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Since its formation in 1997, Blueberry has been fortunate enough to work on many interesting projects, with clients both large and small. The following project descriptions are a representative sample of our experience. Note that some of our projects are protected by non-disclosure agreements and so cannot be displayed here.
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| Technology: |
SQL Server 2000, SQL2005, IIS 6, ASP.NET 2, SQL Server Reporting Services |
| Project size: |
1man-month |
| Team size: |
1 developer/manager |
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The GSM Association is the global trade association representing GSM mobile operators throughout the world. Since its foundation in 1987, the Association has played a pivotal role in the development of the GSM platform and the global wireless industry.
The GSMA required its data and analysis service - which included a website, staging site and databases - moved to a single new physical machine, replacing the three separate machines the system components had been running on. The GSMA needed a supplier who could analyse the system, recognise the risks and undertake the work within a time limit - and without any disruption to the many thousands of users of the live service.
The site was using SQL Server 2000, IIS 6, ASP.NET, SQL Server Reporting Services, and customised security extensions to the reporting services.
Blueberry performed a scope assessment and identified solutions to the various risks. Blueberry then set up a test system on a new server, where the contents of the three machines were collapsed to a single machine. After successful testing, Blueberry was able to safely move the GSMA’s complex site to an entirely new environment with less than a full weekend’s downtime. This was successfully achieved within the GSMA’s deadline.
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| Technology: |
ASP.NET, SQL Server, SQL Server |
| Project size: |
6 man-months |
| Team size: |
4developers, 2 managers |
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ChinaONEcall provides a 24/7 telephone link to professional English & Mandarin speaking staff who can simultaneously interpret spoken conversation from one to the other, allowing travellers to China with limited language skills to remove the formidable obstacle of communicating with taxi drivers, new business contacts, store assistants and so on. Access to the service only required a mobile phone.
ChinaONEcall contacted Blueberry Consultants as it required a complete system to manage its business processes. In particular, the business required:
- A public website where customers can purchase credit and check their accounts.
- Call centre software which allows operators to provide the phone interpretation service and debit the customer’s account accordingly.
- A sophisticated web-based management system which allows maintenance of the system and supports resellers and sales agents.
Blueberry completed the C1C Management System in 6 months using MS ASP.NET and MS SQL Server, with SQL Server replication to keep the public web-site (hosted in Hong Kong) in sync with the main system management server in Kunming, where the call centre staffed with expert English/Chinese interpreters is located.
Replication was an important requirement of the system as account information was needed within minutes by office staff in Kunming, delivered over a network that could experience considerable delays between the two locations.
A significant challenge in setting up replication was to eliminate timeouts due to poor links, which would require the initialisation of the databases to be started over.
Blueberry solved this problem by performing a manual initialisation: Rather than allow the Kunming server to be responsible for the creation of the stored procedures to support replication, Blueberry removed them from the initialisation process, instead creating them manually at the Hong Kong server. This reduced the required up-time of the link from several hours to just minutes.
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| Technology: |
MS Visual Studio, .NET |
| Project size: |
6 man-months |
| Team size: |
1 developer, 1 manager |
FilePlus hired Blueberry Consultants to completely re-implement its successful Windows 95 document scanning application for the latest Windows environments. The brief also called for a modern user interface and greatly extended functionality to meet 21st century needs for electronic document management.
Blueberry implemented a Microsoft .NET version of the product which is faster, more reliable and easier to use. This shrink-wrapped product includes check-for-updates, licencing and built-in diagnostics reporting, all a standard part of making the system more modern and professional. |
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| Technology: |
MS SQL Server, .NET |
| Project size: |
2.5 man-months |
| Team size: |
3 developers, 1 manager |
TruTac wanted to maintain its market lead in Tachograph analysis when the transition from analogue to digital data capture occurred. TruTac contacted Blueberry to extend its existing analogue product so that it could accept data from digital Smart Cards and digital Tachograph vehicle units.
Blueberry designed a modular system that enables users to see immediately from Smart Card data whether drivers and fleet operators are complying with the EU Drivers' Hours and Working Time Directive. |
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| Technology: |
MS SQL Server, MS IIS, ASP.NET |
| Project size: |
6 man-months |
| Team size: |
2 developers, 1 manager |
A large market research company had a huge array of programs running on its mainframe. These applications had grown so much over time that the company's information officers were finding their complex inter-dependencies hard to follow.
The company hired Blueberry Consultants to document these systems as part of a major upgrade to a new computer system.
