Redesign of Western U.S. Wholesale Electricity Market Project

In 2002, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) mandated formation of the Seams Steering Group of the Western Interconnection (SSGwi). This group was formed to bring together a number of state and privately owned and operated electric utilities and Independent System Operators (ISOs) to begin analysis and redesign of business rules and infrastructure for inter and intra-state wholesale marketing, transmission and distribution of electric power. Several Regional System Operators (RSOs) were formed by multiple utilities to coordinate and control the western U.S. wholesale electric power market. A subsidiary committee of SSGwi, the Common Systems Interface Coordinating Committee (CSICC) was tasked with designing common business rules and interfaces. This group met for over a year with little forward progress.

An ITPM consultant provided program and project governance, planning and management methods and documentation services that resulted in a better organized and coordinated goal-oriented effort and resulted in the stalled program and projects moving forward.
Web-enabled Business Management SaaS

Iventa Corporation is the global leader in web-enabled business management software, providing full-scale enterprise SaaS e-commerce, subscription, content management, email, marketing, CRM and loyalty systems. ITPM staff created and supported webstores and provided digital media/merchandise fulfillment services for leading entertainment and Fortune 500 companies such as Rhino Entertainment (sinatra.com, dead.net), Metallica (metallica.com, metclub.com), and the NBA’s Sacramento Kings (sacramentoteamstore.com), and improved and automated business and technology processes in Sales, Project Management, CRM, Development, Quality Assurance, IT, Service Desk, Scheduling, Workflow, Billing and Reporting.
B2B and B2C Ecommerce and Supply Chain Automation

Electron Economy worked with traditional and e-business companies to design, deploy and run e-commerce and ERP/supply-chain operations. The product integrates a company's online storefront with all back-end logistics and supply chain processes, including business process integration, order management, financial settlement, returns processing, inventory management, customer interaction, warehousing, fulfillment, and shipping. ITPM staff worked with customer IT groups to establish interface specifications, and developed numerous adapters/connectors in Java, XML, and WAP to integrate trading partners with EE’s business process event management engine. This product powered rollout of SONY’s PlayStation.com, successfully supporting the most intense consumer demand in Internet history.
Project Examples
IT Project Methods
JUSTIS Program for City and County of San Francisco

The JUSTIS Program consists of 17 projects and replaces a CCSF mainframe criminal justice information system. JUSTIS improves overall capability to gather data and share case management information among stakeholders, resulting in more efficient management. Oracle frequently cites this project as a SOA criminal justice model. ITPM has provided services across the entire Criminal Justice lifecycle.
JUSTIS
Southern California Edison

Business Process for Capital Projects
Southern California Edison (SCE) is the largest electric utility in California, serving more than 13 million people in a 50,000 square-mile area of central, coastal and Southern California. We provided Casewise process models and recommendations to capture and capitalize system improvement investments into the rate base (Public Utility Commission (PUC) Allocation of Common Cost - Rule 15).

BIS PMO project
Completed a project to establish a process and library of artifacts for a Project/Program Management Office (PMO) for SCE’s Business Innovation Services Group (BIS). BIS provides IT Project Management consulting to internal client departments.
State of California - Department of Consumer Affairs

DCA protects and serves consumers, and the Department issues licenses in more than 100 business and 200 professional categories. The DCA includes 40 regulatory entities. Staff led three key projects for the California Department of Consumer Affairs. The first was a Y2K program which served over 3,000 users and replaced core mainframe services for retrieval of information to provide assistance to callers. Also, replaced a Cosmetology FOXBASE database with a more flexible IBM Lotus Notes application, using IBM MQ middleware to post license data on the State Mainframe, and designed and developed a licensing examination scoring and notification application. In addition, staff developed an IBM Lotus Domino application to manage and automate all on-line filings, forms and information for the State's Licensed Post Secondary (Private/Vocational) Schools for the Bureau of Post-Secondary Vocational Education (BPSVE).
Automation Projects for San Francisco Sheriff’s Department

The San Francisco Sheriff's Department includes approximately 850 sworn and 100 civilian members. CCSF SD administers San Francisco's six county jails housing about 2,000 offenders. In addition to custody operations, the Sheriff’s Department carries out traditional law enforcement duties. It is widely recognized as a leader in many of the country's most successful crime prevention programs.

