Services Life is challenge. Why sugar coat problems? Gordian Solutions slices through problems. Over the years our swordmen have encountered all kinds of problems. The more complex the puzzles, the sweeter the savor becomes when solving them. Strange problems titillate puzzle lovers, but these occur oh so infrequently. Most businesses encounter predictable problems. For these, Gordian offers specialty services and targeted engagements. Sometimes circumstances contrive to present an ally with a truly unique problem that does not fit into a packed suite of services. These situations require careful scrutiny and planning to overcome. Our swordsmen diligently hewn their skills to be able to conquer the most vicious of tech-monsters. When confronted by such a creature, dispatch with haste a messenger to the Gordian Fortress so that we can order our warriors to your aid. May we all live in interesting times. Specialized Services Targeted Engagements Initiating Enabling Leveraging Differentiating Optimizing New Product Development Custom Departmental Applications Enterprise-Wide Software Architectures Development Process Improvement Project Team Motivation Preferred Project Size Core Technical Competencies team < 10 people budget < $2.5 Million schedule < 18 months Data and Object Modeling Client-Server Systems Telephony Analysis and Design Data Architecture Project Management Data Warehousing Relational Databases Process Optimization Development Environments Desired Tools Languages Servers Windows Unix Visual Basic PowerBuilder Java SQL Oracle Oracle Delphi HTML CGI Sybase JBuilder IntraBuilder Pascal VBA SQL Server C++ Builder Corel Web Suite "C" VRML Informix Cold Fusion SQL Programmer C++ Prolog IIS INITIATING SERVICES Early adopters of new technology often become industry leaders. Knowing when and how to adopt new technology makes the critical difference. Gordian’s Initiating Services Suite helps allies take decisive action regarding new developments. Third Eye Predictions Study client industries and research initiatives to predict sites of change likely to occur and become commercially exploitable over the next five to ten years. This service results in confidential research reports and formal briefings of the project sponsors. See the deliverables. Campaign Planning Programs Examine the industry focus of client companies in the midst of changes in industry, technology and workflow. This service results in a plan of action that utilizes new technology in innovative ways to achieve measurable competitive advantage. See the deliverables. Success Schematics Architect enterprise-wide business models for using information for competitive advantage. This service results in data and object models—blueprints—that reflect the entire enterprise. Success Schemas provide the basis for powerful data warehouses and data marts and permit intelligent data mining. See the deliverables. Power Plumbings Survey the client organization and compares its business practices to those deemed to be the best in the industry. This service results in useful feedback for management in order to plan organizational and technological change. See the deliverables. Smart Shopper Programs Author Requests for Information and/or Proposals for clients planning or making large capital acquisitions of high technology. This service gathers requirements and organizes them into a uniform bidders format which are distributed to vendors for response. The responses are gathered, collated and studied in order to make recommendations. Deliverables include RFI/RFP documents and electronic media, responses, analysis reports and confidential recommendations. See the deliverables. Fields of Gleems Study a product line in relation to competing products and recommends product line innovations likely to bring competitive advantage. This service results in a competitive product analysis and prioritized feature list. See the deliverables. ENABLING SERVICES Deciding is the first step towards change. Planning is the second. Executing is the third. Allies rely on Gordian warriors to prepare their troops for battle. Gordian’s Enabling Services provide this assistance. Dancing on the Razor’s Edge program motivates and prepares product development, consulting and training organizations for rapid change. This one hour keynote speech features surprise, drama, danger, color, suspense, comedy and magic. See the deliverables. Titan Attainment workshop teaches technical people how to lead small and medium project development efforts that use object-oriented or visual development tools. This workshop focuses on skills, tools and techniques that work for projects involving ten people or less. Deliverables include workbooks, exercises, presentation materials and project management software tools. See the deliverables. Adept Armoring develops a winning battle culture by defining effective rules of engagement and stockpiling appropriate armaments. This engagement results in new skills, standards, libraries and frameworks that accelerate software development. See the deliverables. Taming of the Shrewd offers customized training of allied forces. This training results in better prepared soldiers. Deliverables include workbooks, exercises, presentation materials. See the deliverables. LEVERAGING SERVICES When battling tech-monsters, choosing the correct weapon helps. Victors use proper technique and form that comes from experience. Gordian’s Leveraging Services offers expert swordsmen for this purpose. Beast Basting conquers entire development projects. Allies engage Gordian Solutions to battle specific tech-monsters, and Gordian warriors barbecue the beast. See the deliverables. Battle Plan lays out a development project using Gordian Solutions proprietary estimation techniques. Allies use the plan to conquer enemies in their own territories. Deliverables include scope definitions, critical success criteria, a detailed project plan, change control procedures and charts and graphs. See the deliverables. Lead the Charge provides leadership from the army of Gordian for allied troops. When allies seek advantage in their battles but prefer the familiarity of their own troops, they invite a Gordian lieutenant to lead the charge. The result is a well run war. Deliverables include a delivered project. See the deliverables. Victory Architecture offers Gordian allies software architecture and data architecture expertise. The result is superior software architectures that endure the harsh winds of change. Deliverables include architectural change reports, architectural diagrams and reports and periodic management briefings. See the deliverables. Sharp Swordsman provides expert Gordian swordmen to the allied front. The result is a few key soldiers on the field of battle that often make the difference between decisive victory and being routed. See the deliverables. DIFFERENTIATING SERVICES Throughout history battles have been fought and won via different strategems. Generals that employ unique technique often catch their foes off guard. Guile is a mighty opponent and a valuable ally. Gordian’s differentiating services help allies discover and use unique advantages in their struggle to deliver value. Secret Weapon offers expertise in defining the critical ways that allies should leverage their existing information assets to achieve competitive advantage. This results in a critical analysis of informational strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities and recommendations for change. See the deliverables. Magical Messenger examines telephony, infrared, radio, microwave and internet technologies to determine key ways that allies can use these technologies to accelerate communication and distinguish their troops on the battlefield. This results in recommendations on how to deploy hybrid and emerging technologies to deliver additional value. See the deliverables. Legend Maker studies product lines and seeks ways to add value to the value chain. This results in ideas for improving product lines in noticeable ways. See the deliverables. OPTIMIZING SERVICES Once the battle has begun, many a struggle has been won by superior swordsmanship. Given the same tools, technique matters most. Gordian’s Optimizing Services help allies sharpen their tools and improve their techniques. Boot Camp trains individual developers in enhancing their productivity and battle skills. This results in troops that communicate better, operate more effectively, and slay larger tech-monsters. See the deliverables. Swing Speeder studies client-server systems and looks for ways to improve application performance. This audit results in a set of tuning recommendations. See the deliverables. Field Inspection examines a project to improve its progress. This audit results in a set of project management and team initiatives. See the deliverables. SPECIALITY SERVICE DELIVERABLES Third Eye Predictions Campaign Planning Programs Success Schematics Power Plumbings Smart Shopper Programs Fields of Gleems Dancing on the Razor’s Edge Titan Attainment Adept Armoring Taming of the Shrewd Beast Basting Battle Plan Lead the Charge Victory Architecture Sharp Swordsman Secret Weapon Magical Messenger Legend Maker Boot Camp Swing Speeder Field Inspection