| When
you work with TTG Services you work only with me and my local associates, not a subcontractor in
Eastern Europe or Asia. So it is fair you know something about me �
Number one, I am an
engineer, not a code-cutter. Making a useful program is not at all
like routinely hanging sheet rock, it is more like building a complex
cathedral.
I believe above all in program design, and that
good design comes from getting you, the client, to talk about your
needs. Needs well understood lead to a program design that is
effective. Only with a clear and complete design in hand does it make
sense to assemble objects, tables and lines of code into a database
application.
The past
dozen years I have been designing and developing database applications
(using Microsoft
Access/Visual Basic and SQL Server, and Corel Paradox) for
a wide variety
of organizations, both for-profit and not-for-profit, usually small to medium
sized. These applications have been used (and still are) in a wide variety of businesses and
services. They have been �from scratch,� or major improvements, or
platform-changes (e.g., DOS to Windows, and Paradox to SQL Server or
Access).
But I didn't just
suddenly start designing and developing databases. During my earlier years in the computer
industry I
successively managed a computer manufacturer�s R & D, worked as a
sales engineer, managed tech support for a wholesaler, and was general
manager for a "solutions provider" (also called a �VAR�).
The benefit to my clients is I have an overall picture how an application fits
into a complete computer system, and how to deal with other types of
computer professionals effectively.
I also draw on unique
listening, reasoning, and presentation skills I developed in the 12 years
I spent as a
trial attorney. I can discuss my ideas and
advice with non-technical people in terms that they find easy to understand and
apply. Most important, those 12 years as a lawyer put me in direct daily contact with
the owners and managers of all sorts of businesses and organizations. They
taught me
how to quickly and thoroughly understand how information flows through an
organization, how to make that information gather and flow most
efficiently, and how to use the information to make your organization function
at its best. Finally,
when there are special additional features you need to work in connection
with your database, I draw on the many colleagues I have met and been able
to evaluate in my years in the computer industry - for a complete solution.
Doesn�t
this cost a lot more?
When you buy custom
software, you do need to be cost conscious. Using the Design-first
process, the cost will be in line with helter-skelter development.
Frequently the eventual cost is lower.
Development without
design likely will produce false starts and blind alleys, which are costly to both
developer and customer, both in dollars and delivery date. An
application that just grows may well result in more cost in these ways:
The product that works so badly that it gets abandoned after a
couple months. It gets replaced by another custom application or by
a commercial package that doesn�t really do what you want but works.
That means you end up paying twice. Or it should have been put on
a closet shelf, but wasn�t�because of the investment�and drives
users nuts for years, costing extra time to use and get around the problems.
Either way, you are paying extra.
When you engage TTG
Services to Design, Then Develop, your investment is safe.
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