Blueberry's solution was to create an online map of all the applications which users could view from standard web-browsers. The system took advantage of the company's existing skills with the diagramming tool 'Visio', and used Flash and XML to draw the application map - allowing users to pan, zoom and link through to other information on each application.
This approach has completely transformed the client's documentation process. Staff distributed across the company can now add notes on their own systems - allowing maintenance of information to be distributed instantly amongst all permitted users via the web-based user-interface. The system was so successful that the client re-implemented it for use on a second project. |
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| Technology: |
Borland C++, MS SQL Server 2000 |
| Project size: |
20 man-months |
| Team size: |
2 developers, 1 manager |
This client designed a single, standardised game machine for public houses that could run any number of different games. The physical machines would remain in place but the games software would be rotated by sending the data via phone line.
They asked Blueberry to help them design and implement the software to manage the network. Blueberry successfully deployed the software (a central database, to which several thousand distributed games machines were connected) and supported its integration within the overall system.
As the number of machines connected to the system increased, Blueberry made several major enhancements, such as upgrading the central database from Access to SQL Server. The network reached 4000 game machines, saving the client millions of pounds in transport costs.
More... |
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| Technology: |
.NET 1.1 client, ASP.NET |
| Project size: |
6 man-months |
| Team size: |
1 developer, 1 manager |
Rubric Ltd is a fast-growing UK company specialising in the translation of computer manuals and programs into foreign languages using in-house tools. This process of software localisation is complicated by the dispersed nature of the teams working on the projects.
Rubric asked Blueberry to design a system for distributed project tracking that allowed all its team members to participate in the process of event reporting and resolution. Blueberry designed a system that distributed project reports to team members automatically via e-mail and web-based interfaces - and implemented it in just six months.
Because internal Rubric staff use the system continuously, it needed to be quick and responsive, but it also needed to be accessible to external users via the web-site - hence it includes both a Windows PC client and a web client.
More... |
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| Technology: |
MS Visual Studio 6 |
| Project size: |
3 man-months |
| Team size: |
1 developer, 1 manager |
Barclays Bank Sales Development Team had an inefficient manual system for managing the overall demands made on internal resources by simultaneous, overlapping promotional campaigns.
They contacted Blueberry to replace its existing system with an automated system. Previously, details of the campaigns were stored in separate Excel spreadsheets. Whenever the Team wanted to predict the total demand on resources they would have to collate complex data from several spreadsheets.
Blueberry designed an integrated system that would hold details of all the campaigns together and generate various reports and predictions automatically. The final system was truly a turnkey system: i.e. SDT staff could sit down and immediately start entering data into the system and produce reports.
More... |
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| Technology: |
MSVC/ActiveX + Borland C++, Builder 6 |
| Project size: |
7 man-months |
| Team size: |
1 developer, 1 manager |
In 1998 (and before websites routinely featured 3D animations), Toshiba wanted to add 3D models of its computers to the electronic manuals of all their portable PCs. Users could then explore and interact with the models, which would additionally feature an introductory animated tour of the computer.
Following an intensive 6-month development programme, Blueberry designed and implemented a new and easy-to-use authoring tool for creating and animating 3D models. The new 3D electronic manual feature became part of all Toshiba portable PCs to be sold in Europe.
More... |
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| Technology: |
MS SQL Server 2005, ASP.NET |
| Project size: |
phase 1 - 5 months
phase 2 - 3 months |
| Team size: |
1 manager, 2 developers, 1 tester |
Carillion plc is a FTSE 250 company with annual revenue in the region of £4 billion and over 40,000 employees. Within Carillion's Rail division, its Welding business required an on-line tracking system to manage weld orders from internal and external customers and their allocation to welding teams from different depots.
Blueberry was tasked with building a job management system to manage these different teams, who are chosen on the basis of availability and proximity to each welding job.
The new on-line Welding Management System for Carillion Rail consists of order management and scheduling modules. The WMS System allows rail welding orders to be collected together into a single database so that web-based worksheets can be produced - facilitating informed scheduling decisions to be made by management. There are future plans to extend the System to record the actual work carried out as opposed to planned work, so that accurate invoices can be automatically raised. |
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| Technology: |
MS SQL Server back end,
C#/ASP.NET Web App, with third-party components,
JS and ActiveX front end.
Tight integration with SUN Accounts. |
| Project size: |
17 man-months |
| Team size: |
2 developers, 1 manager |
Symonds Group is a leading Civil Engineering Firm. Most of its income is earned by charging clients for time worked by staff, so accounting for time is a crucial part of the business.
