didn't want to make it a tool for our own software, so we couldn't make the site biased toward us."

To minimize any bias, the site contains simulations that work with competitors' software, although simulations that work with various versions of Powersim predominate. Bean recommends that anyone interested in launching a site for a dispersed, niche audience include information about competitors. After all, if the final objective is to increase awareness of a market or concept, a rising market should lift everyone's boat.

CIO