database design

 Database: We create in-house, custom database applications which  manage areas of your business for which you are unable to find an appropriate software solution.

  

 Custom software is a program or group of programs that work in conjunction with one another to manage information exactly the way your company does business. A custom database is usually a compnent of the solution. When creating a custom database solution, the procedures and methodologies that exist in your business are what is used as a basis for the program design. The software becomes a reflection of your internal procedures, using appropriate forms and reports. A custom solution can be created to accommodate one small routine that may need automating, or it can handle many tasks within the  company up to and including integrating every data management function within your organization. What it does is up to you.


Custom database software design is not new. It used to be practical for only larger companies due to the once high cost and complexities of bringing a custom application to useful fruition. Over the past decade, mainly due to the evolution of powerful data management and programming applications, many smaller companies have realized that the cost is insignificant when weighed against the many benefits to be had and can provide dramatic benefits to your organization's productivity. In speaking with diverse groups of prospective clients, we have found that generally, there is a lack of understanding about what custom database software is about, how it can improve a company's daily operations. (go top)

 
 

Development: Design-Build Methodology

 
  Aargus leads every Client thru a standard design-build process that is performed to gather the information in the right sequence, and to provide continuous visibility, Client review and approval at each step of the process. Clients are asked to review, provide feedback and approve the results of each phase, as a prerequisite to proceeding on to the next phase. Project-specific milestones are established every month to measure progress, manage changes as they occur, drive decisions in a transparent manner and keep the project focused and on track.  Follow our lead providing the feedback we require at each phase and you will see your custom application evolve from initial Prototype design to a fully-functional solution that is custom-fit to your unique business needs.
 		  
Aargus Engineering Principles

  
      * The Process.   Good ideas can be unforeseeable at the outset of a project, so the best results are often achieved thru a dynamic process, not a rigid plan. Our experts will work closely with your team throughout the project to identify and exploit opportunities to simplify your application and business processes, reduce waste, manual inefficiencies and errors from common business tasks, and improve workflows and overall productivity.
    * Incremental Approach.   Aargus works with you to formulate a rational, phased approach that makes sense for your business. We will help align application capabilities with your key operational needs, so we can deliver incremental results with tangible value. Our primary objective for any new project is to determine the SMALLEST set of application capabilities that are sufficient to meet your core business needs, so we can focus on building a strong foundation that can be extended over time in a cost-effective manner.
    * Design and Validate.   Getting highly visual Prototype design concepts into your hands early in the process, with good communication and tight turn-around of your feedback is far more efficient and effective than traditional paper-intensive requirements gathering methods. Prototypes facilitate the right level of communication, and the outcome of the Prototype Design phase is confidence that we are on the right track, a properly scoped project with reliable budget and schedule estimates, and source-code to drive the Development Phase.
    * Good Communication.   Frequent, effective communication is critical to project success. We will facilitate a highly-interactive exchange of information, and provide tools and methods that enable detailed project tracking and validation of functional requirements at the project line-item level.
 		  
 		 Phase A: Consultation & Evaluation
 
  Our initial goal is to answer two questions: Can we help you?   And, is our cost and schedule estimate compatible with your budget and timing?    Our objective is to establish confidence on both sides that the Project is feasible from technical, business and financial perspectives, and build a good working rapport with you as a prospective Aargus Client.     To this end, our Consultants will work with you one-on-one to develop a clear picture of your business needs, priorities and concerns, help you understand the options that are available, and recommend the most cost-effective approach to meeting your needs.
 Factors that can influence our estimates include:

    * Scope and Complexity of your business application e.g. number of forms, tables, reports, 3rd-party controls, integrations, calculations, etc.
    * Quality of your existing application: is your application properly engineered?  Or, is an extensive business process re-engineering required?
    * Functional Gaps that may exist between your current application and, thru a series of discussions, what we understand you actually need.

    * Aargus Experience with Clients in the same industry and/or similar types of applications.

