VMN Group LLC was formed in 2001. We formed the group because we recognized that there is a need for advanced methods to be applied to strategic business problems. The complexity of those problems means that appropriate solutions ought to be somewhat more sophisticated than the methods typically brought to bear to solve them. We also recognized that sophisticated methods must be implemented in easy-to-use software platforms in order to be useful to the executives that need the methods. Our objective is to formulate and solve a problem, implement the solution in software, and then transfer the technology to the client user.

VMN Group LLC expanded by solving a sequence of problems. We began by bringing our methods to the electric power industry, the most capital-intensive industry in the United States. We solved the problem of how to expand utility infrastructure using distributed resources. This was the first solution we implemented in software, anticipating market demand for the software itself, in addition to the results (which could be found in a report). We then turned our attention to project prioritization, as a class of problems. We became interested in that problem because no one could tell what would happen if budgets were cut by, say, 10%. No coherent case could be made for doing that or for not doing that.

We created a methodology for solving that problem, as well as the general problem of how best to prioritize projects over the foreseeable future subject to budget constraints. We next solved problems in asset management with particular attention to finding the conditions under which assets should be replaced, repaired, refurbished, and tested. We are improving our methods, and opening up new areas in strategic reliability, the value of asset testing, and the integration of reliability analysis, project selection, and customer needs
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