Collaboration

We write software. We don't know, at least initially, how your business works. Listening is the only way we are going to find out what your needs are and suggest a path forward to success. Asking clarifying questions is how our consultants are trained to dig out information that you may not even know you posess. The goal in any project is to transfer knowledge from the person or group with the vision to the person or group that can implement that vision. Once that knowledge transfer has begun, we will start formulating the ulitmate question: "is this about what you had in mind?" by delivering completed tranches or slices of functionality every couple of weeks. This gives you, the client, the opportunity to give us feedback at every step of the process. This methodology is called 'Agile' and is one that we have developed over years by taking the best parts of other methodologies. Similarly, by understanding several different methodologies we can collaboratively come up with something for any unique situation. If your board of directors needs more formal documentation, we have years of experience writing it in several different methodologies as well. The process of writing software is just as complicated or simple as you would like to make it. We are here to make your life as simple and as easy as possible.

Best Practices

We keep crowing about best practices, but what exactly are they? Part of it is hard to explain, it is knowledge gained over years of study and experience. Some of it is fairly simple if you really want get off in the weeds with us and talk tech. A Best Practice is a technique, method, process, activity, incentive or reward that is believed to be more effective at delivering a particular outcome than any other technique, method, process, etc. The idea is that with proper processes, checks, and testing, a desired outcome can be delivered with fewer problems and unforeseen complications. Best practices can also be defined as the most efficient (least amount of effort) and effective (best results) way of accomplishing a task, based on repeatable procedures that have proven themselves over time for large numbers of people. Specifically, Sentia uses its Business Information Framework (BIF)for nearly all development. This framework has several tenets

• Database Normalization
  
The rules of normalization are followed as appropriate. The art comes in knowing when to break the rules
• Database Interaction through Stored Procedures
  
This secures the database in an unprecedented way and makes additional tasks like auditing far easier.
• Business Logic Layer
  
This is the tier that houses all the business rules and defines objects and allows user manipulation.
• Database Abstraction Layer
  
Frequently an application has to have its database changed without affecting its performance. The Database Abstraction layer makes this possible without a lot of planning or writing code.
• Web Service Abstraction Layer
  
This layer serializes or turns your Business Logic Layer's objects into text. This allows other applications to use your Business Logic Layer and therefore your database (as appropriate of course) without having to subscribe to any particular software methodology or even language.
• Object Oriented Programming
  
This is a style of programming that allows organic programming based on reusable code. For example: A dog is a mammal. A cat is a mammal. Mammals have a number of shared characteristics but there is no such thing as a mammal animal. So the dog and cat class can inherit from the mammal abstract class and be instantiated as "Fluffy" or "Puddles" while not having to worry about the implementation of shared functionality. This shared functionality might be a method like "breathe" or "bear live young."
• Code Reuse
  
If we find outselves writing the same piece of code more than once, we should probably wrap it in a class and put it in the Business Information Framework. This is how the Framework came into existence.

These are just a sample of the things that best practices might encompass, but some of the most important. If you look back at the definition These best practices will grow and change over time and with the advent of new technology.

Technology

Using the latest technology gives improved functionality and a longer lifecycle for your custom built software. All of Sentia's software is written in SQL Server 2014, Visual Studio 2013, and if hosted, your site would be running in IIS 8.5 on Windows Server 2012. That said, we don't bow to the latest and greatest for its own sake. A lot of the things we do with our software simply hasn't been possible for long, or in some cases, ever. The Object Relational Mapper is used to basically generate software and the Information Integrator make it virtually effortless to write database code against disparate sources, like text, Excel, Access, Oracle, DB2 or any other datasource, and makes it easy to import your legacy data into your new application.

Simplicity

Sentia's first product, the Information Integrator is a direct competitor for such products as IBM's Information Server (IIS, bought from Ascential who called it DataStage) and Informatica. both of these tools have an installation that is approaching half a gigabyte and require months or years of training to use. Information Integrator takes about 5 minutes to install, is under 2 megabytes and was in use in literally half an hour. There was no training. This kind of simplicity allows non-technical people to do technical jobs and be more productive.

Automation

If you can explain what you do and how you do it we can automate it. We even automate what we do. The next big thing from Sentia is the Business Application Generator. Once your database is designed and built and you have signed off on it, we point the Business Application Generator at it and it creates an application for create/read/update/delete for all entites in the new database. The Business Information framework, mentioned above, is used as a template and the business classes are built according to your custom database entites. Then the DataControl is used to build Windows forms (winforms) or web application forms (webforms)for all your navigation and add/update/deleting needs. This means that Sentia's consultants can literally do months of work in just a few hours, saving your business thousands of dollars, and you know it is robust becuase it is built on the same platform OUR software is built on; we use it every day. Coming soon: the Business Application Generator for the Internet. The same functionality at the Business Application Genterator, just ported to the internet. This will use Microsoft's brand new Model, View, Controller (MVC) Technology to put your data in the hands of your worldwide organization and your clients with literally the click of a single button.

End to End Services

We provide everything your business will need to do its business. If you bring us an idea, we can set up the servers, the network and design, build and install the software. We can even host the solution on our servers so you don't have to worry about it. You are in business to do business, so go do it. We are in the Information Technology business. Let us worry about all that. Microsoft can't. Oracle can't. Java Can't. There is only one who can becuase we have put the best minds in the world to these problems and come up with (deceptively, we admit) simple solutions.