Consulting Services

We take a "top down" approach to application development as it is vital to the success of the implementation that business needs are met. The first step is to review high level requirements and advise on the outline approach options.  Our consultants are also able to advise on Key Performance Indicators that may be applied to meet requirements.  We also bring our experience of similar developments and can advise on any challenges that we may foresee.  This is where the 80/20 rule may  be applied - where 80% of the requirement may often be delivered with 20% of the total effort. 

Having established the business reporting needs we need to turn our attention to the availability of the data to drive the reports.  In some instances data may largely exist in in a single source, such as web analytics being driven using data collected from the web sites, or in the case of wider ranging business performance and operational security applications data will need to be gathered from multiple sources such as sales, HR and finance systems. The data availability may inevitably lead to a gap analysis, where we need to establish areas where core data is needed to fulfil top level reporting needs. 

The design of the database runs in harmony with this process. The database structure may be off the shelf or contained within a software product, such as Google Analytics for web analytics data, or a SIEM technology such as LogPoint to drive operational requirements, in these cases implementation is usually straightforward.  Business Intelligence and performance applications will typically require a database design best suited to meet the analysis and reporting requirements.  We need to balance a number of factors before deciding on the best data structure - this will also tie in to the the reporting delivery.

The user interface is vital in order to clearly and accurately deliver the relevant results in a timely manner.  There are raft of delivery options but fewer generic rules on delivery, for example the reports should match the user level, be easily digested without too much clutter and importantly should match that users needs, particularly important for senior executives with little time to spare wading though pages of reports.

Where appropriate we deliver high level reporting though dashboard designed to highlight issues, good or bad that may be lying below the surface, such issues can then be drilled down to establish cause, or be passed to an analyst with a more detailed interface to the same data with expanded analytics capability.

Our team is available to provide continuity to support the application where new features and needed or new user requirements are developed.  Typically a system will adapt and move forward with the business so it is useful to have our resources on call to advise and assist with issues arising.

We provide our support through flexible plans which can be delivered online or on-site so you can have an expert on tap when you need one.