Key skills and technologies

Key software development and project management skills:

• Project life cycle development using proven industry standard iterative and incremental methodologies
• Consultancy services
• Use of CASE development tools for object oriented analysis & design and database design
• Client-server systems design and development
• E-commerce application design and development
• Software installation, training and support
• Third party software and back office systems integration
• Microsoft Office application integration, support and development
• Specific development tools and technologies expertise includes:

Operating systems

• Novell, Windows desktop / server 9x to Vista, Mac OSX, Solaris Unix, Sco Unix, Linux, HP.

Languages

• Miscrosoft .NET (C#, VB.net, ASP.net) C, C++, Microsoft Visual C++, Basic, Visual Basic, Microsoft Visual InterDev, Scripting Languages (JavaScript and VBScript), Java, html, dhtml, xml, asp. Autonomy

Databases

• Microsoft Access, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle and Informix

Technologies

• Microsoft COM and DCOM, Microsoft Windows DNA-FS, XML, Microsoft Site Server, Microsoft Active Server Pages, Microsoft Internet Information / Exchange Server, Microsoft SNA Server, Microsoft Transaction Server, Sharepoint, Total Speech, Vignette and Autonomy.

Our technology solutions include:

• Net for front-end tools and middle-tier business logic (older applications were developed using Visual Basic Version 6).
• SQL Server 2005 for mid to large-scale databases. Smaller systems have used Access, the MSDE or simple XML.
• Internet Information Server with ASP.Net for web-technology front-ends. We tend now to use web technology for most basic user interaction with our systems, as it simplifies installation and support. Our preference is for a strongly server-side application, using asp.net pre-processing and HTML forms where possible. Where client-side functionality is needed we tend to use Javascript or VBScript in preference to downloaded controls or Java, although we have used both where the situation warranted.
• Excel (or PDF derived from Excel) for output reporting. We have a SQLServer to Excel output product, ISLReporter, which allows the use of user-configurable Excel templates including formatting, in-line formulae and user-selection of output fields. We have also made good use of Crystal Reports for bulk output of non-configurable reporting.
• XML for web-side datastorage; where an application is presenting report data on the web or intranet, precompiled XML that has been pre-sliced into asset, portfolio or transactional sets can offer excellent performance without the connection overhead or licence issues that affect live SQLServer interrogation. XML also integrates well with Exchange and Sharepoint (Microsofts intranet-in-a-box offering).
• We have a strong focus on object-oriented applications, preferring to use n-tier construction in place of traditional client-server architecture (although, once again, we have built a number of very successful client-server applications). The majority of our recent applications have been multi-site, in some cases spanning several continents, and we have developed a bespoke locking and replication engine for SQL Servers that use our object model.
• In general we aim to follow Microsoft’s lead in designing user interfaces, and our .net front-end products follow their style guide. For web-technology interfaces we tend to use simpler designs than Microsoft achieving, we think, clearer page layout and user interface flow.