Automate your service delivery environment
No matter what business you're in, managing your organization
as a technology-enabled whole is critical for success. Urthgate
architects, designs and implements solutions that transform
a complete range of organizational processes. We combine the
latest in technology best practices with the still-valuable
components of your existing infrastructure to provide custom
technology solutions specifically tailored to your needs. Ultimately,
we create value not only by leveraging the promises of advanced
technologies, but by applying our in-depth understanding of
your business context to identify and deliver solutions which
empower your organization for success. With these complementary
insights, Urthgate can assist you to build value-creating applications
that minimize the manual business processes in your organization,
producing productivity gains that enable your team to meet and
exceed your business objectives.
Integrating Technology Solutions within New Business Models
In today's demanding business environment, market leading public
and private enterprises set new performance standards within
their industries by deploying innovative internal processes
and business models.Leading the charge to these new business
processes must be the rapid adoption of technology solutions
to support them, and the integration of these solutions within
new business models.
Through the appropriate application of modern technology your
organization can develop integrated operations across the enterprise
designed to support evolving client, supplier and partner requirements,
and become more proactive in managing relationships with them
as well as with internal stakeholders. Streamlined new business
processes can be implemented that enable your organization to
enhance customer relationships, reach new markets, and deliver
products and services through more channels, with returns on
IT investments being realized ever more rapidly.
Innovative ESD End-to-End Solutions
Our team is focused on defining and achieving organizations'
Electronic Service Delivery (ESD) objectives. The System Development
and Integration division specializes in the design and delivery
of innovative, highly secure Electronic Services to both private
and public organizations. The division is comprised of Project
Managers, Technical Architects, Systems Analysts, Developers,
Integrators, Quality Assurance Specialists, Graphics Artists,
and Technical Writers who have proven experience developing,
integrating, and deploying solutions that deliver measurable
business value and results to our clients.
Our team has proven expertise across the technology disciplines
employed to develop market-leading ESD initiatives: Content
Management, Enterprise Portals, Service Transformation, and
IT Security including PKI.
It All Starts With Project Management
At the beginning of an IM/IT engagement, a single project manager
(PM) will develop high-level project plans, resource assignments
and timelines in consultation with the project team. The PM
is then responsible for three principal aspects of managing
the project to a successful conclusion:
-Managing the Information Management (IM) and Information Technology
(IT) resources;
-Client communication and consultation (including regular status
reports and updating the project plan); and
-Financial administration. Key tools used on each project for
client communication, project tracking, and financial administration
include:
-Client extranets, in order to ensure all project materials
are shared in a timely and accurate fashion between Urthgate
and client stakeholders;
-Web-based timesheet system to accurately record hours worked
and activities for the project team, ensuring clear and complete
invoices;
-Web-based project tracking system, to ensure the project team
is synchronized, regardless of location; and
-Microsoft Project.
Methodology Is Key: USE-IT
The Urthgate Systematic Engineering for Information Technology
(USE-IT) methodology is a critical component in all of Urthgate's
development and integration projects. Urthgate team members
follow this disciplined approach to project delivery throughout
the entire project lifespan, integrating additional industry-recognized
methodologies and approaches as required. Adherence to these
methodologies ensures that solutions are developed and delivered
to meet the highest standards.
From Project Management and Technical Architecture to the design,
development and implementation of ESD applications, Urthgate
ensures that technology is used strategically to meet your organizational
and business needs. We base IT project planning for enterprise
Information and IT (I & IT) architecture on an innovative evolution
of the Zachman framework, the most popular approach to enterprise
I & IT architectures today. Our USE-IT methodology encompasses
the vision and strategy, governance, information management,
security, privacy, technology and client service aspects of
developing a sustainable and effective ESD solution.
