1. SiS In·Site
A Monthly publication for ADP/SIS Associates
Issue No. 01-01 · January 2001
Archived Issues
GM Message
HR Changes &
Benefits
Product News
Client News
Events
Groups &
Associates
Stock
Performance
Calendar
CyberSpeak
Providing fresh,
insightful news on a
monthly basis.
A Word from Ted Carl
Happy New Year! Congratulations to all ADP/SISers on our many achievements in 2000. We
look forward to additional successes in 2001 - in particular bringing in new business and
enhancing our system to make it the best it can be for our existing client base.
I'd like to republish a quote I shared with many of you a few years ago. I don't know the author,
but I think it's a sentiment from which we can all benefit.
"Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become action. Watch your
action, they become habit. Watch your habits, they become character. Watch your character, for
it becomes you!!"
Every moment in your life counts!
Remember, each one of us makes a difference every day.
HR Changes & Benefit News
Employee Assistance Program
Psych/Care services are provided in partnership with an extensive network of independent,
licensed mental health care providers. This network includes psychologists, psychiatrists,
licensed clinical social workers, licensed marriage and family therapists, and other
professionals. These specialists are highly qualified and ready to help with a wide range of
issues including chemical dependency, marriage, family and relationship problems, personal
emotional problems, work-related problems, legal and financial problems, life-style issues
(smoking cessation, weight management, stress management, parenting classes) If you would
like to talk to someone at EAP, then call (800) 756-5792.
Every word of every conversation you have with EAP is kept completely confidential.
Ergonomics Tip - The Right Posture
Always be aware of how you’re sitting. If you let yourself slouch or
you’re reaching too far, you’re likely to start feeling stiff or sore. The
right posture means sitting in a relaxed well-supported position.
Here’s How:
1. Keep your head and neck upright.
2. Keep your wrists straight and your forearms parallel to the floor.
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2. Please submit articles to
David Laverty in
Corporate
Communications.
May your problems last
only as long as your New
Year’s resolutions.
Joey Adams
Comedian
3. Support your lower back.
4. Keep your feet flat on the floor or support them with a footrest.
Lunch and Learn – Dynamics of Excellent
Communication
Led by Colleen Stanley of Achievement Dynamics
This class will focus on understanding how and why people
communicate differently and eliminating mutual mystification
through active listening. Emphasis will also be placed on
learning the science of neuro-linguistic programming, how it
increases deeper rapport and trust with people as well as
increasing awareness of different behavior styles resulting in
more effective communication.
Wednesday, January 17th
11am and Noon
Large Conference Room
Sign-up sheet available at the front desk
Service Awards
Warren Hayes 5 Years
Anne Lee 10 Years
Paul Prymak 10 Years
Frankie Freeman 10 Years
Kris Rasmussen 10 Years
Ken Giammaria 15 Years
Congratulations on these special milestones!
Sheila Strommen
Product News
SEPG
In early December, we reported that the processMax® -CMM Level 2 Pilot Project was
beginning to move along quickly. The pilot project is the Mutual Fund Profile Project. Holidays
soon arrived, which slowed the project due to vacation time. Yet, the Software Development
Plan is under way and we believe a renewed drive toward completion will occur at the start of
the new year.
Meanwhile, the SEPG is discussing the selection of a second development project for entrance
into the processMax® -CMM arena. We think there are many good reasons to push forward on
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3. the road to software process improvement. We have learned much from the pilot project and
will continue to manage it within the processMax® -CMM structure. Thus, the learning will
continue. However, starting another project will show all associates that Development is
seriously committed to software process improvement. We will keep you informed of our
progress.
The SEPG, as part of the preparation for a second project, will be giving additional
presentations on the Capability Maturity Model and on processMax® and how these models
relate to CMM. Many associates will be required to attend the presentations as preparation for
their involvement. We will open the sessions up to other interested associates as well. If you
would like to attend, please inform any member of the SEPG.
