Jul 08

Celebrating the 4th of July, and Participating in our Democratic Processes

I spent the 4th of July watching the fireworks in DC next to the Lincoln Memorial. It's always a wonderful experience to do that beyond the basic joy of watching cool explosions. Sitting by the reflecting pool with friends and family let us reflect on what a wonderful nation and concepts our founding fathers created by prioritizing the freedom of the individual.

Over the past few months, I've had the fortune of participating in our democratic system much more than usual. 

I was recently appointed to the Fairfax County Information Technology Policy Advisory Committee (ITPAC) on behalf of the school board, which is giving me insight into the challenges our county and all local municipalities face with providing services to its citizens. Some of the problems are quite fascinating and complex. I've only been to one meeting and we won't meet until after the summer, so we'll see what comes of it.

Late last month, I was invited to participate in a lobbying effort on Capitol Hill as part of the Association for Competitive Technology. I did this twice almost 10 years ago, so it's been quite a while. ACT gives small technology businesses a voice amid the battle among the large players, and brought in participants from across the country for a one day blitz. It turns out that we as a group are very under-represented on the Hill and were warmly received at all the offices we visited. All elected officials want to support small business owners in their districts, but don't seem to meet them too often on the hill. I was very pleased to participate in small group meetings and had a chance to meet my Senator Mark Warner (D-VA, very impressive as he really understands the technology industry) and Congressman Moran (D-VA). We also met the legislative aides for Sen. Hatch (R-UT), Congressman Connolly (D-VA) and Wittman (R-VA), and Speaker Pelosi (D-CA). Unlike the others, the speaker's office is in the Capitol building and was an interesting maze to get to both physically and through security.

The general message was to make sure they considered the impact of their decisions on small businesses and how unintended consequences of their decisions may impact us. Whether it's regulating the internet, net neutrality, cloud computing, privacy, international laws, taxation, patents, etc., a lot of issues affect small technology businesses. Considering the impact of small business on employment in this country, it's critical that they don't create more problems than they solve.

I don't know how much of an impact we had, but it was gratifying to walk the halls of Congress and see how they operate. There are a lot of challenges facing our country and world. Technology holds the promise that it can help us increase our productivity and ability to address those needs in a meaningful way at a reasonable cost. I hope they continue to foster an environment that allows technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship to prosper for the common good.

May 11

Streamlining Communications with Your Contacts

Microsoft Access Email BlasterTotal Access EmailerMicrosoft Access Email

We have a long history of leveraging existing data to improve decision-making and communications.

Many of you are already familiar with how our Total Access Emailer program automates the sending of personalized emails with recipient specific data and reports. This amazing product lets you leverage the power of your data to significantly improve how you communicate with your contacts.

With our experience creating Total Access Emailer, our Professional Solutions Group has helped many organizations incorporate the product and implement advanced, custom features.

We’ve also taken this technology to the next level by creating web sites to host files rather than emailing them to your contacts. If you’re interested in learning more about how we can extend your Windows desktop files to the web, please let us know. We can make it easy for your contacts to privately log in and see their files.

Can we help you with a project? Contact us for a Risk Free Assessment.

Mar 03

Updated FMS Consulting Site for Microsoft Services

Microsoft Programming ServicesThe FMS Professional Solutions Group continues to create innovative software solutions that are making an impact on organizations and lives. Check out our updated consulting site to learn more about our solutions in action. See how we are making a difference from disaster relief in Haiti and Chile to the recent snowstorms in Washington DC. Here are some other highlighted solutions:

Let us bring this expertise to help you use data to make better decisions.

Jan 27

Considering Cloud Computing with Microsoft Azure?


The Microsoft Azure platform is now available for production use!

We’ve been using Azure over the past year for web/asp.net hosting and SQL Server solutions. We have been very impressed with its features and capabilties. We believe it will revolutionize how we create and deploy applications, and look forward to providing commercial and custom solutions and services with Azure.

We’re already working on several projects including the merging of the Windows desktop/Microsoft Access/Office with the web. We look forward to sharing more with you in the near future.

What do you think about Azure and cloud computing?

Jan 06

The HotMommas 2009-2010 Case Study Competition Has Begun

The HotMommas Project

Professor Kathy Korman Frey at the George Washington University School of Business has kicked off the 2009-2010 HotMommas Case Study Competition. It is a unique project that takes the stories of the women and makes them teachable in a “case study” format, thus providing scalable, global access to role models and virtual mentors. You may recall us mentioning our work on this project not long ago.

If you want to nominate someone (yourself included) for the 2009-2010 competition, go to the HotMommas Facebook page or send an email with their information.

Links

The HotMommas Project

Why Role Models Matter for Women and Girls

Hot Mommas Project Everyday Revolutionaties

Washington Post article

Jun 24

FMS Offers Custom Microsoft SQL Server Database Consulting Services

Consulting Services for Microsoft SQL Server As you may know, our Professional Solutions Group offers custom Microsoft ASP.NET solutions, but we are also known for providing Microsoft SQL Server consulting services for a variety of clients in the private and public sectors.

We encourage you to read more about our SQL Server database development services. Please contact us for a free assessment of your organization’s requirements.

Jun 10

FMS Offers Custom Microsoft ASP.NET Website Development Services

Consulting Services for Microsoft ASP.NET Over the past year our Professional Solutions Group has delivered some notable ASP.NET web projects, including The HotMommas Project, a case study competition website for women entrepreneurs that has received a lot of press, and a competency and courseware management system for the DoD’s Defense Acquisition University.

We encourage you to read more about our ASP.NET web development services. If you need a quality website, we have an experienced group of business consultants, web developers and database experts that would love to help. Please contact us for a free assessment of your organization’s requirements.

Jun 10

Video: Migrating Your Data Tier to SQL Server: Strategies for Survival

I participated on this panel at the Microsoft TechEd Conference to explore Panel Discussion on Migrating Data to SQL Serverthe different reasons and approaches for migrating applications to Microsoft SQL Server. In addition to moving the data to SQL Server, ideas are presented for transforming applications to offer additional features while maintaining budgets. (43 minutes)

Jun 10

Video on the History of FMS: Surviving Uncertain Times

Video: Surviving Uncertain Times: History of FMSAt the Microsoft TechEd conference. Microsoft’s Mary Chipman conducted a one-on-one interview about the history of FMS and how we’ve survived the economic and technical cycles over our 23 years of existence. Learn more about FMS, our successes and challenges over the years and today. (28 minutes)

Jun 03

Video: The World Turned Upside Down: Development Strategies for Lean Times

Worried about your job or career?  Uncertain about what to do to protect your future? 

Watch this video from my panel discussion at the Microsoft TechEd Conference. Hear me share my experiences at FMS with fiver other developers, and different ways we’ve survived over our careers. Entitled The World Turned Upside Down: Development Strategies for Lean Times, the video is 51 minutes.