Ikiman

Information is at the heart of every successful business. Modern IT systems can yield large gains in efficiency when successfully integrated into the existing business procedures and practices. With the ever decreasing costs of computers and software, improvements in the IT systems used by your business should be considered as a simple way of increasing profits.

If your looking to improve an existing system, or introduce something new, you might like to consider a little extra help. Please take a look at a few of the projects successfully completed over the last 5 years.

If you want to talk about your project, don't hesitate to get in touch , all consultations are free.

With more than 20 years of varied experience in the IT industry, I can offer a wide range of skills. These skills cover the technical side of IT, such as software development, as well as the more person orientated tasks, such as training.

Business analysis & project planning

The first stage is always to work out what needs to be done. This involves discussions with the key members of staff and gaining a consensus on the way forward. Being a believer in keeping costs as low as possible, the results of this phase may be no more than an action plan, with key objectives for everyone involved and, where possible, delivery dates.

It's also important to come up with a cost estimate for the project after the completion of this stage. At which point, options can be discussed in terms of their costs and benefits.

Software selection

Once the objectives of the project are known, the next phase may require investigation of what software is available on the market which will help us meet those objectives.

Having said that, most business processes usually involve the combination of word processing, spreadsheets, databases and the internet. As most businesses already have some or all of the above, this phase may require almost no effort.

Software development

Thanks to the flexibility of modern packages, software development rarely involves any more than writing small scripts, such as excel macros, or database scripts. However, to get the most from your system, this is often necessary, and using my software engineering skills should give you a high quality solution quicker than using an in-house resource.

If changes to these scripts may be necessary in the future, any keen members of staff can be trained to make these changes.

Installation, integration & data migration

Putting everything in place, migrating data from old systems and ironing out any teething problems is a critical stage in any project. It's often necessary to run the old and new systems in parallel, if only for a day or two. The staff are full involved at this stage, but a little specialised help tends to get the job done quicker, and with less disruption to the daily business.

Staff training & documentation

A lot of staff training tends to occur on the job, as the new system is being installed, configured and tested at your site. However, it is usually necessary to prepare specific material which covers the daily use of the new system and to work through it with the key members of staff.

Continued support

To keep costs down, it's important that they system is reliable, easy to use and can be maintained by the existing staff. Typically, my involvement in the project will tail off quite rapidly once the system is running. However, I'm always happy to help out, if or when there is a problem.