SOFTWARE XT (a division of Group XT / Xtended Team) is an online professional services firm providing web-based Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), project management, business analysis, information technology consulting, and virtual assistant services.

SOFTWARE XT is led by David L. Boone, PMP, an experienced project manager and business analyst specializing in strategy, selection, business justification, architecture, analysis and implementation of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems for “Closed Loop” Marketing, Sales Force Effectiveness and Customer Service Automation. This includes advanced technologies such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Data Warehousing/Business Intelligence (DW/BI), as well as underlying Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications and custom-developed software.

David’s clients have included Cablevision, Citigroup, Johnson & Johnson, Kraft Foods and Walgreens. His expertise spans major CRM platforms including Microsoft Dynamics, PeopleSoft, Oracle, SAP, Salesforce.com and Siebel.

David’s experience includes management and delivery roles with top consulting organizations such as KPMG, CSC, Oracle Consulting and Answerthink/Hackett Group at all levels from staff consultant to National Practice Director.

David earned a Master of Science in Systems Management from the University of Southern California, and is currently completing a Masters in Digital Media Arts and Sciences at Harvard University. He is a certified Project Management Professional (Project Management Institute), as well as a Siebel Certified Business Analyst, a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) and an Oracle Certified Professional (OCP).

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David L. Boone, PMP, is a PMI-Certified Project Management Professional (#35684).

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http://www.guru.com/freelancers/brightpop

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https://www.livework.com/users/brightpop

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http://www.odesk.com/users/brightpop

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Consulting profile/resumé download link (DOC FORMAT): http://www.softwarext.com/BOONE.doc

Consulting profile/resumé download link (PDF FORMAT): http://www.softwarext.com/BOONE.pdf

Case Study 1: http://www.brightpop.com/CASESTUDY1.pdf

Case Study 2: http://www.brightpop.com/CASESTUDY2.pdf

Case Study 3: http://www.brightpop.com/CASESTUDY3.pdf

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First and foremost, the market (supply and demand) sets rates. Having said that, here is some guidance on prevailing rates and contractual arrangements. There are a number of flexible rate arrangements available to clients wishing to utilize SOFTWARE XT services. Direct Clients (i.e., end-user companies contracting directly for SOFTWARE XT services) have a choice of fee structures; hourly (time and expenses/materials), firm fixed price or benefit/ROI-sharing structures are available.

Hourly rates for service delivery staff typically range from $75 to $150 per hour depending on the skill type and seniority. Hourly rates for project managers and strategists typically range from $100 to $250 per hour. Discounts may be available for public and non-profit organizations (including government “term” contracts)*, for small business clients, as well as in cases where SOFTWARE XT undertakes projects of a particularly strategic nature. Expenses are typically billed separately unless an “all-inclusive” arrangement has been agreed to.

Firm Fixed Price (FFP) arrangements are available in cases where the scope of the project is well understood and agreed to by both parties. In the majority of cases, we recommend that prior to initiating a FFP project, a short “scoping” engagement be performed on a time and materials basis in order to define the project scope and develop the FFP estimate. Milestone/progress payments are usually agreed to at clearly established points along the project lifecycle based on Earned Value Analysis. As SOFTWARE XT assumes a higher level of risk for FFP arrangements, a correspondingly higher total fee structure can be anticipated.

Benefit/ROI-Sharing arrangements are available in cases where the scope of the project is well understood and agreed to by both parties (similar to FFP), and where a reasonable estimate of the benefit to be achieved is both available and quantifiable in terms of dollars. In the majority of cases, we recommend that prior to initiating an ROI-Sharing project, a short “scoping” engagement be performed on a time and materials basis in order to define the project scope, estimate the dollar benefits, and develop the project proposal. Milestone/progress payments are usually agreed to be paid by the client at clearly established points along the project lifecycle based on Earned Value Analysis. These progress payments are typically lower than with FFP projects, since much of SOFTWARE XT’s compensation for the project will based on dollar benefits achieved, which are not known until after the project is completed. However, as SOFTWARE XT assumes the highest level of risk for ROI-Sharing arrangements, a corresponding total fee structure can be anticipated.

Third Party Clients (i.e., brokers, staffing firms) are contracted on an hourly, nonexclusive basis (SOFTWARE XT will reserve the right to engage multiple Direct and/or Third Party Clients). Hourly rates for service delivery staff typically range from $75 to $150 per hour depending on the skill type and seniority. Hourly rates for project managers and strategists typically range from $100 to $250 per hour. Discounts are generally not available for Third Party Clients without a volume/term agreement. Expenses are typically billed separately unless an “all-inclusive” arrangement has been agreed to.

