DataEase 7.5 Beta is now available. This forthcoming version marks the end of an old era and the beginning of an exciting future for DataEase and its users.
Although 7.5 mainly addresses existing problems in previous versions of DataEase, an extensive list of major improvements have been made - we are confident you will be amazed by the changes!. To see what’s new and to participate in the Beta programme go to http://beta.dataease.com/home/.
Upad, a new and free online service to help renters find their ideal London property quickly and easily, is now up and running.
The new site, developed by Sapphire and sister Web company Ortegra, is a comprehensive one stop website for both private landlords and individual tenants, seeking to let/rent properties in London. A rollout across the UK and Europe is already being planned.
Stephen Page, CEO of Sapphire Group and Jay Shah, CEO of Ortegra discuss the growth of Web 2.0 demand in business and the benefits of using open source software development.
Watch the video at http://www.sourcingfocus.com/index.php/site/videocast/863/.
Computing’s outsourcing and offshoring blogger, Mark Kobayashi-Hillary, refers to Sapphire Group in his latest blog.
Mark highlights how a comment from Sapphire Group’s Stephen Page on Web 2.0 could be one of the key drivers of offshoring.
Read the full article at http://markkobayashihillary.computing.co.uk/2008/07/india-vs-china.html.
Sapphire has formed a relationship with Project VRM and will be responsible for the design concept of their forthcoming website.
VRM, or Vendor Relationship Management, is the reciprocal of CRM or Customer Relationship Management. It provides customers with tools for engaging with vendors in ways that work for both parties. Its goal is to improve the relationship between Demand and Supply by providing new and better ways for the former to relate to the latter.
Project VRM is a community-driven effort to support the creation and building of VRM tools. It grew out of the user-centric identity community and that community’s work toward supporting higher degrees of customer independence from vendor control.
To find out more about Project VRM, visit http://vrmhub.pbwiki.com/.
Sapphire is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Bjorn Helge Kjosnes as the new Head of DataEase development effective from beginning of April. With a 20-year background in DataEase, Mr. Kjosnes has previously worked as Head of Development for Correlate Inc. and NoOffice Inc. His experience and expertise in advanced systems development for Windows and the Web will be essential to DataEase’s future development plans.
One of Mr. Kjosnes first tasks will be to review and expand the existing DataEase development team to focus on the upcoming “DataEase for the Web” product, whilst continuing to make improvements to DataEase 7.1.
Stephen Page, Sapphire’s CEO, commented: “As DataEase remains an important cornerstone of our future we are delighted to bring in someone of Bjorn’s calibre to head DataEase’s development team. His vision, experience and drive are key factors in steering our development strategy forward and a match to our commitment to moving DataEase into the 21st Century.”
Another website designed and developed by Sapphire has gone live.
The site, developed for the Register for Environmental Professionals (www.enprof.com), is a registry directory and search engine that provides information for individuals or companies seeking services or assistance in the context of a project or a business with environmental implications.
The Register of Environmental Professionals is administered by Renewable Energy Foundation, an independent UK registered charity that supplies data and commentary on the renewable and alternative energy sectors in the UK. REF is supported by private donation and has no corporate membership or political affiliations.
Sapphire has successfully delivered a Facebook application for car rating website PeachorLemon.
The PeachorLemon website invites you to rate your car as a peach (good) or a lemon (bad) and review, in detail, the reliability and performance of your car. PeachorLemon use a TOP 5 system to search all comments, extract and post the best and worst cars (models) on the site. This reveals a top 5 league of peaches and lemons.
All the models are rated when users write about their car. However, to be qualified for the top 5 league, there needs to be a minimum of 13 comments per model.
Sapphire has recreated this functionality in Facebook, so a user can select a make and model from the dropdown menu, hit submit (which will then search PeachorLemon.com) extract the information and reveal the average rating of their current car (as peach or lemon graphics).
To see the new Facebook application go to http://apps.facebook.com/peachorlemon/globalusers.php.
As the year draws to a close we thank you for your continued custom and support. With years of experience in database management systems we have continued to help our clients develop the right web applications for their business, upgrade and modernise their legacy systems, and develop their software into a saleable product.
We’re proud of our accomplishments in 2007, a winning year for both Sapphire and our customers with major achievements such as our NOA Award win for helping our client Betbrokers implement their business trading and support system.
Other successes include:
Office and Web Applications
• Empowering The Apartment Service to market multi-channel accommodations worldwide
• Helping Betbrokers float their company on the stock market with our compliant IT management application
• Enabling Johnson & Johnson Corporate Communications to communicate more effectively with their customers, partners, investors and employees with our support and maintenance of of blogs, wikis and other social media tools on their website.
• Implementing a booking travel site for travel agents and consumers alike to reserve group holidays to Disneyland Paris Resort.
• Expanding the City of New York’s UVIS system to include support for forensic investigations, including onsite photographic records, dental records and DNA; onsite recording of data with smart digital pens; refined search and match capabilities.
• Completing applications on budget and on time for many clients including Bristol City Council, Northampton City Council, Opaldia, John Laing, and Kenwood.
• Implementing a number of websites for Produced in Kent , Smallprint, SJ Berwin, Burges Salmon, IsoManagement System, Register for Environmental Professionals.
Modernisations
• Working with the Chicago Transit Authority to move a DOS-based system for scheduling bus and subway (underground) crews to a web-based system
• Helping large corporations Hertz and Sony BMG unlock the business value of their legacy systems by modernising their applications using cutting edge technologies
Software Development
• Expanding FingerPin’s portfolio of products by developing the server version of their biometric software
• Helping SMS develop their mobile Web 2.0 initiatives
General
• Featuring in major IT press publications and websites such as silicon.com, ComputerWorld and Real Business
• Achieving Microsoft Gold partner status in the categories Custom Development Solutions and ISV/Software Solutions
• Extending our global reach with the expansion of our offshore office in Egypt, in addition to our 2 other offshore locations in Russia and India, and UK and US offices.
• Planning an even more successful 2008 for our clients
Winning the Award ‘IT Outsourcing Project of the Year’ at the National Outsourcing Association’s annual awards, was a proud achievement for all of us at Sapphire. Especially when considering that the runners-up included Fujitsu, Atos Origin and Co-op Financial Services.
The judge from the National Outsourcing Association said, “Sapphire Group’s submission stood out because of its creative outsourcing delivery model. The ability to implement such a complex solution in a highly regulated environment was impressive, and even more so as it was managed across a number of onshore and offshore locations.”
Building on the strengths of 2007 we are planning an even better 2008 for our clients. Having invested heavily in formalising our methodology, in creating a local team of project managers of exceptional quality and expertise, and in developing very competent teams in each of our three main offshore locations, we will continue striving to provide excellence in all our solutions:
- Bespoke Web Applications that may require data integration, online transactions, content management, and social networking
- Conversion of data legacy systems into new, improved applications
- Well managed software development services that become an extension of your own organisation
We look forward to working with you in 2008!
Mark Kobayashi-Hillary, the outsourcing editor of Computing magazine, has posted his congratulations to all National Outsourcing Association’s award winners, and in particular to Sapphire.
According to Mark: “Stephen Page from the Sapphire Group and his project with Betbrokers won the award for being the best outsourcing project of the year – congratulations to everyone at Sapphire for beating off some larger competitors in that category.”
View Mark’s blog entry here.
