Web Development Live

IBM and Fair Isaac have expanded their cooperative efforts into a joint strategic and global marketing alliance. Under an agreement announced recently, Fair Isaac’s enterprise decision management (EDM) solutions, which typically support decision-making in industries such as finance, insurance and healthcare, will be centered on IBM’s service-oriented architecture (SOA) products.”Both Fair Isaac and IBM fully embrace and support SOA to deliver open-standards business applications to any number of users regardless of their existing technology infrastructure” said Mark Hanny, vice president of strategic partnerships, IBM.Both companies will work together to build the next generation of Fair Isaac’s enterprise decision management applications on IBM’s DB2, WebSphere, Rational, and Lotus product lines. The two companies will also focus their development on applications running on IBM’s Portal and System z and p platforms.”Our joint clients can now more easily overcome one of the key challenges of implementing an SOA infrastructure to deliver Information on Demand (IOD) managing, integrating, and unlocking value from their business information and become more flexible to better compete globally,” added Hanny.The new strategic alliance agreement also grew out of a need to integrate four of Fair Isaac’s products, including Capstone (origination), Finance (account management), Debt Manager (collections and recovery) and Falcon (fraud prevention).The agreement includes joint development and co-marketing and sales of applications aimed at financial services. IBM’s Global Business Services division will provide systems integration support.

The 17-year-old student has taken to heart a Michael Park School brief to positively contribute to his community.

The result is a thumpingly good variety show of musical and comedy talent that promises a fantastic night out.

The show promises dual feel-good belly laughs too, because all profits from Keys for a Cause are being donated to the charity, Altrusa International of Auckland.

Altrusa is a focused group of Aucklanders who help families in Paul’s immediate community, contributing to a local decile one school and assisting families with special needs children, often those who cannot afford professional care or treatment.

“I’ve arranged several professional acts, including a jazz group, a Latin American group, two comedians who recently performed at Auckland’s Comedy Festival, James Keating and The Minstrel, and a couple of very talented soloists,” Paul says.

Every student in the Ellerslie school’s year 13 class must plan and conduct a year-long independent study that benefits their community.

One of the project requirements is the socio-ecological aspect, where each student shows they’re directly giving back to their immediate community, either within the project itself, or at some point throughout the year.

“I chose this as a project because I’ve always been drawn to the dramatic arts,” Paul says.

The teen has been working on and behind the stage since 1999 and loves the theatre experience, the teamwork and the technical magic that goes into a show.

“This project has proven to be the opposite of my theatre experiences so far. I’ve had to work methodically, stay on-task and keep records of every stage of the planning - whereas on the night theatre work is more about spontaneity,” he says.

Paul’s personal passion for web-design made creating a website for his cause an absolute pleasure, and it shows.

“A good friend in the web development industry had taught me the basics of web-design about three years ago and since then, I’ve been putting together sites as a hobby and part-time income. It was logical to put together a site to help promote the event,” he says.

The ticket ordering system was the most challenging aspect but tied neatly into one of Paul’s key challenges - keeping records and managing funds.

With all the web orders placed he can keep track of how sales are going and whether deadlines are being met.

Paul says the project has been ‘amazingly valuable’ particularly in respect of people skills and management.

“I’ve learned that if you don’t ask, you don’t get. There are a number of people that I couldn’t have done this thing without. I also have some sponsors helping keep expenses to a minimum and each and every performer is giving their time and effort free of charge.”

With a full house of 300 seats, Paul is hoping to raise $6000 for Altrusa.

The organisation hopes to increase its member base and take on greater projects assisting local children and increasing literacy. At present they need help to buy young people’s spectacles.

Keys for a Cause is on August 25, at 7pm, in the Michael Park School Auditorium.