SOFTWARE XT services are applicable to and affordable by all sizes of companies from local small businesses to the Fortune 100. Contact us to discuss your project requirements and to obtain a preliminary estimate.

*SOFTWARE XT currently has term contracts in place with several federal, state, regional and local agencies.

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At SOFTWARE XT, we believe that technology strategy should follow and support business strategy. Therefore we believe that a rock solid information solution begins with an analysis of your vision and objectives. Unless this is done, your business runs the risk of not only missing out on technology-enabled opportunities for market leadership, but also of building technology infrastructure and making significant investments without a clear linkage to business requirements and strategy.

Our service offerings in the information technology space focus on defining and implementing an Enterprise Solution Architecture (ESA), which is the alignment of the following elements:

- business strategy, the strategic goals, objectives and constraints of the enterprise, as reflected in such documents as the strategic plan, operating budgets, vision statements, etc.

- information architecture, the data required by the enterprise in order to realize its business goals. This might include, for example, more timely access to accurate, up-to-the-minute information on sales or customer data.

- applications architecture, the portfolio of software applications needed by the enterprise in order to realize its information requirements. This might include Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and/or Supply Chain Management (SCM) applications, advanced e-Commerce storefronts or service centers, and may also include development of custom software applications.

- technology architecture, the underlying technology infrastructure needed to support the business, information and application architectures. Technology is not an end in itself; it is only useful to the extent that it aligns with and supports (even enables!) business strategy.

We facilitate this process by conducting workshops with key stakeholders at all levels of your organization, helping you to think through your strategy and prioritize your initiatives, culminating in the development of a clear blueprint and roadmap linking business, information, application and technology requirements.

Through techniques such as Activity Based Costing, Critical Path Analysis, multi-attribute decision modeling, high-level data and process modeling, Business Case Analysis, as well as the use of benchmarking and best practices, we can help you focus your technology strategy and implementation on what really matters to your business, and help you optimize your business strategy by preparing to take advantage of today’s technology enablers.

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We recently helped a Chicago area company realize $2,663,548 in annual cost savings — what can we do for your business?

Let’s face it — as the owner of a small to mid-sized company, it’s nearly impossible to keep up with the day-to-day operation of your business, and at the same time, to do the strategic and tactical planning required to ensure its continued growth and success. It’s difficult to have the objectivity and fresh perspective required to identify new potential markets, new business relationships and new ways of doing business. It can even be tough to identify and implement simple process adjustments that can make a tremendous difference in your company’s revenues and profits.

We can help. We’re SOFTWARE XT – a business process outsourcing (BPO) company dedicated to helping small and mid-sized American businesses build and maintain their competitive advantage by finding and unlocking hidden value, revenues and cost savings.

As SOFTWARE XT’s Managing Director, it’s my mission to make your business more profitable. I spent over 15 years as a management consultant and Director with some of the top firms in the business including Oracle, KPMG and Computer Sciences, sharpening my skills both as an MBA and as a certified Project Manager. During that time, I helped some of the world’s most well known companies to become even stronger and more profitable. I still advise Fortune 100 companies, but at SOFTWARE XT, I have spent the past several years adapting and optimizing their world-class business practices to meet the needs of small and mid-sized companies.

Along the way, I have assembled a network of professional advisors and service professionals with extensive experience both as business owners in 27 different industries, and as top-notch consultants and team members. Our advisory team will review all aspects of your business using proprietary analytical tools, from “front office” functions such as marketing, sales and customer service, to ”back office” functions such as product selection, purchasing, inventory management, distribution and information technologies. We’ll help you to evaluate your competition and business environment. We’ll work with you to assess and refine your business strategy, operating procedures and supporting technologies. And we’ll present you with specific value-packed recommendations for optimizing your business, accompanied by specific projected “top line” and “bottom line” cash benefits.

If we can’t find additional cash flow for your business through increased revenues or hard $$$ dollar cost savings, you won’t owe us a dime!

There are several places you could try turning to for independent management advisory services. You could hire a traditional consulting firm, but they generally don’t understand the needs of smaller businesses, and their fees are absolutely insane. You could try working with your CPA firm, but their focus is in accounting and tax services, not on business performance improvement. Either of them would want you to pay significant fees before they demonstrate any financial benefit for your company. And neither of them could actually IMPLEMENT any of their internal process-related recommendations.