    * A bottom-up Engineering Assessment of your business application code.

If we observe any unknowns or ambiguities during our evaluation, we will always attempt to gather additional information.    If your application needs require further focus and/or refinement, we will work with you to properly scope and prioritize your needs.   Our experts take a disciplined approach to help you get the most value — to properly align your business needs with your budget and schedule constraints.   Our consultants will challenge you to separate must-haves from nice-to-haves — with the objective of determining the smallest set of application capabilities that are necessary to meet your essential business needs.   It can oftentimes makes more sense to defer a new capability to keep the Project budget and schedule on track.

We provide Clients with estimates vs. fixed-costs to accommodate discovery of new requirements that can (and often do) surface during a project — enhancements that are necessary to fully optimize your new application.   Sometimes it is not until Aargus Prototypes the new solution, with the new capabilities, streamlined functions, improved User Interfaces, etc. — and gather your feedback — that we are able to determine which capabilities offer the biggest pay-back.
If we both determine the Project is feasible and a good fit, at your request Aargus will send you a Project Agreement that identifies your primary business and functional objectives, initial cost and schedule estimates, and Project milestones and target dates within our standard design-build process.
 		  
Phase B: Prototype Design Phase

  
  Application Prototypes are the centerpiece to Aargus' custom design-build process.    Prototypes provide Aargus and our Clients with a simple, visual means to communicate and verify application capabilities before development begins.   Prototypes provide the “glue” between your business subject matter experts and the Aargus engineering team. The outcome of the Prototype Design phase is confidence that we are on the right track, a properly scoped project with reliable budget and schedule estimates, and source-code to drive the Development Phase.    See sample Smart Client Prototype Applications.

    * The final, Client-approved Prototype Design establishes solid boundaries around the project, and thus allows Aargus to provide reliable budget and schedule estimates for moving your Project forward.
    * A Smart Client application Prototype consists of the complete application User Interface — the main application layout, all the forms, buttons, lists, menu items, short-cuts, etc. — and a preliminary back-end SQL Server database schema design (the underlying data model structures and relationships that drive the User Interface features and capabilities).
    * Prototype designs may include elements from your existing application, and often include new User Interface conventions that we have used successfully with other Clients.   Aargus experts will engage your team in design review/feedback sessions, and refine the Prototype based upon your continued feedback and preferences.   Iterations to the Prototype design are driven by a working Prototype application installed on your PC, accompanied by a ‘Paper Prototype’ that you mark-up and send to Aargus with your comments.
    * Aargus will continue to refine the User Interface and underlying SQL database model until you approve the results.    A Prototype design round-trip cycle typically takes 2 to 4 weeks to complete, and consists of a Prototype release... Client feedback... follow-on questions and clarification... coding... next Prototype release.   In our experience, two or three Prototype design iterations are sufficient to confirm application capabilities and Project scope.    Additional iterations may be required for larger, more complex applications.    Prototypes: a simple analogy.
    * Aargus uses 100% of the Client-approved Prototype code for the Development Phase.    Aargus will provide you with an updated Project estimate based upon the results of the approved Prototype Design phase.Phase
 		  
Phase C: Detailed Design

 
 
Once a final Prototype design is approved, PCA will gather the underlying details required by our engineering team to build out the application.   While the Detailed Design Phase is less visible/tangible than the Prototype Design Phase — in fact, it may seem like it is just slowing down the Project — this step is essential to uncover, communicate and resolve any unknowns so we can better align expectations on how the application is going to function, and ultimately, to insure that PCA is building a solution that meets your specific business and operational needs.
Payback on gathering details at this early juncture can be ten-fold by avoiding issues down the road and speeding up the development phase.   If necessary, PCA will update our estimate based upon the results of the Detailed Design phase.   Depending upon the nature of your application, detailed design requirements may include:
  • Use cases and Test cases that clarify how the application is expected to behave and perform specific tasks
  • Business logic, algorithms, and calculations that support the visual design
  • Input constraints and data validations to be performed as data is input by users
  • Data schema diagrams that layout the tables and relational data model
  • Third-party controls that PCA may wish to use in developing the application
  • Low level functional specifications for tricky or more complex areas of the application
  • A data migration plan to move your business data from your old system to the new application
     
