Can someone please explain to me the difference between a project status that is in production vs Alpha? What is Alpha?

Thank you.

Alpha is supposed to be the very early stages of getting the project set up and running. However, it is up to the projects to determine. Most use it as an excuse to justify running a poor project or not fixing things in a timely manner. We have had some projects labeled alpha or beta for years. For exmaple, Mind Modeling has been listed BETA since it opened its doors. They claim the work is production yet the project is BETA. They never clearly identified a roadmap to explain how it would get out of BETA.