We are a small firm. We've been in business since 1987, and before that Ken Roberts was in the computer industry for 19 years, working with a university, a small business, municipal government, and a minicomputer manufacturer.

We are located in the London, Ontario area of Canada. Most of our clients are located in Southwestern Ontario, although we have done work for clients from San Francisco to Quebec City.

Much of our work consists of supporting existing clients. We are always interested in hearing from potential new customers. We try to ensure, through initial discussion, that there is a reasonable business fit. Sometimes we may refer a prospective customer to someone else who is closer to them geographically or in terms of skill set requirements.

Usually our customers fit one or more of the following criteria:

• Is a mid-sized business, 10 employees up to 2,400
• Probably located in Southwestern Ontario, Canada
• Likely uses Linux, AIX or Unix -- eg SCO Openserver
• Perhaps uses Appgen business accounting software
• May have Internet based applications or databases

We provide consulting services, custom software and systems support for mid-sized businesses. Typically our clients have a small (or no) in-house data processing staff. If they have some staff, then we provide specialist services or focus on particular projects which are hard to get done with in-house resources. If the client has no computer staff, eg a business with less than say 50 employees, then we act as a part-time on-call computer department and help them tackle the variety of tasks needed to run a successful computer operation in their company. Most commonly we set up procedures and transfer computer knowledge to the client's designated staff so it is not necessary to call us for standard systems tasks. We can act as a backup support in the event of personnel change or vacation.

Our work is client-centered, not product line centered. Each client has distinct needs, which arise from the client's particular business operations, their business environment, their staffing, and their objectives. There is no single product or product family which is suited to all situations. Even in the same industry, companies are very distinct and this is often the basis of their quality and competitive strength. We work with our client in whatever way is mutually determined to be most effective in supporting the client's business plans.

Where might you encounter our work? We like to take a practical, end-result oriented approach to computer services which will enhance the overall quality of our clients' business operations. So the answer is: You've encountered our work through our clients.

• Did you fill up your car at a gas pump, eat breakfast cereal, visit a shopping mall, drink beer, or enjoy recreation on an unpolluted lake during the past few years? Our clients are small business suppliers to larger firms which provide those sorts of end-consumer products or services. We help our clients keep their computer operations running smoothly. Benefit to our clients: faster response to their customers, lower transaction costs, more revenues.

• Did you buy or sell a house in Southwestern Ontario since 1991, or almost anywhere in Ontario since 1993? Part of the legal search for that transaction likely went through software which we originally developed. Benefit: lower transaction costs, more accuracy.

• Have your children ridden a school bus since 1990? If it was in one of some 70 school districts in Canada or the Northeastern / Central United States, then much of the driver training and safety program was coordinated by software which we wrote. Benefit: fewer accidents, lower insurance rates.

• Do you read a community newspaper? In some 60 communities in Central and Western Canada, the accounting operations of that newspaper are supported by our work. Benefit: better customer service, more accuracy, reduced cost.

• Some of the other business areas we have worked with include credit unions (financial network transactions), regional airlines (financial modelling and schedule analysis), and computer systems / network security.

Typical projects are in the 50-500 hour range, but we have done some much smaller "point" projects, and have some clients for whom we have provided thousands of hours of service over the years. Often we are called initially for some sort of fixup or cleanup project -- a business system is not performing as it should to support the overall business operations. During the course of our work, we become familiar with the client's business priorities and operations, and build a long-term good working relationship. The client can then call on us whenever there is a need for followup or a new project. Often what is required is not a project, but just a bit of support or a small adjustment to an existing system.

Most of our work centers around Linux, AIX or UNIX systems, with Windows or DOS involvement for some distributed applications. We have worked extensively with Linux, SCO Openserver and Unix, and IBM AIX. Also we have moderate experience with some other Unix implementations.

We program mostly in the C language, in Appgen, in Perl, in Unix shell scripts, and in older languages as needed. Databases we work with include Appgen and Dbase (Codebase via C). We've seen enough different languages and databases over the years, that we'll tackle pretty much any situation if it represents your business needs.

Generally speaking, our focus is on getting something implemented which meets a business objective, or on getting something fixed. General-goals projects which advance the technology or endeavour to develop something that is product-like are not our emphasis; we work best when there is a specific user requirement in mind.

Sometimes what we do is oriented to personnel or organizational aspects of a project or department -- eg a data processing manager may be new on the job and desire some assistance while getting things sorted out, or an activity may be lagging and need a stronger results focus, or a department may be able to benefit from some rebalancing of resources and projects. With over 30 years of experience, we have seen a lot of success in business computer projects. As in all our work, we do what's appropriate to the particular client not apply a "one size fits all" method.

Our work is driven by your business needs. Can we help you achieve your firm's goals as they relate to computer technology? We would be pleased to hear from you.

You can contact us at:

Ken Roberts Computer Consultants Inc.
Attn: Ken Roberts
7009 Glendon Drive
Melbourne, Ontario N0L 1T0
Canada

Phone: 519-289-5380

E-Mail: ken2@mirror.org

URL: http://www.mirror.org/krcc.html
Last revised October 28, 2005.
Copyright 1997-2005 by Ken Roberts Computer Consultants Inc.