Alpine Technology Group (ATG) works with clients to identify and prioritize their unique business processes. This may include mapping patterns of activity, decision points and work routes, measuring work volume, and analyzing how information drives each of these internal processes. A primary objective is to have the work that produces the information simultaneously process it as well. Once these concepts and relationships are defined, ATG will create a business process model, with a detailed record of client needs and expectations.

Process redesign involves analysis of the process model and goals to determine the most cost-effective way to solve client needs. Optimizing processes may require a new system, or an enhancement to an existing system. ATG, with input from involved stakeholders, will formalize an outline of the functionality required to achieve performance objectives. ATG will then translate the conceptual design into a usable set of customer requirements. This initial plan includes management parameters, tasks, deliverables, and durations to ensure that all stakeholders have a common understanding of scope, boundaries, objectives and outcomes.

An important element in efficient redesign is maximizing the interface with existing hardware, staff, and resources. ATG incorporates existing business environments into system development -- determining the optimal architecture for the redesign, language for the application, and how to best migrate and archive existing data. ATG works with stakeholders to strike the right balance between continued compatibility with existing systems and the flexibility/scalability required to meet future business requirements.

ATG will define the technical aspects of the customer requirements -- architecture tiers, database design and structure, and warehousing needs. A considered approach in this stage of design is critical to avoiding expensive adjustments later. The design must also accommodate changes that are sure to occur once the system is implemented. This phase includes further refining of user requirements to ensure they are measurable and testable, identifying project resources, planning for data and risk management, and a strategy for deployment and data synchronization. All of this information is used to establish a budget and schedule. Decisions are recorded in the final Requirements and Specifications document for review and approval by stakeholders.

ATG's Development Team will transform the detailed requirement specifications into software. With a solid system design, coding can be the most straightforward phase of the project. Code generation includes continuous integration and unit testing. During this phase, client operations and support staff may become involved with deployment planning. There is regular monitoring of progress against plan, with progress and milestone reviews.

Proactive testing is an integral part of ATG development at all levels, and makes a significant contribution toward keeping development costs low. A rigorous testing phase is part of the system design plan, and it is sacrosanct. As development progresses, ATG provides testing environments for acceptance testing of application, screens and reports, and to provide feedback on performance. Testing environments also enable parallel development of user procedures and documentation. Prototypes are provided so clients can actively participate in ensuring that the product meets user needs. Data migration, conversion and warehousing are included in testing. ATG's quality assurance is designed to make certain that the system will work with existing hardware and software and that all functional requirements are satisfied.

ATG has extensive experience structuring the sequences involved in the deployment of software across multiple system architectures and business environments. The deployment phase begins with the transfer of data from the old system to the new and continues until the system is operating in accordance with the defined requirements.

User education and training has been shown to lower the stress on staff who are transitioning to the new system, increase user satisfaction (thereby lowering staff turnover), and reduce the errors and task time that may interfere with achieving system objectives. ATG works with clients to provide training and documentation in the media that best fits user needs. Clients may choose printed or electronic manuals, online Help, CBTs, web-based training, or instructor-led training at ATG's training facility in Longmont, Colorado.

Ongoing telephone and e-mail support of end users, as well as performance reviews to increase efficiency and effectiveness, are available to clients. Periodic updates may be part of the system design. Clients may also choose to have ATG collect data and measurements to support future improvements.