The SEPG has also added the responsibility of producing quarterly Software Project
Measurement (SPM) statistics. The SPM statistics indicate how we report back to ADP, how we
let them know about our projects and how we are managing our projects. At the present time,
we have produced four of sixteen possible metrics. The SEPG is developing a plan to increase
the number of metrics we report over the next several quarters and to improve metric quality.
We also want to automate metric production as much as possible.
Many Development groups have started to automate their current statistics. We want to
highlight these best practices so more Development groups will benefit from other groups’
experience. Remember, software process improvement is our objective and the more we use the
drive, ambition, and insight of the whole organization, the faster we will succeed. We not only
want your help, we need it. If you want to participate, then let us know.
John Krug
Prog Doc Conversion Project
Beginning in June of 2000, Kathy Purvis led a multiple phase
conversion project to convert prog docs from their previous
Tandem format to XML. Prog docs are short for program
documents, which provide clients with relevant
documentation on our programs. This project’s last phase
was completed in November as Development began using
Prog Doc Maker. Prog Doc Maker is a web based XML
editing tool, developed by Dave Curry, used by Development
and Corporate Communications to create and edit the prog
docs.
The project began when a group of temporary employees cut/pasted the prog docs from Tandem
to an XML format. These new XML documents required editing by Corp. Communications.
When the initial XML editing package did not meet expectations, Dave Curry created Prog Doc
Maker. Prog Doc Maker imposes style and form standards to ensure a consistent and correct
format. This tool has increased quality and presentation, yet decreased production time,
resulting in an improved production process, which has added value for our clients.
XML stands for Extensible Mark Up Language. With XML, Corp. Communications can
produce progdocs and deliver these documents more efficiently over Sisnet than the previous
paper/CD method. XML is similar to HTML. Both humans and computers can read and use the
information. Style sheets determine the visual appearance of the prog docs. Content and format
changes can be made independently without disrupting other parts of the document.
In addition to higher quality, we are publishing the documentation as soon as the information is
available. Previously, we distributed documentation on a quarterly basis with printed manuals
and CDs. Many associates and several departments committed long hours of hard work to make
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4. this conversion successful. Client feedback has been quite positive. Kudos for a job well done.
Stephenie Barrett
Client News
SiSnet on the Leading Edge
ADP/SIS’ extranet web site, SiSnet also uses XML to keep our clients informed. By now, you
are probably familiar with the prog docs that SiSnet makes available to our In-House clients.
XML is now also used for the Advantage Data Dictionary. Our Advantage product is a vast
database of customer, trade and other information, which our clients can use for their own
applications and data mining. Until now, there has been little documentation available
describing the definition of fields in the database. Beginning this month, a database of many of
those field definitions will be available via SiSnet, facilitated by XML, which bridges the
information from the database to the web page. Watch for an announcement as this capability
moves on-line.
Another new information channel for our clients is the Service Level Report, aka Report Card,
produced by Dennis Kuskie and John Whitacre. From the large amount of information
processed each night, Dennis and John obtain statistics, which indicate the speed and reliability
of our system. This information is available to the Service Bureau firms through colorful charts
and graphs produced via Crystal Reports. To see our progress, enter SiSnet and click on Report
Cards.
Most documentation we send to our clients including the Service Level Reports is delivered via
Acrobat files, also called PDFs (Portable Document Format). With this format, any computer
can view and print documents with a consistent, reliable appearance. Acrobat’s current version
allows us to hyperlink our documents. For example, a client seeking specific information from a
bulletin can click on a link, which ties that bulletin directly to a current copy of the relevant
User Guide.
Over 70% of our 12,000 pages of product documentation are now available from the
Documentation page of SiSnet. Plans are underway to make the additional user guides available
in the next few months.
Although SiSnet is a client website, all ADP/SIS associates have access to the site via SiSweb.