SOFTWARE XT is different.

As a SOFTWARE XT client, we offer you your choice of arrangements. We will work for you: a) for a fixed fee, b) on an hourly basis, or even c) on a benefit-sharing basis, meaning that we will work for a percentage of the increased value that we realize for your company through additional revenues and/or cost savings. LOW overhead keeps our rates competitive, and get this…

For any of these options – and here’s one of the key things that makes SOFTWARE XT unique in our industry – we expect to be paid only if and when we identify and realize tangible, cash benefits for your company.

Call SOFTWARE XT today for a free, no risk, no obligation consultation.

Let us help you to unlock the additional cash flow and value hiding within your business. Call us today at 415-SOFTWARE, to discuss how SOFTWARE XT can help you to optimize your business! You can also contact us by e-mail at info@SOFTWAREXT.com.

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DAVID L. BOONE, PMP is a PMI-certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with a track record of successfully implementing Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and Supply Chain Management (SCM) solutions. He is certified in Microsoft, Oracle, PeopleSoft, SAP and Siebel technologies.

David acquired his consulting practice management and business development experience with the Big 4, Tier 1 integrators and major software companies, along with solid Program Management Office (PMO), Information Technology (IT) Governance and Quality Assurance skills. He is especially strong in strategy, business case development, process redesign and solution architecture, making him a key resource for marketing and pre-sales scoping efforts. David identifies, quantifies and articulates the business value of proposed solutions, and bridges the gap between IT, customers, stakeholders, vendors and other participants in the solution delivery process.

A no-nonsense, ex-military officer with an entrepreneurial spirit, David started an IT consulting and services company “from scratch” – cold calling, building relationships, securing clients, developing product offerings, and “delivering the goods” while achieving targets for revenues, milestones, client satisfaction and profit margin.

CORE SKILLS

•    Business Process Re-engineering (BPR)
•    Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
•    Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
•    Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
•    Oracle Certified – R11 CRM / Financial Apps
•    PM Software: MS Project; Primavera P3e
•    Program Management Office (PMO)
•    Project Audits, Assessments & Turnarounds
•    Project Management Professional ID# 35684
•    SAP Solution Manager Certified (C_SMI310)
•    Siebel 2000 Certified Business Analyst
•    Technology/Vendor Selection, RFI, RFP

REPRESENTATIVE PROJECTS AND CLIENTS

•    Developed a customer support interaction and portal strategy for a NASDAQ software company
•    Performed a Sales Force Effectiveness assessment at a global health care products company
•    Charter member of an SAP Program Management Office (PMO) at a global CPG company
•    Turned around a troubled online store implementation at a NASDAQ-traded software company
•    Designed a custom location-based Marketing Intelligence application for a Fortune 50 retailer
•    Managed the implementation of a CRM asset management application at a government agency
•    Directed the implementation of an enterprise automation system at an order fulfillment company
•    Advised on the selection of a best-fit CRM solution for a Fortune 100 financial services company
•    Identified $15 million in annual enhanced revenue opportunity for a test equipment manufacturer
•    Project Manager of a 200-site Oracle ERP implementation at a Fortune Global 10 trading company
•    Captured $10 million in cost savings and increased profits at an information services company
•    Identified reductions in costs per invoice processed of nearly 40 percent at major cable company
•    Reduced cycle times by 50 percent through process re-engineering at a federal government agency

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

SOFTWARE XT, 2001-present. Founder and Principal Consultant.
•    Founded a consultancy providing CRM strategy, business process analysis and reengineering, business case development, product evaluation/selection and project management services.
•    Established and developed business relationships with a portfolio of clients including Fortune 500 companies (Johnson & Johnson, Kraft and Walgreens), small/midsize businesses and state/federal government agencies.
•    Created and delivered targeted service offerings to meet market needs.
•    Developed marketing applications of advanced technologies such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for location-based Marketing Analytics, and virtual worlds (e.g., Second Life®) for cost-effective visualization, prototyping and piloting of branding and promotions in live, 3-D interactive environments.

