Project Assistance Get Started Stay on Track Get Back on Track Expedite Your Project Snap a GUI on your Models Model Development Code Generation To contact us, please go here and click on the "services" link. Get Started (or Restarted) Objectives: Get the project off on the right foot so that no time is wasted. Activities: Build the domain chart, organize the team, estimate size and duration, prioritize the deliverables, establish a truly productive role for CASE tool and establish procedures for model development, model review and requirements management. Results: Completion of preliminary domain chart, project effort estimates and plan of attack. Common planning and development mistakes that usually lead to disaster are avoided. Everyone has a clear understanding of what they are doing, why they are doing it, and how long it should take. Work starts immediately in a productive direction. Project is fun. Duration: 5 days Stay on Track Objectives: Maintain engineering momentum. Focus requirements and modeling effort. Keep upper management happy. Activities: Review progress, schedule and priorities. Answer modeling and analysis questions. Sketch out example models as necessary. Tune up model development, review and requirements management procedures. Adjust domain chart and re-prioritize as necessary. Help with reports to upper management. Results: Linear, measurable, controllable progress. No disasters! Duration: 10 or 20 days Expedite your Project Objectives: Get the project completed as quickly as possible When you build a system, you want to optimize qualities like reliability, range of features, performance, extendibility and reusability. Some projects can afford to extend the project timeline in order to better attain some or all of these qualities. Some projects take longer so that the staff can be trained in new technology. But market, budget, staffing, politics and other factors may force you to focus on "time to completion" even if it comes at the cost of other qualities. In this case, nothing is more important than getting your project done on time. We can help you put together a plan that streamlines your project so that you get from point A to point B in the shortest time possible. It might not look pretty - but at least you'll still be around to get the time you need on the next project. Activities: Assess current plan and progress. Review existing models and code. Assess available talent and model vs. code options for each domain. Create plan optimized for speed. Results: We won't insult your intelligence by guaranteeing success. But we will help you put together the fastest, most pragmatic plan possible. Duration: 5, 10 or 20 days Snap a GUI on your Models Objectives: Build a GUI and connect it to one or more domains. Wouldn't it be cool if as soon as you built an executing model, you could interact with it through a GUI? Simulators and model debuggers are essential tools, but there's nothing like a GUI to tease out design flaws, make you think of realistic test cases and make domain interfaces tangible to your colleauges. We've built a set of tools that make it easy to snap a GUI (built using your favorite toolkit) onto any modeled domain. Using the elevator case study as an example, we've snapped on several GUI's built using Flash, tcl/tk, VAPS, and plain old text. Keep in mind that these are intended as diagnostic GUI's that can be quickly built for the purpose of demonstrating and testing system domains separately or in coordination. We have examples of GUIs built using Macromedia Flash, tcl/tk and VAPS connected to xtUML models. The tools are freely available to our clients as part of our consulting service. If you would like help building a diagnostic or end user GUI for your executable uml models let us know. Activities: Our team works with yours to build the GUI and/or GUI interfacing technology that you need. We leave behind any existing or developed tools for your team to use at no extra charge. Results: End user or diagnostic GUI talking to your models. Duration: 5, 10 or 20 days Get Back on Track Is your project suffering from the following symptoms? Models that never get completed Constantly changing requirements Models and code that aren't converging Unresolved arguments about where certain details are handled Waning confidence and interference from upper management Routinely missed deadlines Lack of a workable schedule (no deadlines to miss!) Unresolved issues about the modeling language that impede? development No confidence that project will complete on time Objectives: Retarget and reorient modeling effort so that project can be completed successfully as quickly as possible. Maintain support of upper management. Disaster happens to the best of us. Especially when we are working with new technology. Models tangled? Requirements too fuzzy? Running out of time? Not enough talent focused on the right problems? Too much talent focused on the same problem? Need your project saved from complete and total disaster? We've been there, turned things around and shipped product. Sometimes you just need a fresh brain. Activities: Review domain chart, models and requirements. Meet with all team members individually and as a group. Reassess planning. Adjust or replace plan as necessary and retarget modeling effort. Estimate project duration based on new plan. Help report to upper management. Results: Project assessment. Recovery plan. Disaster avoided! Project fun again. Duration: 5, 10 or 20 days. Model Development Objectives: Build, test and deliver a domain or subsystem. Why have Model Integration build your models? Take months of effort off your schedule - There is always too much work to be done and not enough time. We work in parallel with your team to produce the models you need. Minimize risk - As a manager of high technology you have enough things to worry about. We have 12 years of experience building Shlaer-Mellor OOA models. We will work smoothly with you and your team to deliver exactly what you need in a predictable time frame. Get models that work right the first time - Inexperienced developers often produce models that require extensive re-work during simulation and translation. We produce fully tested models that won't give you headaches when it comes to translation. Activities: Work with your team to collect and analyze requirements. Assess size and schedule for deliverable. Build and test all necessary models (object, state, process), reviewing with your team periodically. Define interfaces to subsystems and bridges to domains. Present final product to your team. Results: Reliable, translatable models delivered in minimum time. Duration: Multiple weeks of intense activity. Depends on the project size. Code Generation Objective: Translate your models into efficient and reliable code. Activities: Model Integration specializes in model development, project organization and, of course, model integration. We can supply you with a set of domains and models that will reliably implement requirements when translated. When it comes to code generation and architecture development, we rely on partners who we've worked with closely in the past. We can get you in touch with our partners and work with them to make the path to code generation as smooth as possible.