As we stress throughout the site, MicroCrest has a broad range
of skills but over recent years has specialised in the development of Internet-enabled
(often Internet-based) systems. This is obvious from the range and nature of
MicroCrest's Clients.
Supplementary to this process, then, it has been vital for MicroCrest
to remain up-to-date with changing technologies. As a part of this learning
process, MicroCrest's approach has been to run projects internally with the
aim of (a) expanding the technical competence of the company, and (b) providing
a general "service" to Internet users.
Of course, the result of this process means that a third benefit
is apparent - MicroCrest is able to showcase a range of Web sites in order to
demonstrate its pedigree as a top-class consultancy.
Of course, many similarities exist between this approach and
our approach in making a range of utilities available via the site (see our
Products page for details). Indeed, this is a conscious
decision since the quality of the web sites and the utilities that we offer
demonstrate well the quality of service provided on a consultancy basis.
The sites currently produced and maintained by MicroCrest are
listed below.
Agony Uncle Online is a light-hearted (some have said
"scary"!) attempt to provide an Internet-based version of
the traditional Agony Aunt. The difference between this version and
the traditional form is that, being live on the Internet, absolutely
anyone can join up and start to offer advice.
The service is maintained by MicroCrest, on MicroCrest's
own kit and premises, as a free "for pleasure" service.
Technically speaking, Agony Uncle is valuable since
it was MicroCrest's first foray into Microsoft's new .NET architecture.
Thus an albeit customised version of what is essentially a standard
"noticeboard" web site has been written completely in C# and
in ASP.NET. A SQL Server 2000 database, and XML communication between
separate components, completes the architecture.
Also, by virtue of the fact that Agony Uncle is hosted
in-house means that MicroCrest has expanded its experience beyond pure
"software development" into the realms of component infrastructure.
Admittedly we have worked with clients in the area of infrastructure
already, but we've deliberately built Agony Uncle in a "small office"
scenario. Cost was a critical consideration in this case (not least
since we funded it ourselves!).
The site is distributed across two LAN segments (one
is a DMZ), and comes complete with firewalls, intrusion detection etc.
The "application" environment is mainly Microsoft-based, but
the system is fronted by a Linux-based box which contains the firewall
and intrusion detection software. Hosted at the end of a DSL line, the
site also tackles problems such as the dynamic IP address issued by
the Service Provider.
So it is possible to see, then, that despite the rather
light-hearted subject matter of the site itself, a good deal of serious
thought has gone into both the application and its infrastructure. Also,
the first version of the site went live in July 2002 - how many other
consultancies can boast a live, .NET-based site so soon after the release
of .NET itself?
Yellow Sticky is designed to be a simple "reminder" service.
Again based on .NET in order to build on MicroCrest's
already substantial .NET skills, Yellow Sticky is currently in the stages of
planning and design.
It is possible that this service may include
an element of pay-per-use, and so investigations are currently underway
regarding possible income generation, and the most cost effective ways
of processing payments.
It is anticipated that the hardware and infrastructure
already in place by virtue of Agony Uncle will be reused. Yellow Sticky promises to build on these strengths, then,
all the time increasing MicroCrest's technical competency.
So again, it can be seen that regardless of the subject
matter of the site, lots of serious work has been - and is currently
being - performed in order to make this second offering as successful
as Agony Uncle.
(October 2004)
Terms and Conditions
Any additional web sites are operated on a completely
separate basis from this web site (www.microcrest.com). Accordingly, if you
decide to visit or subscribe to any of the services offered on any of MicroCrest's
web sites, please note that separate Terms and Conditions may exist for each
site. If specialised Terms and Conditions do exist for a site, you will need
to agree to such Terms and Conditions before you will be able to make use of
the site.