The Jail Management System (JMS) provides modern software to manage high volume jail operations and reporting requirements. ITPM provided a full range of consulting services. The JMS is the first new application to integrate with the JUSTIS Oracle SOA hub to exchange run-time information with the rest of the criminal justice community.
Email Program for City and County of San Francisco

This program was scaled to upgrade the messaging infrastructure, and migrate 64 City and County agencies with over 25,000 total users to a single, centrally managed, IBM/Lotus Domino™ and Notes™ enterprise email solution. Services included all phases from Inception through transition to production.  ITPM staff completed this program under a registered ISO 9001/TickIT quality management system. The project was subsequently selected by IBM for presentation by CCSF at Lotusphere.
Our management team has directed key programs and delivered complex, integrated systems to many leading organizations in both government and the private sector. IT Project Methods services are based on experience, best practices, and established standards tuned to customer and project needs. We have worked with clients at the enterprise and line of business levels to improve effectiveness of business processes and implement information technology solutions to maximize value and enhance public safety.
DTIS
Kaiser Permanente

Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente is the nation's largest not-for-profit health plan, serving over 8 million members. IT Project Methods staff provided website development assistance, workflow implementation using Lotus Domino, and office automation software training for most Kaiser Permanente sites in Northern California.
California Medical Association

The California Medical Association (CMA) represents more than 35,000 physicians in all modes of practice and specialties, and is dedicated to the health of all patients in California. IT Project Methods staff provided courseware development and training on office automation software and groupware for CMA physicians and staff.
California Independent System Operator
Modernizing the Grid

The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) is a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation charged with operating the majority of California’s high-voltage wholesale power grid. The State’s goal for the Market Design 2002 Project (MD02) was to provide a new software system for managing contract and spot market pricing for California’s electric power grid in the wake of an energy pricing scandal. MD02 was comprised of a large ($150 Million) program of projects developing and integrating software from a variety of vendors.

ITPM executives developed and implemented a tailored software development life cycle (SDLC) for the Corporate IT Services Group and Project Management Office (PMO), and provided assessment and recommendations to improve and optimize Program Management & Governance methods.

Additional services included a long-term project to model RMR SAS 70 (Type II) - Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) compliance processes for CAISO in Casewise Corporate Modeler. ITPM provided Casewise training, mentoring in modeling techniques, and process discovery in group settings.
USAID

USAID is an independent federal government agency that extends assistance to countries recovering from disaster, trying to escape poverty, and engaging in democratic reforms.

The San Pablo Water Treatment Plant is a regional water quality improvement facility in the Philippine Islands, created during the term of the late President Ferdinand Marcos. This project was located in San Pablo and built at a time of local difficulty, increasing project challenges.

Staff provided onsite project management services and reviewed construction progress as part of the progress payment approval cycle for USAID.
Mobile Sales Force Management

Salesforce.com is the worldwide leader in on-demand customer relationship management (CRM) services. More than 30,000 companies worldwide depend on Salesforce to manage sales, marketing, customer service, and other critical business functions. ITPM staff developed and delivered the flagship release of SFDC’s Windows Mobile application, new releases of BlackBerry and Palm applications, a new desktop Administration Console, and led creation of a new mobile user interface and reporting.
Mobile Device Management

InnoPath is the market leader for mobile device firmware/software management. Its wireless infrastructure software delivers an end-to-end system that enables wireless operators/carriers and device manufacturers to certify and manage the cell phone and PDA firmware/software maintenance process. ITPM staff developed and delivered InnoPath’s first commercial grade product to KDDI to support 70M+ cell phone subscribers. This achievement was a vital foundation for InnoPath success, including resulting agreements with top tier US and international carriers including Verizon, VodaFone, and NEC.
Mobile Voice/Data Systems and Applications

