Consultant/Developer, Technical Project Lead

A Hamburg private bank wanted to streamline and make transparent its Word-based internal process for closing customer accounts. We built a Notes application to capture data from all departments and support it with an automated workflow. Many departments participated sequentially or in parallel. The app needed configurable reminders and a reminder email function.

Built a Notes app meeting all department needs. Implemented a configurable workflow engine supporting serial and parallel steps. Added email templates for reminders and three-stage escalation management.

Approach:

• Requirements analysis
• IT concept
• Workflow engine implementation
• Notes app development
• Configured workflows, reminders, email templates
• Documentation
• Testing

Tools: IBM Domino 9, IBM Notes 9, Lotus @Functions, LotusScript.

Result: The detailed IT concept laid a solid foundation for aligning requirements. Thanks to Notes’ RAD approach, we delivered the app including configurable workflow in about 40 person-days. The workflow engine was built for easy reuse in future projects.

The manual Excel-based invoicing for an IBC container rental needed replacing with automated billing. Invoices should be sent by email. Different billing models and delivery methods had to be configurable. Invoices are PDFs: a cover with summary lines and a detailed multi-page annex. Annexes vary per customer, may include current stock lists. The module had to support cancellations and partial cancellations.

Built the billing system as a Notes database and integrated it into the existing Notes app suite. Auto-generated monthly invoice lines from rentals. Created all PDF invoices on demand and sent them via email. Handled rental period changes. Combined all invoice parts into a single PDF.

Approach:

• Analyzed billing types and rental conditions
• Designed solution
• Detailed test plan
• Created report templates
• Implemented billing
• Testing and bugfixes

Tools: Combit List & Label, IBM Domino 9, IBM Notes 9, Lotus @Functions, LotusScript, MS Excel, PDF24.

Result: Billing cycle reduced from 14 days to one. One person now handles invoicing instead of two. Paper and postage costs dropped, and errors greatly decreased.

A food manufacturer’s management info system serves as a central database for environmental, safety, health, emergency, and energy management. Their inflexible one-document hazard assessment module needed reprogramming to meet legal and professional rules. Each hazard must link to risk evaluations via a custom risk matrix, and measures must be recorded. Various reminder functions, like for meeting deadlines, were needed.

Drafted a concept to meet customer needs. Rebuilt the hazard assessment module and integrated it into the management system.

Approach:

• System analysis
• IT concept
• Prototype implementation
• Prototype demo
• Full implementation
• Testing
• Go-live

Tools: IBM Lotus Notes 8.5, Lotus @Functions, LotusScript, MS Word, Ytria ScanEZ.

Result: Splitting assessments into a hierarchy of hazards and measures achieved high flexibility. Delivering a prototype early helped uncover and fix issues before full build. The final structure made hazard assessment a central safety tool.

Supported Lotus Notes development in projects:

• Designed and built a competitor data database, migrated legacy data, and implemented complex metric searches.
• Enhanced a patent monitoring workflow system.
• Analyzed and fixed a legacy document management system with complex permissions inheritance.
• Maintained various Stage-Gate product development databases, generating PowerPoint, Excel, and Word reports.
• Provided third-level support.

The client uses ~15 Stage-Gate workflow apps and custom workflows for global product development.

Tasks:

• Maintained ~15 workflow databases
• Perf analysis/optimization for global access
• Improved maintainability by centralizing code modules
• Integrated cross-database strategic project planning reports

Result:

• Central repository for keywords, design elements, and modules improved maintainability
• Performance gains in agent runtimes, Office reports, and form load times
• Successfully rolled out the strategic planning module
• Central implementation and thorough documentation ensured maintainability despite diverse implementations

Tools: Lotus @Functions, Lotus Notes 6.5 & 8.5, LotusScript, MS Access, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, MS Word, Teamstudio Analyser, Build Manager, CIAO, Configurator, Ytria ScanEZ, JavaScript, XPages.

