We are a two-person team of business software techheads (analysts, architects, and developers) who do IT projects on a contractual basis for Fortune 1000 companies, usually through one of several, excellent technical service firms.  We have over 20 years of experience as an IT contracting team in such industries as:  Banking, Manufacturing, Retail, Transportation, Distribution, Insurance, Construction, Oil and Gas, and the Internet.

We are senior business technologists; that is, we have the business expertise, the technological expertise, and the people skills that are necessary to effectively communicate with both businesspeople and IT professionals, and necessary to define, design, develop, and put into production technology-assisted, strategic business processes.

Now, not only do we know business processes and applications, but we also have strong technical skills in the following:

• Analysis & Architecture Expertise:  Unified Modeling Language (UML)/RUP, XP, Object-Oriented Analysis (OOA) and Design (OOD), Rational Rose (4.x, 5.x), Java and J2EE Design Patterns (GoF, Core J2EE...), etc.

• Web & N-Tier Technologies:  Java (1.02 - 1.4), WebSphere (2.x - 5.x), WebLogic (5.x - 7.x), Perl (5.x), HTML (2.0, 3.2, 4.0), CSS, JavaScript, CGI (SSI and TML), XML (DTDs, Schemas, XSL, XSLT, SAX, DOM), JSPs (1.0 - 1.2), J2EE (1.2, 1.3), WSAD (4.x, 5.x), VisualAge for Java (2.x - 4.x), JBuilder (3.x - 5.x), JDBC, JNDI, LDAP (v1 - v3), JSTL, Custom JSP Tags (1.1, 1.2), Struts (0.9 - 1.1, Tiles), JMS, WMQI (MQSeries), EJBs (1.0, 1.1, 2.0), SessionBeans (both), EntityBeans (BMPs and CMPs), MessageDrivenBeans (MDBs), Apache, PVCS, Ant, JUnit, Cactus, etc.

• Unix Systems:  C/C++, Perl (5.x), AIX (CDE), Solaris, BSD, Linux, Unix Shell Scripts (Korn, Bash, Tcsh), FTP, CVS, vi editor, Make files, ZIPs, CORBA (IDL, IIOP, and Orbix), LDAP (v1 - v3), etc.

• Personal Computers (PCs):  C/C++, MFC, Perl (5.x), Visual Basic (5.x, 6.x), Windows (3.x - XP), Novell, MS Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Visio), IBM 3270 and Unix Terminal Emulators, etc.

• Mainframe Systems:  COBOL (IBM VS/II/LE, MicroFocus, APS), z/OS, OS/390, MVS, TSO/ISPF, JCL, ALC, IBM Utilities, CICS (Command, Macro, TG), IMS (DB/DC), QMF, SPUFI, Librarian, Panvalet, Xpediter, Endevor, Abend-Aid, File-Aid, OS/400, PL/I, RPG II/III/400, etc.

• Databases:  DB2 UDB (3.x - 8.x), Oracle (5.x - 7.x, 8i, and 9i), Sybase (9.x - 12.x), MS SQL Server (6, 7, and 2000), PL/SQL, Transact-SQL, SQL stored procs & triggers, IMS (DB/DC), VSAM, etc.

It might interest you to know that we’ve written a number of articles on IT,  project management,  project teams, business analysis, and technical development.  Currently, only three of these are on the Web; you can click on the following to view these three articles:  1. Portrait of a Good Analyst – the Job,  2. Portrait of a Good Analyst – the Person, 3. Portrait of a Good Analyst – 7 Attributes.

Neither of us has any dependents (children or otherwise), nor does either of us own a house or have any other such responsibilities, so we can easily travel to a client’s site — focus our attention on our client’s needs with few distractions or external obligations — and if necessary, work long hours in order to quickly get a beautiful system up and running, and into production.  So therefore, we say:

“HAVE  LAPTOPS.   WILL  TRAVEL.”   – the modern “Paladins”

Being well-practiced “road warriors,” “problem solvers,” “efficiency experts,” “professional contractors,” and “sojourners on this earth,” we have streamlined our lives for this lifestyle, such that we enjoy it, and are good at handling constant change, new people, new situations, and peculiar problems.

Please note too,  we do not fail  — using talent, skill, and persistence, we have completed EVERY major and minor project that we’ve started, putting 15 straight major projects into production over our years as a team of business-techhead contractors.  Plus, being professional contractors, we have been given a number of projects that, either no one else wanted, or could do.  Sometimes, we were even brought in as “professional scapegoats” to take the blame on “impossible” or “failed” projects.  However, we like challenges . . . and were just too “naive” to know that we were suppose to fail, so we would “blindly” forge ahead, and quietly and efficiently do whatever it took to get each and every one of these projects successfully into production.

As you have likely figured out, we are in no way “slackers” — a former manager (in Dallas) told us, based on the project that we had just completed for him, that he believed that our two-person team could easily outperform, at least, five regular architect/developers. However, more recently, on a team of eleven (at FedEx) our two-person sub-team completed more work than all of the other nine team members combined.

Yet, in no way, are we “prima donnas” — sure, we’re “hotshot” business-techheads, but we’re also teamworkers, team-makers, and mentors.  Plus, we’ve been described by still another of our former managers as “low-maintenance.”   But then, of course we are — it’s part of our philosophy:

At the moment we are over here in North Carolina putting the finishing touches on our current project.  So, if you’ve got an IT project that could use a couple of industrious, success-driven business-techheads, please don’t hesitate to contact us, since we’re in the market for an exciting, new project.