OnMobile Systems delivers multi-modal voice and data systems to wireless enterprises, carriers, and service providers worldwide using technologies such as speech recognition (ASR), wireless access protocol (WAP), text to speech (TTS), short messaging service (SMS), and the Internet. ITPM staff developed and delivered the first commercially deployed multi-modal applications/platform in the world, commercially deployed to hundreds of millions of users.
Messaging Systems

Lucent Messaging Division is an industry leader in voice, fax and data, three primary technology sectors of the electronic communication market and telecom/datacom convergence. Its customers offer applications such as call center CTI, unified messaging and response, digital recording, IP telephony, and open systems remote access. ITPM staff developed the RealComm™ 100 SDK, enabling next generation electronic communications solutions for call centers, interactive voice response, enhanced call services, automated attendant/directory services, and unified messaging. Product won “Best of CTI Expo” award. Also, Reduced software sustaining workload from over 40% to an average of 20%.
Laptop/PC Firmware/Software Management

Phoenix Technologies is the leading supplier of system software to PC manufacturers worldwide. Its products, such as BIOS, power management, PCMCIA and Plug and Play technology allow PC manufacturers to increase product differentiation, decrease product development time, and reduce engineering costs. ITPM staff directed worldwide projects for leading computer manufacturers including Toshiba, Fujitsu and NEC, and led a worldwide corporate reengineering effort to dramatically improve engineering efficiency and quality. The organization matured from CMMI level 1 (ad hoc) to 3-4 (repeatable, defined and managed).
Networked Systems Management

Unison-Tymlabs was a leading developer of networked systems management applications for corporate IT datacenters. ITPM staff identified and pre-qualified merger and acquisition candidates, selected market research and public relations firms, and represented company on press tours. Established key joint development/marketing agreement with IBM, which later acquired Unison for $170M.
Performance Measurement and Management

AIM Technology was a worldwide leader in performance measurement technology and benchmarking services. ITPM staff provided independent performance evaluation and certification services for multi-billion, international government RFP’s and computer manufacturers, including IBM, HP, Compaq and Sun Microsystems, increased sales 45%, and introduced administrative and operating controls successful in assuring profit margins of over 35%. Also, greatly enhanced company's image and visibility by creating and performing as Editor-in-Chief for "Unix System Price/Performance Guide", distributed quarterly to over 15,000 computer buyers, computer manufacturer sales and technical support personnel.
United States Marine Corps – Logistics Project

An ITPM consultant designed and project managed  development of a Lotus Domino application connected to high-speed scanners to input and track timely payment of vendor invoices for mission-critical supplies for U.S. Marine troops. The system provided workflow that generated email notification to management of pending or late invoices, and optimized payment schedules. Implementation of the application resulted in significant reductions in costs due to late payment penalties, and time spent tracking lost or late invoices.
Commerce Clearing House, Inc.

National Online Private Library for Arthur Andersen, LLP
CCH, Inc. is one of the world's largest publishers of tax research reference materials. An ITPM consultant designed and managed a program of projects to design, develop and deliver a mainframe-based online national “private library”database for Arthur Andersen, LLP, at the time CCH’s largest customer, of internal corporate documents, integrated with CCH's online subscription database of tax research and commentary. The three-year program included projects for requirements elicitation from several Andersen national offices, development and demonstration of prototypes to the Andersen Board and senior management, and coordination of application development across multiple CCH state offices. Consultant managed user training for a successful pilot rollout, assisted CCH National Accounts in developing a "Private Library" marketing plan, and delivered presentations to other "Big Six" accounting firms.

