Vertigo

Windows Marketplace is Microsoft’s shopping portal and the only destination for downloading Windows Vista and Office 2007. Marketplace features a Vista-inspired look, greatly improved search and a copious amount of pertinent editorial content. Among its comprehensive commerce functions, it allows users to buy and try from multiple retailers in a single transaction, to get receipts, review purchases and even get support. But more than bringing a new level of convenience to users, Windows Marketplace brings a new level of convenience to the site’s administrators: its entirely CSS-based UI can be completely redesigned by the editors without assistance from the developers and its easy-to-use content management system helps them keep all information current and relevant.

How do you drive a $600 million dollar company to become a billion company, and beyond?

That was the fundamental challenge Vertigo tackled for Niemann Capital Management. Niemann, a money management firm, needed a web application that could automate complex business processes such as customer account management, billing, reporting, compliance, and investor return analysis, while they simultaneously accommodated other money managers with these same processes. The goal was to enable the company’s market gurus the ease to handle more accounts in a more effective and timely fashion and grow profitability. With the Online Advisor system collecting, cleaning and reconciling data from multiple financial custodians, Niemann managers now enjoy a reliable, complete and real-time view of their clients’ holdings. After 18 months of intensive development, a team of four Vertigo engineers has now been engaged to ensure Niemann remains ahead of the curve by developing Online Advisor 2.0.

The launch event at the Professional Developers Conference is approaching fast. Microsoft has promised to deliver an ambitious new application called Digital Locker. (Tick-tock.)

Microsoft contracted trusted partner, Vertigo, which immediately put a team of 13 engineers to work creating a brand new software delivery paradigm. A standalone web application, Digital Locker allows consumers to search, purchase and download hundreds of software titles from hundreds of vendors. More importantly, it also stores those consumers' product keys and purchase information, so they can backup and reinstall their software from a single safe and secure location. Employing Microsoft's latest technologies, the Vertigo team completed the project in record time, delivering a virtually bug-free app that wowed the developers at PDC. In fact, the app was considered so compelling that Microsoft then asked Vertigo to integrate it into the new Vista operating system, where millions of computer users around the world will soon find - and use - it. (Vertigo engineers, by the way, are listed on the patent applications for Digital Locker.)

Agent00 provides call center agents with a license to skill – or, at least, improve their skills – by giving them near-real-time feedback on their performance. Short for “Agent’s Own Optimization,” Agent00 was developed in less than 15 months for an industry expert in customer support and call centers. It is accessed via each agent’s personal dashboard, displaying various scorecards and performance metrics, such as customer satisfaction, bonus information and peer ranking. A unique enterprise application, Agent00 is offered by Exceed III as an ASP business solution.

The boom in worldwide travel – not to mention the Worldwide Web – landed Rentvillas on the map. But they booked Vertigo to get to their next destination. Founded in 1984, the company had in the last decade become a major online player in international vacation property rentals, primarily for individuals. Seeking new growth, they decided to expand their business to function as an ASP for multi-national partners in the vacation rental industry, including travel agencies and other travel services operators. Within just six months, a nine-member Vertigo crew was able to migrate the client from an older technology platform (ColdFusion) to Microsoft’s state-of-the-art .NET, launching a brand new e-commerce site with a redesigned database and a slick new user interface.

Behind the explosive growth in cellphones is an explosive growth in cellphone infrastructure. That’s where Tetra Tech comes in. Its Wireless Communications Services division manages construction projects for the wireless revolution. Suffice it to say, the company was undergoing significant expansion and needed help managing – stat. They put in a call (wireless, no doubt) to Vertigo. Less than 11 months later, a team of eight developers and designers had delivered a complete Project Tracking System, with a sleakly efficient user interface, featuring role-based dashboards with customized content and comprehensive reporting for company executives. Best of all, by focusing on streamlining the project management process and maximizing the client’s return on investment, Vertigo helped reduce Tetra Tech’s critical Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) rate – its backlog, in effect – by a substantial, and substantially rewarding, margin.