FoCul - Making IT Work for You http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/ en-us Thu, 20 Dec 2007 12:35:38 +0100 FoCul Supports Sue Ryder Care Thu, 20 Dec 2007 12:35:38 +0100 http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/focul-supports-sue-ryder.htm FoCul Charity Sean Cull http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/focul-supports-sue-ryder.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/focul-supports-sue-ryder.htm Sue Ryder


Sue Ryder Care is dedicated to helping people get the best
from life. We specialise in palliative care, neurological care
and homecare. We provide expertise where people need it,
maximising and supporting their choices and independence.




Sue_ryder.jpg ]]> http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dxcomments/focul-supports-sue-ryder.htm http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/focul-supports-sue-ryder.htm?opendocument&comments FoCul Supports Lupus UK Thu, 20 Dec 2007 12:30:01 +0100 http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/.htm FoCul Charity Sean Cull http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/.htm Lupus UK

LUPUS UK is the only national registered charity supporting people with systemic lupus and discoid lupus and assisting those approaching diagnosis. We presently have over 7,500 Members and 30 Regional Groups who arrange medical talks, publish local newsletters, set up local occasions and organise fundraising events. LUPUS UK also produces an informative national magazine with lupus articles, letters, reports, and photographs, and operates a strong Grant Programme for research purposes and welfare.



lupus.jpg ]]> http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dxcomments/.htm http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/.htm?opendocument&comments What is an Associate ? Sat, 15 Dec 2007 10:42:01 +0100 http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/what-is-an-associate-.htm Careers Sean Cull http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/what-is-an-associate-.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/what-is-an-associate-.htm
An associate will typically have a project by project agreement with FoCul and has considerable flexibility within that as long as the overall service to the customer is excellent.

From the customers perspective they are a FoCul team member and their work will be to the same high standards and will be delivered using the FoCul processes.

This type of relationship works well because of the flexibility that it gives to all and is popular with IT professionals who want to work through their own limited company.

For people interested in this type of flexibility but do not have a limited company we can provide a similar way to working via a PAYE based part time approach. ]]> http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dxcomments/what-is-an-associate-.htm http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/what-is-an-associate-.htm?opendocument&comments Visual Directory - FoCul adds thumbnails to the Domino Directory Sat, 8 Dec 2007 18:40:02 +0100 http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/visual-directory---focul-adds-thumbnails-to-the-domino-directory.htm News Sean Cull http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/visual-directory---focul-adds-thumbnails-to-the-domino-directory.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/visual-directory---focul-adds-thumbnails-to-the-domino-directory.htm FoCul has developed a process to allow thumbnails to be shown in views in the Domino Directory. Users can add their own thumbnails as jpg attachments and these are automatically processed and displayed in the views as shown below.

This significantly improves the usefulness of the Domino Directory.
  300x300fordaxham.jpg The code uses DXL to create image resources from the attachments. The Image resources are then displayed in the view

We have developed this code for one of our clients who has agreed to let us Open Source it.

We will be realising the code along with instructions in the near future, probably via OpenNTF.

If you have any queries about what we have done or would like us to modify your directory please do not hesitate to contact us ]]> http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dxcomments/visual-directory---focul-adds-thumbnails-to-the-domino-directory.htm http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/visual-directory---focul-adds-thumbnails-to-the-domino-directory.htm?opendocument&comments FoCul Sponsors a Guide Dog for the Blind Sat, 8 Dec 2007 12:18:27 +0100 http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/focul-sponsors-a-guide-dog-for-the-blind.htm FoCul Charity Sean Cull http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/focul-sponsors-a-guide-dog-for-the-blind.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/focul-sponsors-a-guide-dog-for-the-blind.htm Guide_Puppy.jpg FoCul has sponsored a guide dog called Libby for the next 2 years






libby.jpg ]]> http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dxcomments/focul-sponsors-a-guide-dog-for-the-blind.htm http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/focul-sponsors-a-guide-dog-for-the-blind.htm?opendocument&comments FoCul and Lucite International develop REACH Compliance Process Sat, 8 Dec 2007 11:59:10 +0100 http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/focul-and-lucite-develop-reach-compliance-process.htm Case Studies Sean Cull http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/focul-and-lucite-develop-reach-compliance-process.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/focul-and-lucite-develop-reach-compliance-process.htm
Lucite engaged FoCul after reviewing other commercial offerings. If you would like to know more about tools to help you manage the complexity of REACH then please contact us.


We will publish a Case Study soon but the functionality of the system includes :

The ability to record chemical usages by site or plant and to consolidate that information into a single system

The ability to list all chemicals used by the different suppliers of those chemicals and to perform a risk assessment against those suppliers

An automated process which will generate and track a web questionnaire fro each combination of chemical and supplier.

If you would like to see an example questionnaire please leave us your corporate email below. ]]> http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dxcomments/focul-and-lucite-develop-reach-compliance-process.htm http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/focul-and-lucite-develop-reach-compliance-process.htm?opendocument&comments FoCul Launches new Skills Management System Sat, 8 Dec 2007 11:37:28 +0100 http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/focul-launches-new-skills-management-system.htm News Sean Cull http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/focul-launches-new-skills-management-system.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/focul-launches-new-skills-management-system.htm
The system allows both individuals and managers to take control of their skills training records in a fully controlled and auditable way.