Associates viewing SiSnet have capabilities, which clients lack, such as access to Service Level
Reports and SiStrack events for all clients. So, keep an eye on SiSnet, one of many places
ADP/SIS implements leading edge technologies.
Chuck Cooley
Holiday Wishes
One of our clients, Bidwell and Company, a discount brokerage firm located in Portland, OR
recently expressed satisfaction with our firm in a holiday card to Mike Ford.
“ Thank you for the great work you and your firm have done this year in helping us become
more competitive in the market and further developing our platform for the future. Our
partnership means a lot and we could not be happier with the working relationships that have
developed at all levels between our firms.”
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5. At one point, Bidwell left our firm and later returned. This firm uses a wide range of ADP/SIS
products and most recently has begun using the Portfolio System, Advantage and Option
Expiration. Thanks to Bidwell for these kind words.
Value Added Product (VAP) Sales
Congratulations to Account Managers for selling these new services to our existing clients!
Adams, Harkness & Hill, RoyalBlue Trading System
BNP Securities Fund/SERV
BNP Securities Networking
BNP Securities BAS/Loanet
Bidwell and Company Open Order Rec. - Mayer
Bidwell and Company Option Expiration Weekend Processing
City Securities Request 350
J.B. Oxford Loanet Interface
Miller, Johnson & Kuehn DepPosRec-Daily ABNAMRO
Miller, Johnson & Kuehn Request 350
New World Securities OMS
Web Street Securities DepPosRec-Daily ABNAMRO
Web Street Securities DepPosRec-Daily DTC
Web Street Securities DepPosRec-Weekly Harris
Harold Sturgis
Events
1st Annual Super Bowl Chili Cook-Off
Test your favorite recipe or just enjoy the food on Friday, January
26th, 2001. If interested in becoming a competitor or a judge,
then contact Sheila or Heather.
Groups & Associates
Faces in our Midst: PSG/Conversions
As its title states, this department consists of two distinct teams. One team is the Production
Support Group, which is available to assist with operational or real-time failures. Anna
Sherman, Ron Hill and Roger Schmidt work in this group. The other team is the Conversion
group, which supports the process of converting clients to our system. Team members include
Beverley Hickey, Jay Dobashi and Tom Schieber. Anne Lee leads the department, and reports
to Mitch Cruz.
This group provides conversion services when prospective firms become clients or existing
clients merge or bring on new correspondents. The group’s most recent effort was the merger of
Burke and Freeman into a renamed client, Harris Investorline.
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6. Internally, the group has implemented the PSG Tracking System to track problems, solutions
and response items in support of the production process. By tracking this information, the group
can look for ways to improve its support by looking for trends or systematic problems. As more
data is collected, the information will be shared with other departments.
On a day to day basis, a word that describes these associates is flexibility. Late night phone
calls, unexpected production issues and conversion deadlines contribute to an atmosphere where
quick and urgent responses are vital to success. Thus, a phrase often heard in these associates’
homes, “It’s after midnight, the call must be for you!”
David Laverty
Pictured above: Tom Schieber, Ron Hill, Anna Sherman, Anne Lee & Beverly Hickey. Jay
Dobashi is pictured lower left and Roger Schmidt is on the lower right.
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7. ADP Stock Watch (ADP)
ADP’s stock has significantly
outperformed the Dow Jones
and NASDAQ market indexes this past year. Despite market corrections, ADP’s stock has
maintained a steady growth rate.
Company Calendar
January 17 Lunch & Learn - Communication
January 26 Chili Cook-Off
CyberSpeak Glossary
Robert Hobbes Zakon, a self-proclaimed Internet expert, maintains a detailed account of the
Internet in his Internet Timeline v5.2, titled History of the Internet.
http://www.zakon.org./robert/internet/timeline. The site chronicles the Internet formation from
the 1950s all the way up through the present day. Check out this fascinating review!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Best wishes for 2001!
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