Advanced Computer Performance - Solutions - AdvancedComputerPerformance.com

Programming

Background:    Safeway's stores are a fortune 50 food supplier. It not only owns Safeway brand stores, it has acquired many other store brands in the past 20 years.

Requirement:    An application that could fairly compare wages, labor, time and costs between all of the Safeways stores, from the smallest 5 employee shop in a tiny village in the mountains of Montana to the largest 5,000 employee union department store in downtown Los Angeles. The program had to be flexible. It had to take into account, the differences in cost of living, the differences in efficiencies of a small store to a large store, the differences in delivery volume and scheduling, the differences in the required skill sets between the stores and locations -- and yet, still be able to compare one with the other and grade each fairly and according to an established standard. It had to be resistant to manipulation, yet flexible enough to allow for natural variations.

Solution:    The solution was complicated. It required extensive planning and design. It incorporated many more variables than laid out in the relatively simple requirements document. Several Safeway engineers had come up with some basic calculations and procedures that was being used to roughly gauge how a few of the local stores were doing but it didn't have the capabilities nor the flexibility to fairly evaluate any real range of stores or locations. In the end, it was a combination of these calculations and procedures with some extensive programming which included a custom built formula engine. This allowed the flexibility needed to address the nearly constant variations going on at all the stores such as inventory, training, ageing, maintenance, buying spurts etc.

Small & Medium Office - 4 to 80 computers - On call IT Department

Background:   Arizona ASAP is a small company located in Scottsdale, AZ. They have between 6 and 10 employees at any one time. As with most modern businesses, some portions of their work are extremely computer intensive. Not only computer intensive but internet intensive as well, and in a location where bandwidth is not a plentiful thing. They also needed to be able to share some rather large files and they needed to run a very large and complicated application in a way that they could all see each other's work.

Requirement:    A fast method of sharing large files. An easy way to share a FAX machine, a scanner, a 3 color printer and 3 laser printers. A way to run the same application with the same data at the same time. A way to operate any computer in the office but retain security against outsiders. A method of reliably getting on the internet that was not dependant upon many other pieces of equipment working perfectly. A method of installing and configuring new equipment, and maintaining older equipment easily and quickly. A way to easily and reliably protect every computer in the office against viruses, trojans, adware and spyware. A method of backing up all the vital data every day and a good disaster recovery plan. All this in a format that did not require an in-house I.T. department or a high-priced computer guru sitting there 8 hours a day.

Solution:    The solution consisted of a few interlocking pieces as it frequently does in the computer world. A dedicated server solved the file and printer sharing requirements while increasing security against outsiders. This also allowed designated persons to operate designated computers anywhere in the office as desired. It also allowed a single, central location for security settings. Network versions of the firewall, virus protection, the anti-adware, the anti-trojanware and the anti-spyware software filled the need for reliable, whole-office protection against hackers and internet threats. The office server also served as a central, network location to run the required programs and applications. This solution requires a goodly amount of computer and network expertise that most offices do not have on-staff. Nor can most small offices afford to hire an expert to sit around and wait for trouble or the scheduled anti-virus update. C&R has the expertise and ASAP employs this expertise for only 8 hours a week and only pays for 8 hours a week. The expert takes care of installing and configuring new printers and scanners, he buys and installs new computers as well as upgrading and maintaining the older machines, he updates the computers' operating systems and all the software on a weekly basis, he makes sure the backups are performing properly and on schedule. He has a disaster recovery plan and he returns your call in minutes. 98% of all problems can be handled over the phone and by remote control if necessary, but you do have to have the knowledge and training to know the problem, or find out. C&R has that expertise, knowledge and training.

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