Skills requirements can be determined directly from Role Specific Training Needs Analysis and also from ad-hoc training requirements

The system is part of our new Business Efficiency Suite. We will bring you more information once the systems have gone live ]]> http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dxcomments/focul-launches-new-skills-management-system.htm http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/focul-launches-new-skills-management-system.htm?opendocument&comments FoCul Launches new Activities Management System Fri, 7 Dec 2007 15:00:00 +0100 http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/focul-launches-new-activities-management-system.htm News Sean Cull http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/focul-launches-new-activities-management-system.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/focul-launches-new-activities-management-system.htm
Reading ( and confirming that they have read ) new instructions and procedures specifically relevant to them

Completing work flow activities in other processes e.g. authorising a Safety report, re-issuing a controlled document

Completing training identified in the Training system

The system is part of our new Business Efficiency Suite. We will bring you more information once the systems have gone live in January ]]> http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dxcomments/focul-launches-new-activities-management-system.htm http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/focul-launches-new-activities-management-system.htm?opendocument&comments FoCul Sponsors Multiple Sclerosis Society Peru Challange Wed, 30 May 2007 11:03:24 +0100 http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/focul-sponsors-multiple-sclerosis-society-peru-challange.htm FoCul Charity Sean Cull http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/focul-sponsors-multiple-sclerosis-society-peru-challange.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/focul-sponsors-multiple-sclerosis-society-peru-challange.htm http://www.focul.net/charities" title="http://www.focul.net/charities">ongoing program to sponsor worthy causes FoCul is sponsoring an 8 day Peruvian Trek by Eileen Fitzgerald in aid of the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Eileen was one of the organisers of the recent Irish Lotus Users Group conference

http://www.ms-society.ie/index.html" title="http://www.ms-society.ie/index.html"> The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Ireland


The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Ireland is the only national organisation working solely on behalf of people living with Multiple Sclerosis and thousands more who share their lives.

MS Ireland provides a wide range of services and support that are often a lifeline for some 7,000+ people living with Multiple Sclerosis. Such services include the MS Helpline, a network of professional community workers and case workers throughout Ireland and the MS Care Centre.

There is also an extensive branch network throughout Ireland, our 41 branches are run entirely by volunteers. The work of MS Ireland in providing this support for people living with Multiple Sclerosis is only made possible by the valuable assistance provided by a wide range of volunteers and supporters.

Click below for Eileens Charity page

500_Eileen.jpg ]]> http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dxcomments/focul-sponsors-multiple-sclerosis-society-peru-challange.htm http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/focul-sponsors-multiple-sclerosis-society-peru-challange.htm?opendocument&comments Working at FoCul Fri, 4 May 2007 09:15:22 +0100 http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/working-at-focul.htm Careers Sean Cull http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/working-at-focul.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/working-at-focul.htm Our Values :

At FoCul we believe very strongly in providing a very competent professional service to our customers.

We also believe in giving our clients the best total value for money and a clear expectation on cost. Our work is often on a fixed price basis.

Our Customers :

Our customers tend to be organisations that we have an ongoing relationship with. They trust us to do a good job and to give best value.

The type of work that we do :

We do a wide range of work from ad-hoc 15 minute help calls ( mostly from administrators or developers rather than users ) through to 40 person day development projects.
We tend to work either individually or as a team of two with one person taking a Project Manager role and the other the lead development role.

The projects cover the whole range of typical Lotus Notes / Domino applications from HR systems through to systems for assessing the safety of chemical storage tanks. They tend to be departmental or site solutions rather than large enterprise solutions ( although we do these too )

Although we do work very closely with client side IT professionals most of our work is directly with end users and business process owners

How we do the work :

As work comes in it is queued and allocated to people. Where possible we try and use the same people on a  job from start to finish.

You will generally be involved with specifying the work with the client although in some cases this may be after a Proof of Concept has been completed.

We have a work process with a series of steps to ensure that the work is robust and does what the customer wants. The extent to which this is used will vary between jobs but it is important. The key steps are :
  • Specification

    Working with the client to understand what their needs really are and to use our knowledge to help them find the best combination of functionality and cost.
    Our specification documents would typically be a list of requirements with some examples of the look and feel ( often quoting previous work ). For larger projects we us a project Wiki to capture the specification
  • Proof of Concept

    On some projects we will produce a Proof of Concept system. We do this where we feel that there is an area of technical risk that we need to eliminate or where we feel that we need something tangible to make sure that both the client and ourselves have similar expectations.
  • Development

    We have guidance that developers need to work within. This is based on a customers particular "look and feel", pre-existing modules that we wish to re-use and some simple conventions that we use
    There would normally be a brainstorming session between the developer and the project manager ( or another developer ) at the start of the development process

    Ideally developers have a dedicated server with their own OU and the ability to create test users etc..
  • Developer Testing

    All projects have a step where the developer tests their work before taking it to the client. Reservations from this point onwards are raised and tracked in a reservations database.
  • Internal Testing

    On larger projects the project manager or another developer will help test the application before it goes to the client for UAT. All reservations are captured and tracked
  • User Acceptance Testing

    Most work goes through this phase. For large projects it may involve two rounds of testing, for smaller projects it may be a quick phone call.

    Where we do two rounds of UAT the first is primarily to confirm that all of the required functionality is in place ( although robustness is important ) while the second is to confirm that the application is totally robust
  • Support and Enhancements

    Our fixed price projects typically include a budget for enhancements so that the client can have changes made. We also work pro-actively with the client to ensure that the application is a success

    We do not charge customers to fix our mistakes so it is important that the work is well done and well supported
The Working Environment

FoCul does not have traditional offices and only around 10% of our work is done on our customers sites. We can arrange office space but our preferred scheme is to work from home offices.

We use VOIP, Notes and  Sametime to create a virtual office environment ( sounds very grand ! ).

Where possible each developer has their own OU and server

Full time roles are required to work fairly set office hours but part time and associate roles can work as flexibly as required as long as the customer receives an excellent service ]]> http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dxcomments/working-at-focul.htm http://www.focul.net/public/foculweb.nsf/dx/working-at-focul.htm?opendocument&comments