Essential Strategies, Inc. is not a large company, but it has available a large company's resources, thanks to its association with other companies and organizations throughout North America. Within each category, press the entry name to go to the specified web page.





Categories


User and Other Groups

    Canadian Information Processing Society
      CIPS was organized to: advance the theory and practice of information processing in Canada; promote the free interchange of information about the theory and practice of information processing in Canada and elsewhere; determine, develop and maintain the integrity and competence of individuals active in information processing in Canada; and establish a public awareness of the potential impact of information systems and to protect the public and individuals against the misuse of information systems.

    Data Administration Management Association
      DAMA International is a not-for-profit, vendor-independent association of technical and business professionals dedicated to advancing the concepts and practices of information resource management (IRM) and data resource management (DRM). DAMA International's primary purpose is to promote the understanding, development and practice of managing information and data as a key enterprise asset.

    Information Resource Management Association of Canada
      The Information Resource Management Association of Canada is a non-profit association of information management professionals, whose primary objective is to provide a forum for members to exchange information and experiences involving all aspects of data administration and information resource management.

    International Oracle User Group, Inc.
      IOUG is the formal part of the main Oracle user community. Sponsor of the International Oracle User Week each year, it is the primary focus of Oracle user activities.

    Oracle Development Tools User Group
      The Oracle Development Tools User Group is the international user group for information systems professionals who use Oracle's Designer/2000, Developer/2000, and Discoverer to develop high quality, reliable systems. Members' interests cover all aspects of the system development life-cycle, including business process re-engineering, analysis, modeling, design, and development.

    Oracle User Resource, Inc.
      A forum to enable Oracle professionals to keep up-to-date, share ideas, network with their peers, and present their understanding and hands-on knowledge of an ever-changing and expanding Oracle world, with a mission to provide a platform for the exchange of technical Oracle information. Sponsor of the highly successful "ECO" conferences every spring.

    Origami USA
      OrigamiUSA is a not-for-profit, tax exempt educational and cultural arts organization which is dedicated to the sharing of paperfolding in America and around the world.

    ZIFA - The Zachman Institute for Framework Advancement
      The Zachman Institute for Framework Advancement (ZIFA) is John Zachman's network of information professionals who understand the critical role of enterprise architecture in the ability of the enterprise to successfully participate in the global economy of the 21st century. To this end, the mission of ZIFA is to promote the exchange of knowledge and experience in the use, implementation, and advancement of the Zachman Framework for Enterprise Architecture.


Colleagues

    Alistair Cockburn
      He writes: "Computers must support the way in which people naturally and comfortably work. This is needed both for personal job satisfaction and for corporate survival. I care about whether the team is thriving, and whether the software is being delivered. Keeping the people trained and the process light are key to both."
      Alistair does technical facilitation, process & organization design, project setup, requirements gathering, OO design. He has done this in Europe, America, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and South Africa, and in English, German and Norwegian.

    Business Rule Solutions, Inc.
      Ron Ross and Gladys Lam are the foremost experts in the realm of business rules. This is their company.

    Dulcian, Inc.
      Dulcian, Inc. is Paul Dorsey's consulting company specializing in Oracle systems development using their specialized productivity tools.

    ebg consulting, Inc.
      Ellen Gottesdiener teaches facilitation -- an important skill in making models useful to the business.

    Information Engineering Services Pty Ltd
      Clive Finkelstein's Australian company that provides education and consulting services supporting the use and application of Business-driven Information Engineering and Enterprise Engineering for Systems Development, Systems Redevelopment and Business Re-Engineering in large enterprise projects as well as smaller workgroup projects.

    Inastrol, Inc.
      With Inastrol, Inc., Terry Moriarty provides consulting assistance in developing customer information systems, specifying business rules, and business modeling.

    Knowledge Partners, Inc.
      This is Barbara von Halle's company, specializing in Information Resource Management and Business Rules. She has sold it to Sapiens Decision, and their KPISTEP methodology uses fewer resources, and is faster, more reliable, and more transparent than any other business rules approach. It enables lower cost system development and transformation and ensures the shortest time to market, compared to any other approach. They have added a new focus on Requirements, using their revolutionary framework and methodology called FirstSTEP.

    KnowTech Solutions Inc.
      KnowTech Solutions, operating since 1986 and incorporated in 1993, provides Software Engineering and Advanced Technology to promote competitive advantage. KnowTech has extensive experience in Strategic Information Technology Planning and both Business and Information Modeling. The company builds applications using CASE and RAD methodologies. Amin Adatia is the founder of this Ottawa-based company.

    Palindrome Solutions, Inc.
      A consulting company founded by Mark Kram, which specializes in training and consulting using Richard Barker's data modeling approach.


Interesting stuff

    Alistair Cockburn
      Alistair Cockburn (pronounced "coburn") is one of the most intelligent authors on the object-oriented scene today. He has one book out on Surviving Object-oriented Projects, and another is on the way about use cases. On this web page, you can review the new book. You can also see his many articles on various topics. Most highly recommended are "Writing Effective Use Cases" and "To OO Newcomers".

    Infopackets Free Windows Newsletter
      This is a great source for tidbits of information about how to make Windows a happy part of your life, rather than otherwise. From the web site you can supscribe to a mailing list and get the Infopackets Gazette each day.

    Information Disciplines, Inc.
      IDI is Conrad Weisert's consulting and education firm founded in 1974, specializing in software development methodologies and large-scale project management, Conrad's web site is a cornucopia of interesting articles and diatribes about current subjects.


