Among the duties of a System Administrator are; account maintenance, system monitoring, system configuration and builds, shell scripting (automating tasks).
Barbary.com can also help you test new hardware and software configurations, integrate custom monitoring tools with standard reporting tools.
For the Electronic Brokerage Technology (EBT) division of Charles Schwab & Company we provided configuration and maintenance of a network of Sun Solaris and IBM AIX systems used to develop Schwab's Domestic and International Content and Trading Internet sites.
We developed cookbook procedures for production operations. These were step-by-step instructions on installing and upgrading software.
Another service we provided to Schwab was systems level support for testing new web hardware and software. We restructured Schwab's development lab and installed terminal servers to provide remote system consoles.
[Top of page]For 401k MasterWorks, formerly a division of Wells Fargo Bank, now part of Merrill Lynch, Barbary.com assisted in the development of ANA, the Automated Net Answerline. ANA allows 401k participants to view the status of their accounts online, updated daily.
We developed the network links between AVA, the Automated Voice Answerline, a telephony system providing access to users' accounts, and ANA and between the mainframe data and ANA.
For Charles Schwab & Company, Barbary.com re-wrote its online financial planning calculators, including retirement and college planner.
We provided the web administrator for Schwab's Electronic Brokerage Technology (EBT) development group. Duties included configuring web servers, custom site configuration, and NSAPI advice.
For the Internal Web group at Wells Fargo Bank we again provided the web administrator. Additionally, we helped enhance internal tools developed to allow ends users to maintain their own content pages.
[Top of page]When you're moving to a new platform you want the assistance of people with experience. At Barbary.com we have extensive experience porting to many different platforms.
Under contract to Underscore, Inc., a sub-contractor of Digital Equipment Corp., Barbary.com was involved in porting, and customizing, the PrintServer software deployed at Oracle Corp. PrintServer is a network printing application, it combines high speed laser printers directly connected to a network with software on multiple hosts. Originally written for VAX VMS and re-written for SunOS by Underscore, Inc., we assisted in the port and customization to Solaris, for both Sparc and x86, HPUX, Sequent, both DYNIX and ptx, and Pyramid.
Barbary.com assisted Fidelity Investments in porting a securities research database from indexed files under Primos to Prime Information, a PICK-like database. We provided the ability for fund managers and analysts to create spreadsheets directly from the database on the host machine and download them to a PC, bypassing the import and parse functions.
For Byer California, a major manufacturer of women's apparel, we assisted in moving its EDI applications from uniVerse, a PICK-like database, to Oracle. As part of this move we evaluated, recommended and installed third-party software, St. Paul Software's SpEDItrans (formerly Datatrans), to replace in-house developed data mapping programs.
[Top of page]Under contract to Underscore, Inc., a sub-contractor of Digital Equipment Corp., Barbary.com was involved in porting, and customizing, Digital Equipment Corp.'s PrintServer software for Oracle Corp. PrintServer is a network printing application, it combines high speed laser printers directly connected to a network with software on multiple hosts. Originally written for VAX VMS and re-written for SunOS by Underscore, Inc., we assisted in the port and customization to Solaris, for both Sparc and x86, HPUX, Sequent, both DYNIX and ptx, and Pyramid.
For 401k MasterWorks, formerly a division of Wells Fargo Bank, now part of Merrill Lynch, we developed custom network communications between Oracle and their web server system. These communications provided for the immediate update of participant passwords on the server. Passwords could only be changed via a telephony link to the mainframe. This link sends a message to Oracle to update its tables. Oracle sends a message to the network link to update the server. After the server is updated the process is reversed to notify the participant of the results of the process.
[Top of page]Under a contract with Barclays Global Investors (then Wells Fargo Nikko Investment Advisors), a major provider of index funds, Barbary Group revamped the software used by the Cash (Overnight) Trading Desk. Working with the database support team, we added multi-currency functionality to funds managed by the Cash Trading Desk. And, to prepare for moving the trading desk off a legacy system, we conducted a requirements study for a new trading system.
Under the direction of the Credit Department we designed and developed new compliance checking procedures for the traders. The new procedures allowed the Credit Dept. to establish limits for every company. The procedures would not allow a trader to exceed the limits without authorization. Finally, the procedures tracked not only exceptions to the limits, but whenever a trade put the total of all positions within a preset range of the limit.
[Top of page]Under a contract with Barclays Global Investors, a major provider of index funds, Barbary.com designed and developed a new database to support Medium Term Notes. These notes have rates that change a preset times throughout their life.
Working with Fixed Income Portfolio Engineering we developed routines to support international fixed income. International fixed income is difficult because many countries use different methods to calculating interest.
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