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 Microsoft Application Architecture Project to Support a large Mainframe to Web Strategy
PSC was selected on a competitive basis to help a large customer implement a new application architecture based on Microsoft technologies. The customer needed help developing a plan and an application architecture to migrate their mainframe applications to an architecture that would enable them to meet their changing business needs. Our team members provided architecture, design, planning, development assistance and mentoring assistance to support their many projects and business areas.
.NET and
MS SQL Server Design and Development for a Farm Equipment
Manufacturer
PSC was selected to help a customer
implement a new infrastructure based on Microsoft technologies.
The customer needed help moving to Windows 2000, Active
Directory, MS SQL Server, and .NET. Our team was selected
to help complete an assessment and a plan to move to Windows
2000. Our team was also selected to validate their .NET
architecture and MS SQL Server database architecture. Our
team members provided architecture and design assistance
and mentoring assistance to support their many projects.
Customer Service and Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Strategy
PSC team members were selected
to help a growing software and services company develop
a vision, plan, and business case to position itself to
sustain and improve customer interactions. The customer
requested assistance in aligning various initiatives and
in defining its vision for customer service across many
functional areas. This was needed to support explosive growth
and increasing customer demands from its broad product offerings.
Several functional business areas were brought together
and led through a process to drive out the vision, identify
technical components necessary to implement the vision,
and migration plan to deliver the CRM vision.
Various customer-facing business
units were independently addressing how to support complex
customer interactions. In addition, the sharing and access
of customer information between business units was becoming
an increasing challenge as the company experienced major
growth. The customer wanted to create a common vision for
customer service and support; determine the right people,
processes, and technology to realize the vision; identify
the benefits, costs, and timing related to the implementation
of the vision; and align itself organizationally to begin
implementation of the vision. Areas assessed included the
customer contact center, account management, and solution
delivery business units.
PSC team members worked with
the customer to look at the company’s situation by
completing a comprehensive “current state snapshot”
that evaluated existing technologies, interaction processes,
and the internal structure as it relates to servicing and
supporting their customers. This was a two-week effort that
involved bringing the functional areas together to formulate
a holistic view of current customer interactions. The project
team also analyzed customer interactions both with the company
as well as between departments. From the information gathered,
initial opportunities for improvement were identified.
PSC team members then researched
and provided the project team the “best practices”
of customer interaction. This information was then utilized
by the project team to define the future model for customer
service and support. The future model covered such areas
as data, contact center foundational components (i.e. ACD,
IVR, multi-media blending), CRM software, workflow, web-enabled
self-service, extranet, and knowledge management. PSC team
members identified implementation options and formulated
the “short list” of vendor solutions for further
consideration. Benefits, measurements, priorities, and implementation
options were outlined for each of the component areas within
the model.
Once the desired future model
was defined, the team worked to provide business justification
for the change. To accomplish this, an extensive business
case was created to support the migration plan. This gave
the project team the information it needed to work with
senior level sponsorship and gain buy-in for moving the
initiative forward. Areas addressed included: software,
hardware, service, organization change, and business process
changes.
PSC team members worked in a
rapid 12-week process to help the customer define its customer
service and support strategy. The team continued to work
with the customer as its implementation initiative progressed
towards realizing the benefits identified.
Intranet Application Development for a Utility
PSC team members were selected
to help a utility create an intranet application to enhance
the internal communication within their enterprise.
Government Intranet Portal
PSC created a secure reliable
intranet portal for a state agency. Keying off user system
logins and access permissions, the PSC-developed portal
grants users restricted access to specific data and information.
Determination of access rights is also crosschecked by linking
each user to a division— or group—and allocating
permissions on a need-to-know basis.
Insurance Application Development Project
An insurance company found that
it needed to restructure or develop software applications
tools to more accurately and efficiently support numerous
important functions. Rather than face the undertaking by
itself, the company contracted PSC to accomplish the project.
Using Microsoft tools, PSC created
the applications. Comprising the operational environment
are a Microsoft SQL Server, Access database structure, Visual
Basic programming, Active Server Pages, and Crystal Reports.
PSC neatly pulled these together for the client to develop
versatile, easy-to-use applications tools.
e-Commerce Application
Embarking on the development of new applications to support their wholesale and retail operations, a book company retained PSC. The applications were necessary for selling books online through websites. PSC—navigating through an operating environment of Microsoft SQL Server, Visual Basic, and Active Server Pages—guided the customized development of the numerous applications modules.
While developing the book company’s new applications, PSC consultants also led development of the multiple client websites geared to online selling. In creating the websites, PSC team members started by analyzing site requirements and objectives. PSC then designed and developed the sites; integrating them with other applicable systems. Involved in all the application were thirty Active Server Pages and a SQL Server database. The database held fifty stored procedures and thirty tables. PSC then tested the websites and deployed them as operational.
e-Commerce Roadmap and Strategic Plan
A major Midwestern retailer engaged
PSC team members to help them develop a strategic plan to
web-enable its business. The retailer viewed web-enabling
as a viable avenue to increase sales to existing customers,
enter new markets, and capitalize on web technologies for
the purpose of maximizing operational efficiencies. PSC's
response was a plan enumerating the actions necessary for
the retailer to achieve the desired results for successful
web-based business-to-consumer transactions. PSC's e-commerce
roadmap, or strategic plan, included sections on:
Web Initiatives - Discussed
each web-enabling action relevant to this retailer's means
and objectives.
Project Objectives - Laid out
objectives for the project's phases in addition to laying
out objectives for the overall project.
Vision - The client's idea of
the solution was written into a context that defined initiatives,
common themes, site goals, site requirements, and solutions
to possible problems.
Operating Strategy - Related
how the client would operate the website(s) once it was
up and running.
Performance Metrics - Developed
methods by which the client could measure and quantify
the e-commerce solution of the website.
Conceptual Design - Defined
business, technical, and staffing requirements necessary
to bring about the operational success of the e-Commerce
solution and to keep it alive.
Solution Recommendation - This
plan area focused on the type of solution that needed
to be considered for the e-Commerce project to continue
forward.
Initiatives - Identified those
areas requiring detailed management, definition, and implementation
as the project progressed.
Implementation Options for e-Commerce
- Outlined high-level implementation plans indicating
how the client could tackle prioritized initiatives in
a steady manner. An emphasis was placed on using a phased,
focused, managed, measurable approach.
Business Case - Introduced high-level
justification for the e-Commerce project and articulated
the results most likely to be derived from the project
solution.
Throughout the endeavor, PSC made sure that people, process,
and technology were all kept in mind as key, pivotal project
elements.
Intranet Application Development
PSC has provided intranet application
development and infrastructure support to a number of companies
that need help developing and supporting web-based internal
applications.
PSC Portal
The PSC team has created a reuseable
portal application that sits on top of Crystal Decision’s
Crystal Enterprise system. This portal provides enhanced
functionality to the out-of-the-box application that Crystal
Decision provides. The application enhances the user interface
to Crystal Enterprise, enables easier customization, and
improves administration of the system.
Insurance and Financial Services Electronic Forms Application
Development Project
PSC was selected to help a number
of insurance and financial services companies to enable
electronic forms-based systems to help their companies move
from manual forms-based systems to automated electronic
forms-based systems. One system was created via the intranet
and another system was created via Outlook/Exchange Forms.
Both systems started with PSC team members creating 50 electronic
forms, and today these customers have hundreds of electronic
forms that result in huge forms savings and even better
process improvement savings.
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