Audit and error checking routines/procedures
Drawing on his experience as a bank auditor, Dr. Wilson has been very active in defining and specifying the requirements and procedures to be implemented in order to ensure that all the applications he has been associated with meet audit requirements including support for the requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley in the US.
Compensation Algorithm
Dr. Wilson was the creator and application architect for a Compensation algorithm.
The compensation algorithm, when used in conjunction with a Revenue Distribution algorithm, provides a real-time indicator of whether or not the sales team will qualify for commissions on the proposed business. The algorithm may also be used to calculate the exact amount of the commissions.
Delphi Method
Dr. Wilson was the innovator and pioneer leading to the introduction of the Delphi Method within a major Canadian corporation.
The Delphi Method is a communication methodology/technique particularly appropriate for large groups dealing with complex issue. This process is exceptionally good for encouraging broad participation across many regions (around the globe if necessary). This technique is very useful for bridging time zones, along with enabling the equal participation from individuals representing multiple areas of expertise and/or functions.
The Delphi method has been used for policy development, decision-making, and problem resolution, and was found to be quicker and more focused than trying to schedule multiple meetings.
MS Access ™ on the Desktop
For a considerable length of time Dr. Wilson has been, and continues to be an innovator and pioneer in the use of PC-based database applications as an alternative to the use of spreadsheets.
As opposed to the strict use of PC-based databases for application development, Dr. Wilson has been an innovator and promoter of the use of PC-based databases as an alternative to the use of spreadsheets. More recently this method has become known as MS Access on the Desktop. This method allows the user to handle much larger data sets, with better accuracy, and in much shorter time frames. This method has resulted in significant productivity improvements, and increased accuracy in the daily workflow.
NetMeeting ™
Being one of six early adopters of the NetMeeting application within a major Canadian corporation, Dr. Wilson was both an innovator and pioneer for this application. Starting in 1998, he recognized the potential for collaborative computing; he initiated the use of NetMeeting for application support; and promoted the further use of NetMeeting for training, management meetings, design reviews, and policy development. The use of NetMeeting is now pervasive throughout the corporation.
Dr. Wilson continues to pioneer and promote collaborative applications, which help to minimize travel, enhance communication effectiveness, and speed up business processes.
Quotation Application
Dr. Wilson was a major contributor to architecture of a quotation tool for a major Canadian corporation. He was highly involved in designing the audit aspects of the application; he was the innovator behind the standard format flat file output, which was specifically designed to be pivot table friendly; he was the creator and architect for the discounting algorithms, cost reduction algorithms, assessment algorithms, variable cost algorithms, as well as the executive discounting functionality, and the additional credits and cost functionality. In addition, he was directly involved in the documentation, implementation, and support of the application.
This quotation application is a client/server based quotation application with a server-based SQL Server repository and an MS Access based client. More than 600 sales engineers, globally, have used the application to quote more than 2.5 billion dollars in annual revenues.
Quotation Activity Database
Dr. Wilson was the innovator, architect, developer and implementer of a quotation activity database. This database forms the basis of the quotation data repository/warehouse. The data warehouse contains more than 800,000 records of quotation information, and grows at a rate of approximately 25000 records per month. The quotation activity database supports data mining of quotation activity providing product information such as when last quoted, quotation frequency, quotation volumes, price points, etcetera; customer information such as which customers are active, when was the customer active, regional activity, along with customer interest, and regional interests; and user information such as which users are active, volumes of business quoted, and quality of business quoted.
Revenue Distribution Algorithm
Dr. Wilson was the creator and application architect for a Revenue Distribution algorithm. This is fairly complex algorithm that is used to distribute general credits and discounts across the complete list of quoted products for any single sales transaction. This algorithm presents a more reasonable view of the revenue generating capacity of the products, enables better tracking of revenues, and permits a more precise evaluation of product performance. Some special features of the algorithm are that it will not allow any product to be driven into negative revenue scenario, in fact a minimum margin level can be specified for each product; it can support multiple sales scenarios; and it is easily imbedded in the sales process providing very high utility.
The revenue recognition algorithm eliminated the work effort required of 100 plus high-level employees (accountants) that would require two to three days to manual perform the same function. The algorithm makes it possible for various applications to instantaneously perform the allocation function using a more precise calculation than was being used in the manual effort.
Sales Catalogue
As a key member of a small group of experienced catalog developers, Dr. Wilson was the primary contributor for the reporting aspect of a catalogue database and application. In this role, he specified the required outputs and reports used to reconcile and verify the data, both initially and on an ongoing basis. He furthered specified the outputs and reconciliation procedures to ensure that all audit requirements could be satisfied.
The Catalogue was a Web-based product catalog built on a Microsoft SQL Server database. It was used as the primary repository for commercialized product information.
Standard Format Text Flat file
Dr. Wilson was the creator, application architect, and implementer for a standard format text output file.
This flat text file was specially formatted to support the use of the pivot table functionality that is standard in MS Excel™ and MS Access™. The standardized formatting also enabled the file to be loaded directly into downstream systems and applications. The standardized pivot friendly file format has been found to be exceptionally cost effective eliminating the need for multiple reports, and it has been found to be a very effective means of data transfers and promoting more effective communication.
This innovation reduced related costs for custom reporting by approximately 70%.
Consolidated Reporting
Dr. Wilson was the architect, developer and implementer of the a Consolidated Reporting function. This function employed a database design that utilized the ability to link multiple files using a union query making the multiple files appear and function as a single table in the database. This architecture enabled specifically formatted text and xls files from various regions and product groups to be deposited to a network file folder (server). The application instantaneously consolidated all the files and provided the consolidated information in the form of executive reporting. The reports provide a fully consolidated corporate view as well as comparative product views and regional views. The reports could be viewed on-line or extracted in the form of further spreadsheets and PowerPoint inputs. It was a simple architecture that was exceptionally easy to maintain, very powerful, and very cost effective.
Text dump for archiving
Dr. Wilson was the innovator, architect, and implementer for a text dump archiving method.
When faced with the challenge of archiving multiple years of quotation information from a quotation tool that was being decommissioned, Dr. Wilson presented the option of creating a series of folders on a network-based file server. The folders were specifically structured so that even a novice user could navigate them quickly and easily. It was then possible to use the standard Microsoft file and folder search functionality to find any file using simple text string information. This architecture was found to be extremely cost effective and provided exceptionally broad access along with very high utility.
Warrants Application
Dr. Wilson was the innovator, architect, and implementer for a Warrants application. This application was used to generate warrant letters to taxpayers, and then track the associated payments.
The Warrants application replaced a manual process that required the full time employment of one person, and reduced manual effort involved in the process from three days down to fifteen minutes. The Warrant creation and letter mailing aspect of the process was reduced from two-days down to five minutes.