Consulting Services
- Advisory Based, Software Related
- Review Based, Software Related
- Software or Database Performance and Scalability
- Project Rescue
Consulting is, for the most part, a shift from doing to telling.
Rather than actually develop the software or database, I would advise your or your staff on how to develop it.
There is often a teaching or skills transfer element to this.
Advisory based consulting is when I work with you or your team ahead of time and help them to accomplish whatever tasks are before them.
This might be because you're short handed, or your team might have limited experience in certain areas.
Review based consulting is when you bring me in to examine work already performed and render an opinion on it, or give advice on how to proceed forward with it.
You might choose this approach because you want a second opinion.
One that is not already entrenched in the existing opinions and is somewhat free from politicizing influences.
Or you may be looking for alternative approaches to a given problem.
Performance and Scalability (P&S) issues with software and databases can be very difficult to deal with.
They often pop up after the software has gone into production, sometimes months or years after the fact.
What works well with thousands of rows of data to start often won't with million of rows of data later.
Problems can exist at any of 4 "levels" within the system: Architecture; Design; Implementation; or Deployment.
There is a difference between cause and effect, and it is very easy to mis-diagnose the symptom and waste valuable resources attempting to correct the wrong things.
Project Rescue is a bad situation for all concerned.
If you are pouring money into a project and you suspect it's in trouble, don't let things drag on too long.
Bring in a fresh set of eyes to look things over, review project plans, do risk assessments, and if necessary recommend remedial steps.
Waiting in these situations seldom improves the situation.