Executive Summary
SMS Software had a mission-critical program that
was being held hostage by a single programmer in their New Orleans
location. Micro Database Specialists worked with SMS to gain control of
the situation, and then distribute the program nationwide, turning a problem
into a major asset for the corporation.
The Challenge
Originally retained by SMS to support a different
application, Micro Database Specialists was called on to help with a situation
where a programmer responsible for a mission critical application in the New
Orleans office had decided to begin consulting at double his normal rate.
Rather than work with this person, SMS decided to use Micro Database Specialists
to take over support of the application, and eliminate their dependency on a
single person.Our Solution
Micro Database Specialists worked with SMS to quickly take control of the
software and keep local operations running in their New Orleans office.
Once the situation was stabilized, we established a secure internet communications
link from Orange,
California to allow remote management of the local SQL-Server database in New
Orleans. This
enabled SMS to smoothly transition the project without impacting this mission critical system.
After a
thorough review of the program, SMS management and Micro Database Specialists
determined that it could be utilized as part of a solution to their nationwide
tracking of agent and policy records. Using the original program as a
base, Micro Database Specialists worked with SMS to create a solution using
Citrix WinFrame to economically bring the program to client locations
nationwide.
Results
Micro Database Specialists allowed SMS Software to take a local problem and turn
it into a national solution, reducing policy losses by over 20%, standardizing
procedures and simplifying management of over 3,000 agents nationwide while
reducing support staff costs by consolidating nationwide support in a single
location.
About SMS Software