ESD Development Tools & Technologies
We transform ESD strategies into electronic services to be deployed
within and across enterprises. Our ESD development specialists
pay particular attention to the use of open systems standards,
and place a strong emphasis on the use of eXtensible Markup
Language (XML) to define information and transactions, and configure
software components. They design and develop software applications
and components using leading methodologies, programming languages
and Internet tools/technologies, including:
-Rational Unified Process (RUP) and Unified Modeling Language
(UML)
-Java Server Pages (JSP), Active Server Pages (ASP), ASP.NET,
PHP and Python · Java and Enterprise Java Beans (EJB)
-XML and web service technologies (UDDI, WSDL, SOAP, XML schemas/stylesheets,
XSLT, XSL/FO)
-Enterprise application servers including IBM WebSphere¨, BEA
WebLogicTM, and SunOneTM
-Portal technologies including WebSphere¨ Portal, JetSpeed
and our own UrthFrame suite.
-Content Management Systems including Interwoven¨, Documentum¨
and our own UrthFrame suite.
-Forms technologies including XFORMS
-Database technologies including Oracle¨, MS-SQL ServerTM/FoxProTM
/ Access¨, Informix¨, DB2¨, MySQLTM
ESD Development Process
Each Urthgate development project will typically include the
following steps:
1. Requirements definition
2. Functional specification definition
3. Application concept, technical architecture, and high-level
design
4. Detailed analysis and design
5. Application prototyping, risk mitigation and focus group
testing
6. Application development including user interface development
and graphical design services
7. Quality Assurance including the development of test plans,
design for testability, functional and performance testing,
acceptance testing
8. User, administration, and implementation technical documentation
9. User training and technology transfer
10. Application installation, configuration and deployment
11. Metrics with tracking and reporting mechanisms to establish
and maintain a culture of continuous customer-driven improvement
Technology Neutrality Means
The Best Idea Wins At Urthgate, we have specifically decided
not to focus our ESD service offerings on any particular product
technology. We have concluded that in order to take best advantage
on behalf of our clients of the rapid advances in ESD technology,
we should remain technology neutral. Our approach to each development
project is therefore driven uniquely by critical thinking, not
by a technology force-fit.
UrthFrame: To assist in developing your ESD solutions,
we can also offer our own technological tools. Assembled as
a result of numerous prior private and public sector ESD projects,
UrthFrame is a suite of ESD components which form a powerful
framework for e-business solutions. In keeping with our desire
to remain unbiased in the selection of ESD technology for our
clients, UrthFrame is offered to you free of charge, and indeed
is open sourced.
The UrthFrame option allows us to deliver ESD solutions whose
business value far exceeds your investment. This time-tested
suite of e-business components allows many clients to proceed
quickly to prototyping and stakeholder feedback, without any
prior major expenditure. As well, this option compresses development
time, reduces the risk associated with a major technology implementation,
and eliminates the frequently lengthy and costly process of
procuring software licenses.
System Integration Builds Competitive Strength
To be competitive in today's economy, your organization needs
to act and respond faster than your competition. This organizational
performance depends on the information and insights gained only
from end-to-end integration of systems and applications. But,
over the years, separate divisions within your organization
may have developed and implemented systems and applications
to manage discrete processes, with little regard for today's
dynamic business environment.
In isolation, your organization's systems and applications
are unable to support your business processes or provide an
enterprise view into performance. Urthgate works with your organization
to ensure application investments are not made in isolation.
By understanding and articulating your cross-organizational
challenges, Urthgate is able to recommend solutions to quickly
address critical challenges.
Urthgate offers installation and configuration of applications
and then works closely with you through the testing and implementation
phases to ensure all aspects of your system are running efficiently.
Urthgate focuses on implementing solutions that enable organizations
to extend product and service offerings while enabling organizations
to realize business efficiencies. By delivering client-centric
e-business solutions, Urthgate helps you effectively build and
integrate applications in order to maximize their contribution
to the strategic objectives of your organization.
Client Challenges
Our range of application design and integration services is
tailored on an individual basis to meet your specific needs.
We help you do the following:
-Build solutions that enable new processes, business models,
and performance levels
-Generate rapid ROI through rigorous scope management and cost-effective
implementation
-Reduce costs while improving service levels and performance
through self-service and automated solutions
-Increase usage and loyalty by providing audiences with experiences
that are useful, usable, and desirable