  
 Phase D: Development

  
 
Once a final Prototype Design is approved, and all the necessary functional details are in-hand and well understood, PCA will proceed with the Development phase.
  • The scope and complexity of your application determines the time it takes PCA to develop and deliver the "Beta 1" application.
  • Whenever feasible, PCA will segment the development phase into sub-phases, so we can focus efforts on individual application modules and enable your continued participation and feedback.
     
  • We will inform you of the schedule that you can expect, and notify you when the initial Beta 1 application is available for your initial testing and feedback.
     
  
Phase E - Testing and Refinement

 
 
Beta testing is your team’s first opportunity to test-drive the functionality of your new Smart Client application.   The goal of this phase is to run the application through your end-to-end business process — and verify that all features, capabilities, performance, security, data integrity and workflow meet with your needs and expectations.
  • The objective of the Testing/Refinement phase is to identify any and all issues that prevent the new application from being used successfully in production.
  • Our Beta testing feedback methodology is similar to the Prototype Design Phase: frequent software releases accompanied by paper annotated versions of the application, with multiple iterations based upon your detailed review and comments.
  • PCA will continue to make refinements to the application until everyone is satisfied that the new application is ready to deploy into production.
     
  
Phase F - Deployment

  
 
Once the new application is ready for production use, the last step in our process is to import your legacy business data into the new application.
  • Steps during this phase can also include training your Admin personnel how to manage user accounts and security settings and installing and configuring the application server.
  • If your application is hosted on RackSpace (included with PCA Maintenance and Support services), we may also need to register and set-up a domain name and test the new server configuration for security, performance and other items.
  • At this juncture in the project, your key personnel are already ‘experts’ on the new application, so End User training by PCA is rarely if ever necessary.
  • It is important not to underestimate the potential issues that can surface with migrating legacy business data to SQL Server.   Many legacy systems do not adequately enforce data integrity, so missing records, partial records, invalid formats and duplicate records are common.   A combination of automated and manual efforts may be required to clean up your existing business data.
     
  
Phase G - Maintenance and Support

  
 
After your new Smart Client application has been successfully deployed into production, PCA requires a minimum one-year maintenance and support services agreement, to address a variety of issues that result from actual production use.
  • Enhancements to your application that are discovered thru actual production use are commonplace. New functions are needed, refinements to existing capabilities are identified, business needs change, and opportunities arise to further streamline your business process.
  • In addition, bugs in the application do surface from time to time that were never exposed by PCA or our Client during the testing phase.
  • Clients frequently rely on PCA to solve problems or provide enhancements to an application that is in production mode — changes that are unforeseeable, and usually require our immediate attention. It is far more cost-effective for PCA (and hence for our Clients) to dedicate the necessary level of engineering resources over a period of time vs. dealing with individual application maintenance and support issues as they arise. The effort required for PCA to evaluate, cost, code, test, manage, deploy and verify individual items as they arise requires unnecessary project management and administrative overhead — overhead costs that can be avoided by a well-managed maintenance and support program.
  • PCA annual maintenance and support fees can range from 15% to 25% of the total Project fee, and are paid monthly over a one year period. Factors that impact the maintenance and support fee include: the volume and complexity of changes and refinements that we expect, your available resources and expertise (ability to support yourself), and level of PCA services (response times, 24/7 coverage, etc.).
  • Once your Project is complete, we will have a pretty good understanding of your support needs, and we will work with you to determine an appropriate monthly maintenance and support fee. PCA provides support tools and a process that we use to capture and track Client support requests and status, and track associated engineering efforts, so we can always reconcile actual vs. plan usage. PCA will send you an Annual Maintenance and Support Agreement following completion of your Project.