Microsoft Consulting and Development
microsoft consultants

Microsoft consultants

 

We consult to Business from an initial consultation; assessing the business processes, technologies, problems and enjoy providing a long term strategy to achieve a best of breed long term solution that fits within the customer's budget.

 

A good example of our work is Sundale Aged Care Queensland which began in 2005. In this project we assessed Sundale's overall business process, IT infrastructure & applications, issues, problems and difficulties they faced. We architected a better 'long term solution' and devised a 'strategy' to address these needs cost effectively, whilst achieving a high quality solution.

 

Initial Assessment of Business Process & Systems

 

Our initial assessment revealed a large number of discrete applications that didn't interact and caused the following problems:

 

  • Multiple passwords necessary for each application (no single sign on)
  • Necessity to log into every application (no integration with active directory)
  • Multiple duplication of entry of data (lack of integration between all applications)
  • Rework and badly architected applications causing work to be done multiple times in each application (not cost effective)
  • Lack of meeting business process needs and inefficiency

 

Consultants Architecture & Strategy

 

We initially competed with a large multinational IT company and outbid both in cost and quality. Some of the benefits that resulted include:


  • Developing a strategy to build new applications into a framework of Service Based Architecture (SOA), services for the company-wide facilities.  This included developing cost effective common services 'Enterprise Services' for the company.  This reduced the cost of developing new applications with much functionality shared or reused from the common enterprise services.
  • Integrating siloed (stand alone) legacy systems into the new Architecture to reduce the need for double entering of information.
  • Future proofing the architecture by allowing for the integration and deployment of Microsoft BizTalk for a full enterprise system service bus (ESB) when required
  • Provided tight integration of existing legacy applications into both the new services and new applications
  • Provided an Identity management (single sign on/automatic sign on) system to reduce the need for different passwords, identities per application.

Projects

 

The following projects have been developed (in order of occurrence):

 

  • Microsoft.NET Content Management Website allowing content update and modification live
  • Microsoft Office (MOSS) SharePoint Setup deployment and modification, extension with Web Part development and integration into Enterprise Services
  • Assessment of current systems, Business Needs, shortcomings, planned product integration and Development of a Architecture and migration strategy 
  • Development of Enterprise Services, which provided common services for simple tasks such as User Account creation
  • Integration to existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and publishing of that data for the enterprise applications
  • Design and Development of stage 2 & 3 for Staff Appraisals (staff performance management)
  • Email authorisation application for all staff correspondence.  This application ensures no outgoing communication is possible without authorisation, significantly improving public image risk
  • Feedback Help Desk, a web based application for public (through DotNetNuke .net website integration), internal patients, staff and management to log complaints, deal with and assign to outside staff to rectify problems and track feedback items until completed successfully.  Note: this uses full featured Windows Workflow to track, escalate and manage tasks cost effectively
  • Constant Enterprise Application and network support


Details and Technologies

Project Description

Produce enterprise level web services to publish enterprise data for all applications according to a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). 


Start Date

Oct 2005


Finish Date

2008

Value


$600k+


Solution Deployed

Visual Studio, Visual Source Safe, SQL Management Studio, 2003 Server


Size in terms of the number of tables, size  of database, complexity of code

218 tables, databases used and developed are several Gig, code is very complex with involved business rules using bleeding edge technologies such as MS Workflow, Windows Communication Foundation


Technical environment

Microsoft .NET Application Development, SQLServer, C#,  Windows Server 2003, Visual Studio, SQLServer, SQL Reports, IIS