When it's time to take your software engineering capability to the next level, Exia's Software Engineering Consulting service is the answer.

Our highly qualified architects and trainers can show you how to get the most out of your development capabilities, with the following services:

• Architecture instruction and mentoring
• Agile process mentoring
• Team Foundation Server installation, configuration and mentoring

Architecture Instruction and Mentoring

Software engineering is changing rapidly. Gone are the days when applications are coded from scratch by developers using "black magic" techniques unknown to others.

Today, software is increasingly built using proven, tried and tested techniques that guarantee a level of success, predictability, and ease of maintenance.

Organizations that wish to reap the full benefits of this new way of building software need to understand the architectural elements that make up software projects, how those elements are used, and how the use of those elements is affected by the size, scope, budget, longevity, predicted need for interoperability, future expansion plans, and a host of other factors affecting the project.

Exia offers both formal training and mentoring to help you understand the myriad architectural choices available today, and to help you not only make the right architecture decisions, but also rapidly build the software solution on the architecture foundation.

Agile process mentoring

Agile methods are a set of development processes intended to create software in a lighter, faster, more people-centric way. You may have heard of Extreme Programming, Scrum, Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM), Adaptive Software Development, Crystal, Feature Driven Development and Pragmatic Programming that have been appearing since the mid nineties, many as a consequence of the need for alternatives to more traditional heavyweight methodologies. In 2001, several of the most prominent proponents of those "lightweight methodologies" started the Agile Alliance and released the Agile Manifesto, a statement of the values shared by them, for those contemplating new agile development processes. Regardless of the chosen agile process, many teams can benefit by using some core practices (for example, frequent iterations, unit testing, and refactoring).

Exia can instruct you on how to set up your Agile environment using available Microsoft technologies, and can provide both formal training and mentoring in the use of Agile to ensure your team is able to follow the process and achieve the benefits.

Team Foundation Server

Team Foundation Server is the most powerful software process tool available and is the foundation of all Microsoft .NET application development going forward. Whether you are a 5 person micro-ISV or a 3500 person enterprise, Team Foundation Server can help by making collaboration, source control and team communication easier than ever.

Exia offers Team Foundation Server training and mentoring to help you with setup, administration, configuration, and customization.