When Symonds decided that they needed a new management information system, it was clear that integration with their core accounts package would be vital. The new centralised data system also needed to incorporate support for forecasting, billing, and other project management functions. In addition, the system needed to integrate very tightly with Symonds' Systems Union (SUN) accounting system, principally to calculate the company's Work In Progress figures directly from project forecasts.
Blueberry designed a system capable of generating a wide range of reports, from performance summaries to detailed reports on individual projects, which company managers could use as a central part of their day-to-day work. Different sets of users were assigned different views of sensitive data, mediated by a multi-layered security policy. |
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| SQL |
| ASP.NET |
| Javascript |
| ActiveX |
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| Technology: |
C#, .NET, Crystal Reports, SQL Server, Access |
| Project size: |
3 man-months |
| Team size: |
1 developer, 1 manager |
TruTac works with logistics companies who often use agency drivers to deliver their goods. These agency drivers tend to charge at different rates at different times. Consequently, TruTac's customers needed a system for logging this complex driver information.
Blueberry designed an easy-to-use Agency Costing system which integrates with TruTac's existing digital Tachograph system (TruControl). The new software performs sophisticated matching between the Tachograph data and drivers worksheets - generating reports that the accounts departments of the logistics companies can use to verify that the invoices submitted by the agencies are accurate.
TruTac's software can now handle agencies that, amongst other things:
- Charge at different rates at night.
- Charge at different rates at Saturdays and Sundays.
- Choose differing times of day on a Sunday to count as a Sunday start.
- Choose the start-time of work to determine the rate for the work.
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| Technology: |
.Net 2, SQL Server 2005 (Standard + Express), T-SQL, XML |
| Project size: |
14 man-months |
| Team size: |
2 developers, 1 manager |
Chubb Locks Custodial Services (CLCS) required a new management system to support their next generation of sophisticated microprocessor controlled locks. CLCS wanted expert professional software support to tackle the development within the required timescale and invited Blueberry to design and implement the new system.
Blueberry worked closely with CLCS and their other sub-contract partners to implement the new scaleable and expandable management system in .Net based around SQL Server. The resulting software suite supports two different ranges of custodial electronic locks.
Blueberry's software provides a complete control system, allowing operators to see the status of all locks and other devices in the system, as well as implementing sophisticated features such as time-based locking and interlocking along with built-in redundancy support. |
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| Technology: |
MS SQL Server, C# .NET front end |
| Project size: |
3 man-months |
| Team size: |
1 developer, 1 manager |
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) works closely with various organisations to ensure the orderly and humane management of migration by providing practical solutions and logistical assistance to displaced people. The IOM office in London contacted Blueberry because it needed a way of gathering its UK-based information on migrants into an interactive database so that it could manage its operations more efficiently.
Blueberry designed a database system based on MS SQL Server together with client software written in C# .NET. The system allows the IOM in London to correlate detailed information - from flight details to individual migrant needs when they arrive at their destination - so that the organisation can provide appropriate guidance and support in keeping with the protection of migrants' rights, migration health and the gender dimension of migration. |
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| Technology: |
MS SQL Server, C# .NET front end |
| Project size: |
6 man-months |
| Team size: |
3 developers, 1 manager |
A client supplying products to the building industry provided a strong guarantee of performance that was tied to a written specification. Historically, when a product was sold to a builder, the client had to manually generate the specification, which covered all elements of construction and included variables such as accessories and site location.
Blueberry supplied the company with a system that generates this information automatically, using all relevant data to arrive at the correct specification. The data for generating the specifications is held in a MS SQL database and the user accesses the database via client software written in C# .NET. The client software guides the user through a series of questions to arrive at the correct specification.
The success of the software has resulted in benefits for the whole sales force, making it much easier for the technical services operation to support architects and specifiers. |
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| Technology: |
ASP.NET, C++, Flash |
| Project size: |
4 man-months |
| Team size: |
1 developer, 1 manager |
OxPeT required a tool kit to convert text-based content into high impact interactive multimedia for e-learning using animated footage of people.
They approached Blueberry to design a system for them that would replicate and automate the Oxford Tutorial process through the three elements of Teaching, Testing and Tutoring.
Blueberry utilised Flash technology to design a 'generator and player' style system which could deploy audiovisual presentations on any subject via online or offline delivery methods to a wide group of people anywhere in the world. |
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| Technology: |
C++, FDK 7.0, COM |
| Project size: |
1 man-months |
| Team size: |
1 developer |
Rubric is a specialist translation company, often working on large projects spanning 30 or more languages. Unfortunately, some tools don't support all the languages that clients require support for; a classic example is that Adobe Framemaker does not support Arabic.
