Consulting

Architecture, On-Premises, Cloud (VM and Serverless), Hybrid Transition Strategies

So you’ve got a great idea for an application. You’ve even gone so far as to build a prototype — one that’s been received well by your focus groups. And miracle of miracles, there’s even funding to make this real.

Now what? 

Well, your initial application design can be the difference between having to rewrite in a year just to handle changes in business direction, or having a platform flexible enough to support your business dynamics for years to come. Obviously you want a system that can stand the test of time. Lucky for you, that’s precisely what we do.

Of course with so many architecture options, choosing one can feel like a roll of the dice. Even worse, going down the public-cloud path can leave your business stuck with high fees and few options. Don’t stress — we can help guide you to a solution you won’t regret. 

Here’s the skinny: for developing a new application, it’s tough to find a better deal than a public cloud like Azure or Amazon. Once volume starts picking up, however, you may find the cloud pricing models not-so-optimal. By choosing the right architecture at the start, you can leave your options open to move among different cloud providers, or even self-host.

The good news? With the big providers embracing open-source container technologies like Docker and Kubernetes, it’s easier than ever to develop an architecture that’s both portable and flexible — so you don’t get locked into one vendor. At Cimetre, we’re well-versed in cloud framework options, including everything from more traditional VM-based models to modern serverless functions.

Development Team Advisory Services

Building anything successfully takes people, process and technology. When it comes to software, that’s doubly true. If you’re just getting started, and need the right people, Cimetre has more than 25 years’ experience recruiting and hiring for technology roles. We’ve even developed a network of both onshore and remote developers. 

Or… maybe you’ve already been at it a while. You’ve got a talented team and just got MVP out the door. That’s great! Now it’s time to apply some process and technology to get you to the next level. Your effort will be lead by a Professional Scrum Master PSMII with two decades’ experience developing with lean, agile teams scattered across the globe. We’ll can help set your development team up for measurable success using Scrum and other agile methods.

Even if the technology you built is the best of its breed, it could very well be time to add some expert oversight to your Dev Ops process. We’ll put together a fully automated CI/CD system with proper defect tracking and gatekeeping so your team can focus on v2.0 of your money printing machine.

Cimetre is well-versed in industry standard source control systems like Git and Mercurial, with extensive experience in “branchy,” feature-driven development. 

A piece of free advice? Managing and measuring the development process is so much simpler with the right tool, and for many, that is JIRA. JIRA works seamlessly with Git and Mercurial whether hosted internally, or in the cloud. And JIRA’s customizable workflow provides the flexibility to manage facets of development unique to your business, reducing the need for micro management of the mundane.

Database Performance, Scalability Analysis and Troubleshooting

These days it’s almost sinfully easy to roll out a data-driven application using nothing but code. Technologies like Entity Framework will build your database for you with almost no additional effort: just provide some credentials and a place to keep it. 

Wham, bam, data plan.

The downside? While such tools are great for allowing developers to focus on the user experience and less on the CRUD, they can often hide poorly performing data access methods and seriously bog down your application once it’s up and running with real data. Make no mistake, performance issues will arise from time to time even with the best of designs, whether due to increased volume or unexpected changes in the characteristics of the data.

Now for the upside. With certified experience all the way back to SQL Server 2000, not to mention successfully handling untold terabytes of data and billions of records, Cimetre can root out and solve the most complex performance bottlenecks — whatever version of SQL Server you’re running, or where. Local, in a hosted VM, or in SQL Azure, we’ve got you. We’re Microsoft Certified Solution Experts on Microsoft’s Data Platform.