    Semantic Arts, Inc.
      IS professionals long for systems that are easier to understand and maintain - but new technology, rapidly changing requirements, dwindling budgets, and plain old lack of awareness of what is possible conspire to thwart this desire. Semantic Arts, Inc. offer a range of complexity reducing services, from seminars to workshops and hands-on projects, where we help you assess your current situation and plan an orderly migration to a rational future.

    The Business Rules Group
      An organization founded to formulate statements and supporting standards about the nature and structure of business rules, the relationship of business rules with the way an enterprise is organized, and the relationship of business rules with systems' architectures.

    Philosophy Pages
      This site offers helpful information for students of the Western philosophical tradition. The elements you will find on this site include: a Dictionary of Philosophical Terms and Names, a survey of the History of Western Philosophy, a timeline for the intellectual figures discussed here, a detailed discussion of several major Philosophers, a summary treatment of the elementary principles of Logic, and a generic Study Guide for students of philosophy.

      In addition, it offers links to other philosophical sites on the Internet and the ability to download the entire site for study.


    Origami USA
      For a break from trying to figure out the underlying geometry of an organization, try a doing the same for a piece of paper. Origami USA is an educational and cultural arts organization which is dedicated to the sharing of paperfolding in America and around the world.

    Joseph Wu's Origami Page
      This site has nothing to do with data modeling, methodology, or any of that, either. It's just fun. In his site, Joseph Wu presents exquisite models.

    The Skeptics Society
      The Skeptics Society is a scientific and educatoinal organization of scholars, scientists, historians, magicians, professors and teachers, and enyone curious about controversial ideas, extraordinary claims, revolutionary ideas and the promotion of science. Our mission is to serve as an educational tool for those seeking clarification and viewpoints on those controversial ideas and claims.


    The XML Catalogue
      The XML Catalog lists organizations known to be producing industry-specific or cross-industry XML Specifications. Since XML activity is growing quickly, the list is likely to be incomplete. The catalogue would appreciate your sending us any updates or additions:


    Publishing


      Technics Publicatons, LLC.
        Technics publications is the leading publisher of books on data architecture, including data modeling and data management. They are also the publisher of DAMA's Data Management Body of Knowledge (also known as "DMBOK").

      Prentice Hall, PTR.
        As the world's leading publisher of academic and reference textbooks, Prentice Hall is committed to providing the most innovative, flexible, and powerful educational materials available today.


    Privacy Issues

      American Civil Liberties Union
        The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is our nation's guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.

      Electronic Frontier Foundation Action Center
        Imagine a world where technology can empower us all to share knowledge, ideas, thoughts, humor, music, words and art with friends, strangers and future generations.

        That world is here and now, made possible with the electronic network -- the Internet -- with the power to connect us all. And future developments in technology will enable us to access information and communicate with others in even more powerful ways.

        But governments and corporate interests worldwide are trying to prevent us from communicating freely through new technologies, just as when those in positions of power controlled the production and distribution of -- or even burned -- books they did not want people to read in the Middle Ages. But only by fighting for our rights to speak freely whatever the medium -- whether books, telephones, or computers -- can we protect and enhance the human condition.

        The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) was created to defend our rights to think, speak, and share our ideas, thoughts, and needs using new technologies, such as the Internet and the World Wide Web. EFF is the first to identify threats to our basic rights online and to advocate on behalf of free expression in the digital age.

      Electronic Privacy and Information Center (EPIC)
        The Electronic Privacy Information Center is a public interest research center in Washington, DC. It was established in 1994 to focus public attention on emerging privacy issues such as the Clipper Chip, the Digital Telephony proposal, national ID cards, medical record privacy, and the collection and sale of personal information. EPIC is sponsored by the Fund for Constitutional Government, a non-profit organization established in 1974 to protect civil liberties and constitutional rights.

      Online Privacy for Journalists
        Michael Dagan writes a blog under the title "vpnmentor", and in this one, he has taken up the issue of protecting jounalists' ability to counter the unfortunate trends in modern times.

        Many veteran journalists, but not only these, surely noticed that we are all of a sudden bombarded again from all-over with mentions of Watergate. Books like George Orwell’s 1984 are on display at bookstores and an air of danger to freedom of speech and freedom of the press is spreading slowly like a dark cloud over the Western Hemisphere, raising old fears.

        “The old-fashioned promises – I’m not going to reveal my source’s identity or give up my notes – are kind of empty if you’re not taking steps to protect your information digitally”, says Barton Gellman of the Washington Post, whose source, former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, helped uncover the scope of the NSA’s and British GCHQ’s operations, to his interviewer Tony Loci. Loci herself, who covered American judicial system for AP, The Washington Post and USA Today, and was herself held in contempt of court for refusing to identify sources, would probably endorse that. Mr. Dagon describes what can be done to ensure that a journalist’s sources and data are secure and well? Grosso modo, the tips can be described as falling within the following categories:

        • Securing on-device applications and functions- This is known as reducing the “attack surface”, i.e. limiting the installed apps to the bare minimum, installing only from trusted sources, selecting apps that require minimal rights, keeping the system fully patched and updated, and having as many security controls (based on recent best-practices white papers) on the device.
        • Isolating your devices and/or their environment– For example, the physical insulation of a computer for the purpose of checking files, or the use of prepaid mobile devices.
        • Acting cautiously both in the digital and real world- This has a lot to do with common sense and a little less to do with software: For example, never write down the name of the source, certainly not on any app or on any document that’s stored on your computer – and most certainly not on anything stored on the cloud.

      Privacy International
        Privacy International (PI) is a human rights group formed in 1990 as a watchdog on surveillance by governments and corporations. PI is based in London, England, and has an office in Washington, D.C. PI has conducted campaigns throughout the world on issues ranging from wiretapping and national security activities, to ID cards, video surveillance, data matching, police information systems, and medical privacy.