Programming languages, databases, and technologies in which I am experienced
include: C# ("C-sharp"), Visual Basic.NET, ASP.NET, Visual Basic 6.0,
JavaScript, Microsofft SQL Server, SQL Server Reporting Services, SQL
Server Integration Services (SSIS) / Data Transformation Services (DTS),
Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004, Microsoft Access, Crystal Reports, Crystal
Enterprise, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and Microsoft Dynamics GP (Great Plains
Accounting).
Solutions Consulting Group (SCG)
I first joined SCG in 1996. In 1999, I left to go back out on my own as an
independent consultant, but I later rejoined SCG in 2003.
SCG was founded in 1993 and has experienced rapid growth since that time. The
company is a Microsoft Gold Certified partner. It is focused on delivering ERP
(Enterprise Resource Planning), CRM (Customer Relationship Management), and BI
(Business Intelligence) solutions to its clients both through custom
application development as well as implementation of / integration with
Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS) software. It is staffed with a number of
full time consultants with skills in application development, Business
Intelligence, Microsoft CRM, Microsoft Great Plains Accounting, and much more.
For more information on Solutions Consulting Group (SCG), please visit the
company web site:
www.scg.net. There you will find press releases, case studies,
industry experience, a client list, company background, and more.
Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services
This is Microsoft's web-based reporting tool. It is a great product. And, you
can't beat the price - free - so long as you are already licensed for Microsoft
SQL Server. With the 2005 version, ad hoc reports can be developed with a tool
launched right from the browser-based Report Manager. And much more powerful
report design is available through a report designer that is part of
the Visual Studio IDE (Integrated Development Environment).
Microsoft BizTalk Server
This is a "convert anything to anything" data integration / transforming tool
that works in real time. If you presently have two or more separate application
software systems in your company that do not "talk to each other" (they were
not designed to intergrate with each other), BizTalk can probably get them on
speaking terms.
So, for example, you may have one system for contact / customer relationship
management, and another for entering customer sales invoices. When a customer's
contact information changes, you end up making the change twice - once in your
invoicing system, and again in your contact management system. By integrating
the two systems through BizTalk, you only make the change in one system, and
let BizTalk take care of updating that change to the other system.
BizTalk was designed to handle very involved and complex real time integrations.
Integration logic is developed in a graphical design environment within the
Visual Studio IDE. A rich set of tools is available within this IDE to define
transformations, calculations, field mapping, scripting logic, and many other
aspects of the integration.
Data Mart / Data Warehouse
Your database may be running efficiently enough, but can your users locate the
data they need to furnish management with good decision support? Can users
generally create reports on their own, or do they always need to
get a programmer or other IT support personnel involved? When users try to
run reports on your data, do the reports take a long time to run? A database
that is well-designed for data entry purposes (OLTP - Online Transaction
Processing) may not be well suited for reporting purposes (OLAP - Online
Analytical Processing). You may benefit by having a reporting database (a Data
Mart or Data Warehouse) designed for your specific reporting requirements. Such
a database can be automatically refreshed weekly, nightly, hourly, etc.,
according to the particular need.
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 comes with SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), a
tool that facilitates the gathering of data from various sources into a common
database for reporting purposes. (Prior versions of SQL Server have a similar
tool, DTS - Data Transformation Services). SSIS can handle any
needed transformation of the data. SQL Server also manages the scheduling
of these transformations to automatically refresh data at regular predetermined
intervals.
SQL Server also contains tools for pre-aggregating data into "cubes" through
Analysis Services. These cubes can be accessed through SQL Server Reporting
Services 2005 through the Report Designer, as well as through the Ad Hoc
reporting tool.