Answerthink Inc./The Hackett Group, 1999-2001. National Director, Oracle CRM, Eastern U.S. Director, Oracle Solutions.
•    Managed a $20M profit and loss statement and grew the business to $27M.
•    Developed and managed senior level (VP/CIO) client relationships.
•    Provided thought leadership as a key presenter along with Oracle and HP for an executive breakfast series conducted at various national locations.
•    Managed master service agreements (MSA), statements of work (SOW) and change requests.
•    Attained P&L targets through a combination of existing business contributions and new business development.
•    Established effective pricing and staffing levels for each client.
•    Orchestrated cross-functional teams to achieve strong client results.
•    Generated invoices and collected fees; conducted contract negotiations.
•    Achieved recognizable improvements in the skill level and P&L performance of the area and service line.

Oracle Corporation, 1996-1999. Practice Manager, Eastern U.S. CRM Service Line Leader; Strategic Services Consultant.
•    Managed a service line of over 50 consultants.
•    Served as program manager or solution architect on key engagements as part of the delivery team.
•    Performed Solution Value Assessments (SVA) and developed business cases for other select engagements as part of the sales team.
•    Worked with Oracle’s product marketing department to develop the key feature points and value proposition for Oracle CRM applications; provided copy used in official Oracle e-business applications marketing collateral.

Computer Sciences Corporation, 1994-1996. Business Process Re-Engineering Project Manager and Solution Architect.
•    Retained by CSC’s Systems Engineering Division to provide core BPR project management and solution architecture services during the re-engineering surge immediately following the publication of the book Reengineering the Corporation (written by CSC and Harvard-affiliated co-authors.)

KPMG, 1992-1994. Consultant, Federal Systems Group, KPMG Consulting.
•    Conducted Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) assessments of development efforts and IT organizations.
•    Conducted analyses of the key business processes relating to the organizations’ system development activities.
•    Made key recommendations in the areas of life-cycle management, quality assurance and testing.

United States Army, 1983-1992. Major/Branch Chief, Quality Assurance, Information Systems Engineering Command.
•    Responsible for QA and testing programs for all enterprise-wide personnel and engineering management systems within the Department of the Army.
•    Managed QA protocols for systems up to and exceeding $1 billion in cost.
•    Provided direct input to system milestone decisions at Department of the Army level.

TECHNOLOGIES

•    Applications: ESRI ArcGIS 8.x/9.x; mySAP CRM; Oracle eBusiness Suite 11/11i/12 CRM (Contracts, Marketing, iStore, Sales, Service); Oracle eBusiness Suite 11/11i/12 ERP (AR, BOM, INV, OE, OM, WIP); PeopleSoft 8.X CRM; SAP ERP Core Components (ECC) 6.0; SAP R/3 Sales and Distribution (SD); Siebel 2000/Siebel 7.X
•    Platforms: Apache Web Server; Apple MacOS X; LAMP; Linux (Debian, Red Hat, SUSE, Ubuntu); Microsoft Windows XP/Vista; UNIX (HP-UX, Solaris)
•    Languages: ABAP; Ada; CFML; HTML; IDEF; Java; JavaScript; PeopleCode; PHP; PL/SQL; Structured Query Language (SQL); Visual Basic; Unified Modeling Language (UML)
•    Tools: AbleCommerce 5.5; Adobe ColdFusion MX7; Adobe Creative Suite (Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, Illustrator, InDesign); Business Process Visual Architect; ER/Win; ESRI ArcIMS, ArcSDE; HP Project and Portfolio Management (PPM); iGrafx; Mercury ITG; MetaStorm ProVision/BPA; Microsoft Visual Studio; MS Project/Project Server; MS Sharepoint; MS Visio; Niku; PeopleTools; Primavera P3/P3e; SAP Solution Manager; SAS®9; SPSS 14
•    Databases: IBM DB2; Filemaker; Microsoft Access; Microsoft SQL Server 2005; MySQL; Oracle 8i/9i/10g; Sybase
•    Methodologies and Standards: Accelerated SAP (ASAP); Agile/Scrum; BPR; CSC Catalyst, Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM); Oracle AIM, CDM, PGM, PJM; RAD/JAD; PMBOK; Rational Unified Process (RUP); Six Sigma/DMAIC

EDUCATION

•    Master of Science (MS) in Systems Management, University of Southern California
•    Master of Liberal Arts and Sciences (ALM), Digital Media Arts and Sciences, Harvard University (In Progress)
•    Stanford Advanced Project Management (APM) Program, Stanford University
•    Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Geography, West Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University

David’s full profile can be downloaded from most major professional IT contracting boards, or email info@SOFTWAREXT.com to request a copy for a specific contract opportunity.

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