To solve this problem, Rubric needed a tool to convert from Framemaker to Word. Because the standard tools didn't work well enough, Blueberry developed a plugin for Adobe FrameMaker to extend its functionality and allow it to convert FrameMaker files into Word format.
The main objective of the project was to maintain the integrity of headers, footers, page sizes, image positions, tables and styles when the FM files were imported to Word. The plugin developed by Blueberry also allowed the column order in tables to be reversed and conditional text to be either included or excluded from conversion. |
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| Technology: |
C++, COM |
| Project size: |
1 man-month |
| Team size: |
1 developer |
As a localization company with a completely outsourced business model, Rubric deals with thousands of incoming and outgoing files every day.
The company contacted Blueberry to design an automated process that would reduce the demoralising amount of time their project managers spent unpacking ZIP files and copying files between directories.
Rubric's 'Workflow Wizard' is a very simple mouse-click saver that has become a core component of Rubric's File Management System. It is used to automate the management of incoming and outgoing project files and integrates with Microsoft Outlook and MS Exchange.
Rubric estimate the ROI on the Workflow Wizard is enormous, because such a small program has resulted in significant time savings for all users. The automation not only speeds up file management on complex projects, but also frees the Rubric Project Managers to concentrate on more important aspects of their work. |
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| Technology: |
Borland C++ Builder |
| Project size: |
3 man-months |
| Team size: |
1 developers, 1 manager |
Forexvoice wanted a program for their customers that would display stock prices in a ticker tape style on the PC task bar and would also be capable of providing live audio in several spoken languages.
The program criteria included a small footprint, great user-interface design, ease-of-use and support for text and voice in multiple languages. Blueberry designed a stand-alone installed application in Boland C++ Builder, within a time-frame of 3 months.
The technology allows paying customers to receive and listen to real time stock market rates on home PCs via Internet 24 hours a day, allowing banks, dealers, traders, brokers and fund managers to take action on developments immediately (http://www.forexvoice.com). |
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| Technology: |
Macromedia Flash, Borland C++ Builder |
| Project size: |
6 man-months |
| Team size: |
1 developer, 1 manager |
SoftFacts provides training and other services to banks and financial services companies to improve performance. The company wanted to create an online questionnaire system to establish customers 'motivations' rather than simply collecting so-called 'Hard Facts' - earnings, outgoings and so on. The aim of the system was to generate a 'financial health check' report that could be used to recommend appropriate products to the customer.
Blueberry implemented the system as a Flash front-end running in a web browser with an HTTP server backend that controlled the session (the progress of the session was influenced by the answers to previous questions in the session). The use of Flash allowed the design of the online questionnaires to be moved away from a standard Windows user-interface. Two versions were created - a stand-alone version that had its own mini-HTTP server and a web version that used an IIS web server.
Particular challenges were accurate requirements gathering (from a non-technical client) and designing a suitable system architecture to meet those requirements. |
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| Technology: |
MSVC 6.00, Oracle database server |
| Project size: |
10 man-months |
| Team size: |
2 developers, 1 manager |
A large amusement arcade company approached Blueberry with a difficult problem. Their existing networked arcade system was designed to collect uploaded machine takings information from a central Oracle database and provide management reporting information. Unfortunately, the system had a rare bug which paid out large sums of money incorrectly, and the previous supplier had failed to fix it.
Blueberry accepted the challenge to correct the problem and took over development of the system. Working in a very difficult live network environment, and on legacy code, Blueberry added diagnostic checking and successfully tracked down the critical problem. Under Blueberry's direction, the system continued its planned development. |
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| Technology: |
MS-SQL Server, WinForms .NET |
| Project size: |
4 man years, ongoing |
| Team size: |
2 developers, 1 manager |
HML had an Access database that quickly became mission-critical as the business grew. When the database started producing ominous sounding errors, HML contacted Blueberry to find a short-term rescue plan to stabilise the database. It quickly became apparent to Blueberry that Access was not a suitable platform on which to build HML's mission-critical multi-user databases.
Blueberry recommended re-implementing the project and migrating the backend data storage from Access to MS-SQL Server. The new system is a true three tier database with a WinForms .NET client tier, a .NET web services middle tier and an MS SQL Server backend tier which is written in Transact SQL. The client and middle tier use .NET 1.1.
The database has become the core of HML's strategy for business growth. Its success has led to an on-going relationship between Blueberry Consultants and HML, resulting in continued developments being undertaken by Blueberry as HML's systems have grown in line with the success of their business. |
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Detailed Project Examples
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