MicroCrest's uses the considerable knowledge and experience of its staff in order to offer a highly specialised service to clients.

Overall Skills

In particular, MicroCrest performs a consulting service in the area of Systems Design and Architecture. Primarily, MicroCrest offers a software-based service, but ever more frequently MicroCrest is asked to provide input in the area of hardware and infrastructure. Of course, in the Enterprise scenarios in which we're frequently involved, the two often go hand-in-hand.

MicroCrest has designed (and provided input) into many flavours of systems, including distributed, component-based systems and Client-Server systems. In recent years, as the desire for Distributed systems has grown, so too has MicroCrest been involved. Several assignments employed messageware products, and in fact MicroCrest has provided consultancy to IBM on their MQSeries product. Also, MicroCrest are currently looking into the areas of SOAP and UDDI for a large client.

Again as a by-product of distribution, the way in which data is packaged has become even more important. MicroCrest has experience of XML and XML Schemas since around 1999, and has designed solutions for a couple of clients where this form of packaging has been employed.

Of course in the area of architecture and design, MicroCrest often works in conjunction with others, and therefore communications are important. MicroCrest is able to communicate designs not just in document form, but also by the use of Case Tools such as Rational Rose or Visual Modeller, using the UML language. To a lesser extent, MicroCrest has also used Erwin in projects where database design has been involved.

In addition to providing design services, we are also able to build products. For our latest client, for example, we designed and built a dealing system which was so well received, we were asked to deliver an invoicing system also.

Internet-Related Services

At this point in time, MicroCrest has a far greater history working in the Microsoft arena. However, as more and more clients are moving implementations to the J2EE environment, MicroCrest has kept up with the technology and has recently designed a large banking system for J2EE.

In the eCommerce/eBanking environments in which MicroCrest has so much experience, it is inevitable that Security comes into play. MicroCrest has experience of both PKI and token-based security, in addition to system security (mainly NT) and application security.

It is finally worth mentioning that as the Internet becomes more and more popular, so to are sites required to be more robust and have greater resilience. In particular, MicroCrest has experience in providing guidance in the field of performance metering.

Data Storage

Although MicroCrest do not work exclusively with database design, it is probably true to say that at the bottom of most systems there is at least one database. Thus it is inevitable that over time, MicroCrest has become more and more involved in database technologies, and also in data modelling in particular.

Our experience has been with several forms of database, from common Relational databases and Object-Oriented databases to hierarchical databases. Further, connectivity to such databases, and knowledge of their administration, has also been a part of MicroCrest's service.

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