Tax Research CD-ROM Production Tracking System Project
Over 100 titles of CCH, Inc. CD-based tax research products required monthly updates and distribution to subscribers. Due to “siloed” management and distribution of CD editorial and production processes across multiple state locations, many titles were shipping as much as a month late. An ITPM consultant designed and managed development of a workflow application that provided all editorial offices with an online graphic view of real-time status of each CD title's editorial and production tasks, and notified task owners and managers of uncompleted tasks and deadlines via daily email. This enhanced visibility generated a new company-wide culture of urgency and collaboration. CD-ROM production time was reduced from over a month to less than ten days from editorial review to shippable product, allowing later and more current updates for subscribers. The project received a corporate “Excellence in Action” award.
Yaskawa Electric

This project was a leading edge software project with a team of US developers located on-site in Japan to develop software to control products for automotive assembly and fabrication robots. The project employed then state of the art bubble memory technology, was technically complex, and presented a number of management challenges.
Voice/Data Intra-plant System

This product was designed to retrofit existing page/party voice communications systems, adding voice channels and features for centralized system control and emergency services. The NUCOMM system was composed of an addressable micro-processor controlled multiplexed channel switching circuits communication system with an IBM AT class PC running real-time host management software. Initial funding was provided by founders and later by Research-Cottrell who provided additional working capital and personnel contracts in a venture capital role.
Consulting Business Management Suite

Domino-based business/consulting activity management system consists of a program of nine integrated and interdependent applications, which form an integrated operational suite. This product was featured in IBM Business Partner Magazine, and includes:
Ungerman-Bass® Networks
NetAssistant®

For this significant project,a partnership was formed between Altos Engineering and U-B Networks to develop an OEM Network Management product branded as NetAssistant®. NetAssistant® became a leader in the early introductory level market in network management applications. It was localized in several European and Asian languages and bundled with U-B routers and switches. NetAssistant was very innovative in its use of graphical views and list views for data navigation and for taking advantage of advances in new (TCP/IP) stack products for management of  ISO layers in each intelligent device. This product was very active in the market for about 5 years and produced a steady stream of royalties.
Network Resources Corporation
Multigate Manager for Windows

A retail and OEM MS Windows SNMP package of an existing  Mac product for NRC customers worldwide. NRC manufactured a line of Network products for use in a TCP/IP protocol network that supported SNMP to manage devices. This software was bundled with the hardware and extended sales beyond the Mac AppleTalk network in the growing SNMP market.
Vorec Corporation
Home detention software

Vorec was the third largest home arrest product and services provider in the world. ITPM staff revamped Vorec's Visual Basic software, adding enhanced scheduling capabilities and a greatly improved user interface. The software interfaced with Vorec Base Stations (with internal dialup modems) with voice recognition software, and a receiver to work with Innovonics spread spectrum wireless radios equipped with fiber-optic anti-tamper circuits.
Executone (OEM Products)

ITPM staff developed cross-platform NT-based voice mail message switching service software for Class 5 Central Offices (telephone switch).

Initiated expansion of Executone's infrared locator platform into the OmniFocus product line. Provided a new host software and sensor network for the Government Systems Division, Corrections and Medical Systems RFID and Active Tag system.
  • Bid Tracker - Manages and stores proposals, and tracks changes in scope and pricing.
  • Contact Tracker - Manages and stores people-centric activities.
  • Discussion Database -  For project workgroups to store and manage discourse.
  • Expense Tracker - Manages billable and non billable expenses.
  • Invoicing - A 'one button' invoice document builder based on other applications data.
  • Project Manager - with Gantt charts and 'look ahead' limiters for task assignments.
  • Project Time Tracker - A time card application that provides actual and Project Manager estimated values.
  • Project Tracker - Stores and calculates project financial performance for time and materials and fixed price contracts.
Criminal Justice
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All brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Ecommerce and Entertainment
Electric Power
Government
Healthcare
Media Management
Military
Mobile and Telecommunications
Security
Manufacturing
Systems and Network Management
NUCOMM
Vorec
NRC