Projects and Profiles

RenoufBooks.COM

Renouf Publishing Company Ltd. was established in 1888 and has, over the years, evolved into North America's largest private distributor of Canadian Federal Government and international publications. Renouf is also the official Canadian distributor for many important international organizations and government agencies, provides full distribution service for a number of Canada's leading Institutes and is renowned for stocking the latest non-fiction books covering the a wide range of subject areas.

Gary Eikenberry Consulting's involvement with Renouf began in 1996 with the development of their first electronic bookstore based on the Stydec shopping cart system.

In the spring of 1999 we began work on a redevelopment of the site to produce a customized, fully searchable, database driven on-line catalogue which continues to grow (currently in excess of 38,000 titles). In addition to the ability to browse and search the extensive book list, Renouf's custom shopping system provides a fully secured custom shopping cart which also allows the retention of customer records and the notification of customers (at their request) of new titles in areas of particular interest.

In the fall of 2000 we engineered a comprehensive upgrade to their on-line shopping system to with the implementation of a US-Dollar pricing stream and enhancements to the user interface, security and error-trapping systems.

Further upgrades and enhancements were added in the first quarter on 2001 as we migrated the site to a dedicated server and a major database upgrade to MS-SQL Server 2000, paving the way for future upgrades including further enhancements to the search interface and then again in late 2002 with further search engine upgrades and enhancements to the checkout system.

In the final quarter of 2004 the site's shopping cart and checkout systems were upgraded and streamlined at the same time as being converted to ASP.NET. Enhancements to both the shopper experience and the management of order processing were also added.

In the spring of 2006 the shopping and search systems were further upgraded to improve site performance, security and scalability.

In the first quarter of 2007 another major site upgrade was undertaken. This included a major face lift guided by a marketing consultant hired by Renouf in addition to enhancements to search, content management and on-line CRM applications.

Renouf's web site traffic and revenue continues to grow at a steady pace with significant increases in U.S. and international business.

We also continue to provide Renouf with web server management, network and general systems support.

CanaDataCorp

Our involvement with CanaDataCorp began long before the company was even a concept. We worked closely with both Vince Greene's Greene Data Systems and Cliff Dawson's Dawson Data International for a number of years. When Vince and Cliff decided to team up with François Berenger to form CanaDataCorp to offer data integration, management and analysis services it was only natural that they would turn to GEConsult.com for network administration and support as well as web site and web application development services.

The Canadian Council of Professional Fish Harvesters

The Canadian Council of Professional Fish Harvesters (CCPFH) The Canadian Council of Professional Fish Harvesters (CCPFH) is a non-profit organization founded in 1995 to represent the interests of professional fish harvesters across Canada in their dealings with the federal, provincial and territorial governments on national issues of common concern and to provide organizational structure and leadership for the development of a program of professionalization for fish harvesters in collaboration with the organizations representing professional fishers across Canada. The Council acts as a National Industry Sector Council, to plan and implement training and adjustment programs for the fish harvesting industry in Canada.

Gary Eikenberry Consulting has provided IT support to CCPFH since the early days of the Council. In 2004 we worked with CCPFH and their design firm to re-engineer their existing web site based on our "3-D" dynamic data-driven model with an ASP.NET front end supported by an MS-SQL Server back end. In parallel with the web site redevelopment we began the process of migrating and upgrading their MS-Access membership database to an on-line SQL Server based system integrated with their re-engineered web site and updated internal data management procedures.

We also continue to provide CCPFH network management and general systems and end-user support services.

The Canadian Society for International Health

The Canadian Society for International Health is a non-profit non-governmental organization committed to the promotion of international health and development. Through the mobilization of Canadian resources, CSIH advocates and facilitates research, education and service activities in international health. The Society seeks to further progressive health policy and programming in all fields where global and domestic health concerns meet. Building on the past work of Society members and colleagues, CSIH actively contributes to the evolving global understanding of health and development.

Gary Eikenberry Consulting's involvement with CSIH dates back to 1991 when we were first involved with developing a custom database solution to meet their needs for tracking membership and volunteers. Since that time we have helped them take their database system through several evolutionary transformations, develop their initial and subsequent local area networks, and have provided on-going comprehensive information systems support as their requirements and staff complement have continued to grow and develop. Most recently, we worked closely with their in-house System Administrator to implement a Windows 2000 Server based network and DSL-based broadband internet connectivity.

We were also instrumental in introducing CSIH to the on-line world in 1993. As an international organization, e-mail, their web site (developed by Gary Eikenberry Consulting and currently maintained by CSIH staff with our support) and their regular electronic newsletter, Synergy Online are key components in their communications strategy.

Other CSIH initiatives with which we have been involved include dynamically updating the Canadian Conference on International Health web site as the conference took place (1995-1997, since which time the conference site has been fully maintained by CSIH staff) and hosting and supporting the Youth for Health Ukraine project web site, maintained by project staff in Kyiv, Ukraine and development of the on-line International Health Human Resource Registry.