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The relationship
between McKessonHBOC and Psyex began in 1998. At that time we had a small
team of people including one dedicated and overworked graphics person
whose only job was to do the layout for our catalog we published each
month, which ran between 100 and 250 pages, and served as a significant
revenue stream. Russ McBride said he could build a program that would
automatically build that catalog with the touch of a button. Well, since
designing a catalog requires layout decisions we didn't think a computer
could make, and since we had so many products that had to be handled in
so many different ways, we were highly skeptical. The demo Russ showed
us absolutely blew us away however! His software not only handled the graphics,
it also took care of a host of other problems we
didn't realized we had, for example, a paper trail of different versions
of information on a product meant that sometimes we'd put the wrong information
into the catalog and no one could be sure what the latest version of the
info for their product was unless they pestered the graphics designer.
Part of the solution included a remotely accessible database that anyone
could examine, allowing them to quickly verify the data and easily update
it, right up until the last minute. Well, we jumped at a full-scale version
of Psyex's solution, which was then developed, and we've never looked
back. Each month we just press a button! A smart hard-working team that's
always thinking of our best interest.
We've come to value Psyex as a great collegue. Mr. Russ
McBride, CCP hired
Russ McBride to evaluate our FileMakerPro networked
database that tracked the flow of every job coming through CCP. In
short order he put together a 100+ page report so we could understand
the detailed structure of the System and then did a fine job of
cleaning it all up and building feature add-ons that allowed us to
perfom critical financial anaylses of the business we wouldn't have
been able to do otherwise. Russ is a very detailed and spirited
worker. At philip
gittelman productions, inc., we've had the pleasure to leverage
both sides of Psyex Consulting's capabilities: outstanding research, and
a deep understanding of computer technology (not to mention an intuitive
appreciation of when and how to bring the two together).
Russ McBride not only understands the technology, he has the
knowledge to know how to use it, when to use it and, equally important, when
not to use it. Couple that with communications skills, so that it all makes
sense.
Russ headed up the research efforts for our award winning documentary on the
Union Carbide Bhopal disaster. He deftly navigating through reams of legal
depositions, internal memos, and media coverage to isolate the
material that became the heart of our film. That same ability that enables
him to get to the important core of a research effort he uses to
quickly identify the technological cruxes and then finds inventive, cost
effective solutions.
Russ has served and continues to serve as our Chief Technology Advisor,
guiding our efforts on our most important projects. For example, he played a
critical role in our introduction of streaming video into the Howard Hughes
Medical Institute's web site, at a time when only a few understood what
"streaming" meant.
Summing up: Russ McBride is researcher with few peers, and
his knowledge of computer technology is without peer. When you put
that together with someone who works extremely well under pressure, knows how
to relate to clients, knows how to save money, does not flaunt his
outstanding intelligence, and has sense of humor that makes working together
fun, you have a very rare person indeed. Russ, You
Rock! If it was not for you, our project would be looking rather poorly
as the due date is the end of next week. Thank you for putting the time
aside to work out how to install pg. Time well spent :-) Russ McBride
and his company, Psyex, have been serving as our virtual IT department
for the past three years. He has been enormously helpful in upgrading
our systems, strategizing about hardware and software solutions for remote
file sharing, installing needed software, etc. If you have a Mac, he can
help you. He's also a fun person to have around the office. While we are
a tiny operation compared to most of his clients, Russ treats us like
the big guys, with first-class service, great professionalism, and foresight
about future computing needs. No one likes to have computer problems,
but if you need a consultant, you'll be thrilled with Psyex. Besides,
very few people in the computer business can talk to you about Hegel,
Kant, artificial intelligence, and the mind-body problem. Psyex, however,
does it all. I am
really impressed with Psyex's ability to creatively solve our
problems here at McKesson corporate headquarters. Working with our in-house
IT department hasn't been easy, but the Psyex guys got things done, setting
up a customized media asset management system into our big and
strictly-controlled server room, and integrating a variety of user's
machines from different operating systems. Getting help with a combined
Macintosh/Windows network is hard to achieve in this Windows-based company.
I'd recommend Psyex to any other large corporation that needs some fancy
IT footwork. Psyex customized a non-cookie-cutter solution to my needs in this
cookie-cutter-solution corporate world. |
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