Recommended Fault Tree Software

fault-tree.net:

Recommended Fault Tree Software & Vendors

There are five fault tree software packages that fault-tree.net can recommend

We do not endorse any single package over another.

No vendor has paid for our endorsement, or paid to be included on this page

CAFTA		Data Systems & Solutions USA Telephone: 703 . 375 . 2800 Fax: 1 . 703 . 375 . 2959 Email: info@ds-s.com Website: http://www.ds-s.com	Data Systems and Solutions 12100 Sunset Hills Rd, Suite 310 Reston, Virginia, 20190 USA
Fault Tree+	Isograph Inc. (USA & Canada) USA Telephone: 949 . 502 . 5689 FAX: 949 . 502 . 5933 E-mail: sales@isograph.com Website: http://www.isograph.com		Isograph Inc. 8001 Irvine Center Drive Suite 1430 Irvine, CA 92618 USA	Isograph Ltd (For Europe and Rest of the World) Sales : +44 1925 43 7001 Support : +44 1925 43 7002 Fax : +44 1925 437010 E-mail : sales.uk@isograph.com
Item Tool Kit	Item Software (USA) Inc. USA Telephone: 714 . 935 . 2900 FAX: 714 . 935 . 2911 E-mail: sales@itemsoft.com Website: http://www.itemsoft.com		Item Software (USA) Inc. (USA, Canada, Central & S. America) 2190 Towne Centre Place, Suite 314 Anaheim, CA, 92806 USA Phone: 714-935-2900 Fax: 714-935-2911 URL: www.itemsoft.com E-Mail: sales@itemsoft.com	Item Software Inc. (Europe & Rest of The World) 1 Manor Court, Barnes Wallies Road, Fareham, Hampshire, PO15TH,UK Phone: +44(0) 1 489 885085 Fax:: +44(0) 1 489 885065 URL: www.itemuk.com E-Mail: sales@itemuk.com
Relex Fault Tree / Event Tree	Relex Software Corporation USA Telephone: 724 . 836 . 8800 FAX: 724 . 836 . 8844 E-mail: info@relexsoftware.com support@relexsoftware.com Website: http://relexsoftware.com		Relex Software Corporation 540 Pellis Road Greensburg, PA 15601 USA
RiskSpectrum	RELCON AB Telephone: + 46 8 445 21 00 Sales: + 46 8 445 21 20 Support: + 46 8 445 21 10 FAX: + 46 8 445 21 01 E-mail: sales@relcon.se support@relcon.se Website: http://www.relconab.com		RELCON AB Box 1288 S-172 25 Sundbyberg Sweden

Each software package and vendor has particular strengths in capability, customer support, updates, features and useability:

All are excellent packages.
Each package is user-friendly and has an excellent Graphical User Interface. This is very important:
- The fastest algorythm in the world will not do you any good if it takes you forever to build a basic tree and enter the reliability data.
- Frustration due to a bad GUI takes away from concentrating on developing the logic and analyzing the system.
- A good GUI can even allow you to get fault trees done quickly for management presentations. It won't get you a date, but it can impress the boss. Management loves pretty pictures done fast.
Several of the programs include an Event Tree Development and Analysis module as part of the base price. If you perform analyses in which you link fault trees with event trees, (such as Probabilistic Risk Assessments) getting Event Tree Analysis in the base price of the software can be a bargain.
Some packages can support Markov analysis.
Some packages Offer Binary Decision Diagram for calculating cutsets for enormous trees.
Several of the vendors offer integrated packages or toolkits which can link into reliability databases, create FMEAs which can in turn be linked into fault trees, event trees, reliability block diagrams and other relaibility/safety analyses.
We recommend you check out several of them before deciding which one to purchase.

These programs are all expensive - and they are all worth every penny. I am not being hyperbolic when I say,that any one of them can easily save tens-of-thousands of dollars in engineering time, if you regularly perform large fault tree analyses on complex systems (even for one or two analysts).

The Fine Print

Aren't we being a bit coy when we refuse to recommend a particular package over another?

To understand my point, ask yourself this,  "Which car manufacturer out of BMW, Volvo, Porsche, or Lexus, makes the absolute best car? " . . . For everyone? . . . Under all circumstances?

Try driving your mother-in-law around in the back of a Porsche Boxster.

Yet, try and take a Boxster away from someone who owns one!

You may be asking yourself, "Is Item Software on the recommended list because they provide financial support?" That is a Very Fair Question.

The answer is . . . Yes and No . . . The truth is, we would never have approached Item Software and accepted their kind financial support if we did not did not feel confortable in recommending their software in the first place. (It's a "chicken and egg" kind of thing)

And . . . you should all be made aware that it was Item Software who suggested putting together a page of all the fault tree software vendors (of our choice) as a service to the System Safety and Reliability Communities.

Item Software DID NOT suggest who should be included as recommended vendors. Nor, did they have have any input to this page whatsoever (other than suggesting it in the first place).

We are not endorsing Item Software over any other vendor. You should check out all of these packages to see which one is right for your needs.

fault-tree.net has received absolutely no compensation for recommending these vendors. This includes, direct contributions or payments, web click-through or advertising fees. Nor, do we have any arrangement for making commissions from any of these vendors  as a result of any sales arising from our recommendation.

Software packages are listed in alphabetical order -- by package name or by vendor name. Your choice -- it works out the same either way.

E-mail Allen

www.fault-tree.net
is: Allen Long