Infomark Software Company

07/27/1999

Over the past eight months Michael Steffano of Austin Programmers Group has worked with me
on a web-based customer service application. This is part of a custom application in credit
reporting for mortgage brokers.  This is being developed for one of the top-five mortgage 
credit reporting companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

I am the software application and database designer for the project. Michael has done all the 
programming for the web application, using a combination of Cold Fusion 3.1, Javascript 1.2, 
and HTML. The web-based systems uses the same SQL Server 7 database as an in-house 
customer service request processing system that is written in PowerBuilder 6.5.

The web-based application allows mortgage loan processors to check the status of their customer 
service requests from a web-browser. A service request may take anywhere from a few hours to 
ten days to process. By using the same database as the in-house system, loan processors see up to 
the minute information on the status of their requests. This is critical in cases where a mortgage 
loan closing depends on resolution of credit issues.

This is the first web-based application the credit reporting company has tried to produce. It 
started out as a prototype development project. Customer reaction to the prototype was so 
positive that the prototype was quickly converted into a production application. The design 
specifications I provided Michael were minimal database design documentation, static HTML 
examples of web pages with a brief description of which fields appeared on which pages, and a 
flowchart to illustrate navigation paths between the web pages. Michael was able to work with 
this minimal documentation to produce a complete application. Michael has been very flexible in 
making the many user interface enhancements that were needed as the software progressed from 
a prototype to a production system. The few bugs we found were fixed very quickly. The initial 
reaction of users is that the software is both reliable and easy to use.

I have reviewed the combination of Cold Fusion, Javascript, and HTML code Michael has 
written. The code is well documented. This mixture of scripting languages can easily become 
spaghetti code. However, I have had no problems working with the code in researching potential 
bugs or in designing enhancements. Austin Programmers Group has set up a development environment
that duplicates our production system, so there have been no major implementation issues when the 
software is delivered.

Overall, the web-based customer service system has exceeded the client's expectations for the 
project. Currently, the application lets customers view their service requests. In the next 
phase of development customers will be able to enter service requests through their web browser.
I am looking forward to getting started on this next phase of development with Austin Programmers
Group.


Chet Leighton
President