Software Engineering Services

COMPUTER SOFTWARE SYSTEMS ANALYSIS, DESIGN, AND PROTOTYPING
TECHNICAL WRITING FOR PROPOSALS, SPECIFICATIONS, AND DOCUMENTATION
DATA FILE CROSS-FORMATTING
AUTOMATED DATA ENTRY SERVICES
ADVANCED DEBUGGING ASSISTANCE

My name is Joseph James. I am a semi-retired software engineer and technical writer with twenty years of professional experience, most of it acquired through the development of complex DOS and Windows applications in the areas of medical records, ultrasound imaging, in-vitro fertilization, insurance, telecommunications, and scientific and mathematical research for both Fortune 500 corporations and small software startup companies in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. During the last decade, I've created custom software for an international clientele as an internet-based developer. I specialize in the rapid, cost-effective prototyping of complex software, the rapid creation of technical documentation and user's manuals, the cross-formatting of data files, automated data entry, and providing advanced debugging assistance to programmers.

The software which I create is developed primarily with Borland C++ for DOS, and Visual Basic and Visual C++ for 32-bit Windows operating environments running on the PC. I have advanced, comprehensive expertise in a wide variety of past and present computer technologies, and can draw upon the resources of a vast network of personal and professional contacts to ensure that your needs are met promptly, accurately, and with a minimal expenditure of time, money, and effort.

One of the keynotes of my success is that I only work on one project at a time. I perform all of my work from my home office, and only visit client sites on rare occasions. I request that my clients provide me with dial-up access to their computers using popular host/remote software, and that they have at least one telephone line AND one internet account dedicated to a dial-up connection for my exclusive use for the duration of the project.

I have written detailed proposals, detailed system specifications, bids, and developer documentation for highly complex, object-oriented C++ and Visual Basic applications in two weeks, and two-hundred-plus page user's manuals for medical records and clinical patient charting applications in one month. I have prototyped complex software systems for the complete management of oocytes and semen samples in full-cycle in-vitro fertilization (IVF) laboratory processes (from follicular aspiration to transfer of the fertilized embryos, including cryopreservation of unused oocytes), for the capture and storage of medical ultrasound and sonograph images, and for mathematical research into random numbers, with each prototype completed in less than thirty working days. I have helped the users of older DOS, Unix, and Tandy applications to convert their accumulated business data files to the proprietary formats of more modern software to allow them to overcome the storage space and operational limitations of the older software they were using, in cases where the newer software they wished to use did not support the importing and conversion of their existing data in its existing format. I have used my own proprietary methods of automated data entry to assist physicians, chiropractors, and attorneys to implement a paperless office environment by transferring their written records to their computers with a minimum of time and headaches. I have also provided programmers with solutions to obscure, difficult bugs, and with creative, effective workaround solutions for intractable bugs, so that they could meet their mission-critical deadlines when telephone support engineers failed to offer timely, cost-effective solutions.

Another of my specialties is the rapid re-writing or complete overhaul of poorly-designed legacy code to enable IS managers to meet their mission-critical deadlines without having to bring in overpriced consultants. (Unfortunately, many IS managers have learned the hard way that on-site programmers who are willing to work for low salaries are no bargain at all when it comes to delivering high-quality software on time.)

If you have a serious interest in developing a prototype of a software system, or if you wish to receive further information about my services in the areas of software design and development, technical writing, cross-formatting of data files, automated data entry, debugging, or evaluation of legacy code, please feel free to contact me for a telephone consultation, without any cost or obligation whatsoever. Subsequent to our telephone consultation, if I feel that my services are compatible with your needs, I will send you my complete promotional package, which includes the following: a detailed, up-to-date resume; professional references; my fee schedule and billing procedures; an informative brochure describing, in great detail, my many accomplishments in the area of innovative, high-technology business software solutions; a personal biography which provides background information about myself, my professional endeavors as a software engineer and technical writer, and my research interests; samples of my Visual Basic and C++ source code; and excerpts from several of the technical specifications, proposals, system documentation, and user's manuals which I have authored. All of this material will be sent to you via email attachment as a self-extracting WinZip archive of MS Word for Windows documents, for easy on-screen viewing or printing.

For projects that are well-defined (that is, for which you provide me with a fully-detailed written specification that we agree upon), I will provide you with a firm written estimate including a flat-rate price, a guaranteed date on which the work will be completed, and a guarantee to fix any problems, bugs, or omissions for a period of sixty days after completion. My estimate will be provided to you within twenty-four hours of our concurrence upon all aspects of the written specification. The price will be based upon my estimation of the number of hours I will require to complete all deliverables, at a rate of sixty dollars U.S. per hour. One-third of the total price will be payable to me prior to my beginning work on the project, one-third upon my achievement of an agreed-upon milestone midway through the project, and the last third upon your receipt of the deliverables. After the sixty-day guarantee expires, contract service and support is available for non-written software products on a quarterly basis for a fee which depends upon the complexity of the software product and the level of support desired. For projects which are not well-defined, I will work with you to develop a detailed written specification at a cost of forty dollars U.S. per hour, and then provide you with an estimate in accordance with my procedures for well-defined projects. My undertaking to develop a detailed written specification for projects which are not well-defined, and then providing you with an estimate, in no way obligates you to retain my services for the actual project itself; however, you will be required to pay the cost of my producing the written project specification, with a non-refundable minimum initial payment of five hundred dollars U.S. payable prior to my beginning work on the specification. Flat-rate fees and guaranteed deadlines are provided based upon the assumption that the previously agreed-upon written project specification is correct and complete; requests for changes or additional features which are made after the actual work on the project has begun will require the preparation of a new project specification and a new estimate with an adjusted (increased) flat-rate fee and delivery date.

I do business with principals only, and I will not speak with recruiters, employment agencies, or consulting firms at all. Neither will I consider doing business with individuals who are unable or unwilling to devote adequate time and effort to help me to help them receive the very highest quality product at the best possible dollar value. In this day and age of fly-by-night software companies and consultants, high-pressure and high-stress work environments, cutting corners and performing sloppy work in order to meet unrealistic deadlines, and preference for price over quality at all costs, I stand apart from most other software services providers based upon my insistence that the job be done properly from the outset. I take pride in providing old-fashioned, cordial, high-quality service to my valued clients ... if you don't have time for professionalism, don't have time for thoughtful consideration of all contingencies and aspects of your project, or don't have time for working in harmony with me to ensure the success of your project, then I don't have time for working with you.

I am pleased to announce that I have developed prototypes of software systems for scientific and mathematical research applications FREE OF CHARGE when these applications have appealed to me based upon my personal research interests (in the areas of combinatorics, automated pattern matching and detection, random numbers, and Monte Carlo methods). If you have a serious interest in the rapid prototyping of a scientific or mathematical application, and if you can describe the exact details of the proposed system in writing, I will be happy to discuss your proposed application with you in great detail, and may offer to prototype it free of charge, in exchange for an honest endorsement of my abilities upon the request of other prospective clients.

NOTE: For prospective clients in the U.S. who are concerned about tax problems relating to Section 1706 of the 1986 U.S. Tax Reform (as a result of which the IRS often pressures employers using the services of independent contractors to reclassify them as employees and then assume responsibility for paying taxes for them), I am willing to become a regular W-2 employee of your company for the duration of your project, and I will NOT demand health benefits, vacation pay, personal or sick days, or any of the other perks usually offered to employees.

Joseph James
QTQ-Technica Software Engineering Associates
(908) 851-0226
email: qtechsof@ix.netcom.com