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askSam At Work In The Power Industry

by John Smith, President, MAR Computer Systems Inc.

We were asked to assist a power company in Oregon with their de-regulation project.  Because of de-regulation, changes were required to many of the major data systems within the company.  We were responsible for developing a Load/Stress test to simulate a heavy day's processing, in order to see if their information systems were ready to handle the load.

Our first task was to interview the managers of each of the company's systems.  We had to understand the flow of data throughout all systems in order to plan for the test.  We took notes for each of these interviews.  In addition, we were provided with documents of all types that helped describe the various systems.  These included documents in MS-Word, Excel, E-mails, and even drawings.  It became increasingly difficult to sift through this information, especially since it was contained in such a variety of formats.  A single interface may have been referenced in dozens of different documents, and we needed a way to put all this information together.

askSam was the perfect solution.  We set up an entry form that allowed us to store the physical location of the original file, as well as the text of the document.  As we develop the Load Test Plan, we can search the askSam database for all references of a word or groups of words.  The entry field for physical location allowed us to quickly locate the original file if we needed to view it in its original format.  Using the multiple search feature allowed us to find information that described relationships between different systems and processes.  We found that even if a document was imported and the formatting was lost, the search would still yield results, and provide us the location for the original file.  With the original document located so easily in this way, we could then view it quickly.

Many who were part of the project had information that could be useful to the planning group.  We set up an area on the network where anyone could place documents that they wanted to be entered into askSam.  A designated person would then import these documents into askSam, so that we could make use of the information.

In projects like these, where information is kept in many formats, askSam is an extremely powerful and valuable tool.  It is the only tool of its kind that allows sophisticated search techniques to locate information.

John Smith

MAR Computer Systems Inc.

Distributor of askSam

Langley, BC, Canada

Tel: (604) 532-8103

Fax: (604) 532-4837

e-mail: JSmith@MARcomputers.com

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