A major German health insurer’s web content was restructured. Its Lotus Notes-based WCMS has about 30 themed databases and generates ~30,000 web pages. To reduce editors’ work, we added helper features to move entire content sections between databases, update links, and adjust document links automatically.

Tasks:

• Link checker to find and fix all link variants in the WCMS
• Migration tool to automate post-copy cleanups
• Comprehensive logging

Approach:

• Analyzed WCMS structure
• Built helper functions
• Created test plan
• Performed tests
• Documentation
• Rollout planning

Tools: Lotus Domino 8, Lotus Notes 7.0.2 & 8, LotusScript, Teamstudio Configurator, UNIORG SYNTAGS ContentBase, Ytria ScanEZ.

Result: The restructure was done quickly. Editors’ manual fixes on status, permissions, and broken links dropped to a minimum. Color-coded logs highlighted inconsistencies and uncovered past errors.

For vehicle quality assurance, many component and full-vehicle tests run regularly. Inspections for vehicles and parts, based on mileage or time intervals, were managed manually by engineers.

We added an inspection calendar to their complex Lotus Notes testing system. It supports scheduling manual and auto-generated dates, recalculating future dates when current ones shift, and filtering displayed dates by user-defined criteria.

Approach:

• Analyzed test app
• Designed inspection calendar
• Coded calendar
• Testing
• Technical docs

Tools: Lotus @Functions, Lotus Notes 7.0.2, LotusScript, Teamstudio Configurator.

Result: The inspection calendar integrated successfully. Engineers now have much better control over their own and others’ inspections and can easily spot due or overdue dates.

A logistics firm planned a new ERP to merge data from Lotus Notes, Navision, and MS SQL. We built an export function for their address database.

Approach:

• Analyzed migration options
• Examined Notes CRM data structure
• Wrote interface spec
• Coded address export in Notes

Tools: Lotus @Functions, Lotus Notes & Domino 6.5, LotusScript, Ytria ScanEZ.

An IT provider for a construction group uses a complex Notes/Domino PM system. Reporting relies on large multi-sheet Excel files spanning periods up to 10 years—time-consuming and error-prone, and not integrated.

We built a standalone Notes reporting database integrated into the PM solution. We stored the Excel monthly report data centrally and created a bi-directional interface to Excel using MVC patterns.

Approach:

• Analyzed Excel reports
• Learned PM system
• Reviewed existing interfaces
• Designed bi-directional interface
• Coded interface
• Testing
• Technical docs

Tools: Lotus Domino 6.5, Lotus @Functions, Lotus Notes 6.5, LotusScript, MS Excel 2000 & 2007, MVC, Subversion, Teamstudio CIAO & Configurator, VBA, XML, Ytria ScanEZ.

Result: We created Excel templates with dynamic data regions to preserve complex calculations. Interface configs as XML delivered flexible control of data exchange between Notes and Excel.

Over the years, the consultant has repeatedly helped us succeed in various projects in Lotus Domino application development, SQL databases/reporting, and interface development with outstanding personal and technical skills. Even in tough phases, he ensured all goals were met. We wholeheartedly recommend him and will work with him again on future projects!

The client’s Notes CMS provides intranet info via Notes client for editing and browser for reading. Over years it grew complex with many script libraries and design elements. They wanted to integrate it into the corporate WebSphere portlet portal.

We integrated the CMS into the portal, improved performance, fixed JS navigation and sitemap issues, redesigned the sitemap, and estimated effort.

Approach:

• System analysis
• Effort estimation
• Implemented requirements
• Testing
• Updated documentation

Tools: CSS, HTML, JavaScript, Lotus Notes & Domino 6.5, Dreamweaver, Visio, Teamstudio Analyser & Configurator.

Result: Detailed analysis of recursive script structures avoided side effects and produced realistic estimates. We delivered HTML modules for the portlet server and completed all tasks within the estimated timeframe.