The Power Auctions software platform
The PowerAuctions™ software platform is a mature, web-based system for conducting high-stakes auctions online. It has been used in all of the auctions we have conducted since 2001.
The software’s mature feature set is based on our team's experience of hundreds of auctions, from the perspectives of clients, bidders, regulators, and auctioneers. We constantly refine the software by applying our experiences from the many auctions we hold each year. We usually provide our software in a Software-as-a-Service solution, host our auctions on servers located in commercial data centers, and provide backup capability through geographically dispersed backup sites. Our servers are maintained by an experienced team, all of who are very familiar with the extreme reliability and security requirements of our auctions.
Once bidders are qualified to bid in a particular auction, they access the auction software from their office locations using only a standard PC connected to the Internet. As our auction system supports all of the most commonly used operating systems and browsers, no special software is required to participate in an auction. Security is provided by SSL technology, supported by secure user names and passwords, certificates or other security mechanisms appropriate for the project.
High-stakes auctions pose unique challenges to software development, deployment, and user interface design.
Testing
Software for high-stakes auctions must work the first time it is used in a production environment. Consequently, we have developed strategies for reducing risk through clean software design, a custom testing framework for rapid and thorough testing of complex bidding scenarios, and rigorous testing methodologies. For some of our projects, the partner, client or trustee is required to perform their own set of testing after we have completed our rigorous testing regime. We fully support these client acceptance testing efforts by providing a testing environment, testing guidance and contacts within our Quality Assurance team to answer questions.
Security
Participants in a high stakes auction can be under tremendous pressure, particularly when having to make multi-million dollar bidding decisions within a short period of time. Our Auction Managers are cognizant of this, and handle bidder enquiries efficiently. Many of our auctions include strict confidentiality requirements, with key stakeholders, such as the auctioneer, only being permitted to know a subset of bidding information. Our Auction Managers ensure confidentiality of data while monitoring the auction and supporting auctioneer decisions, and ensure that the auction rules are followed.
Expert Insight
High-Stakes auctions are often developed on very tight schedules. By using experienced development teams that focus solely on developing high-stakes auctions, our teams can highlight early in the process any potential gaps in design, to ensure on-time delivery. Because we have a large, mature code base that routinely supports a number of auction designs including variety of auction formats including ascending clock auctions, descending clock auctions, SMRA, sealed-bid multi-unit auctions and package clock auctions, we have a tremendous starting point for any auction with unique needs.