The document summarizes Paros, a software consulting company based in Columbus, Ohio. Paros provides expert project staffing solutions and turnkey business solutions. They gain an in-depth understanding of client needs to assign the proper mix of skills. Paros consultants are required to have bachelor's degrees and advanced degrees, and are known for critical thinking skills and community involvement. Paros has experience across many industries and technologies.

1. Pá·ros noun ( pair -os: Greek )

2. What is “Paros?” A Greek island in the Aegean Sea, noted for thousands of years for producing outstanding thinkers, scholars and artists. Also, one of the Midwest's most respected software consulting companies, noted industry-wide for its outstanding thinkers, scholars, consultants and usage of best practices in providing our services. Paros Paros

3. What we do Expert project staffing solutions at prevailing market pricing Turnkey/total project it business solutions Direct placement Requirements gathering Project estimating Package search & selection Project management (PMI certified) Business systems analysts Developers (Microsoft partner since 1995) Testers – Mercury tools experience Documenters and trainers [We gain an in-depth understanding of our clients’ needs from a technical, project life cycle and functional viewpoint, resulting in assigning the proper mix of skills in addressing our clients’ needs]

4. Why our consultants are different We require a bachelors degree and STRONGLY prefer advanced degrees (including some PhD's over the years) We like for individuals to be academically diverse – we have majors in business, philosophy, music, the sciences, cognitive sciences/problem solving, as well as IT We mandate ongoing professional development while at Paros We encourage community involvement at all levels within our corporation We perform the most exhaustive and comprehensive reference and background checks in our industry We are known for and proud of our low turnover track record The client receives; “….critical thinkers….” just like the old scholars from the island of Paros. Our consultants always provide what the client wants, but you receive often much needed and wanted different thinking and perspectives to all projects

5. The Paros DNA Columbus, Ohio based Founded in 1995 Primarily serve the Fortune 500 client Unique qualifying process Technology capabilities that match each client’s unique needs/profile Experience in banking, insurance, healthcare, utilities/energy, government, manufacturing, financial services, publishing, telecommunications Extensive experience with conversions and integrations, as well as new development & maintenance OUR BUSINESS: Specialize in application software consulting services (services span entire project life cycle: concept through deployment)

6. We Keep Good Company Some of Our Clients

7. The Application Services Marketplace Project-Based Solution Services Staff Supplementation (Time & Materials) “ Big 6”, High-End Consulting, Outsourcing Paros Business Partners Markets Served

8. Differentiation in a Flattened Marketplace If you think all service providers are the same, consider this: Take two businesses, both of which do exactly the same thing; fly you from point “A” to point “B”. Nothing more, nothing less.

9. Those two companies? Barney’s Transport Services (fictitious) NetJets

10. The “differences”? No one knowing anything about NetJets would dare to compare the experiences of the two, yet, “technically” they do the same thing – fly you from “A” to “B” The difference in the “experience” is massive however.

11. Is there REALLY that much difference in software service providers? ABSOLUTELY! The problem is that the difference is difficult to identify early in a sales cycle for the buyer. In the software consulting/contracting industry, companies can either be primarily : Sales – Oriented (vs.) Service/Operations Oriented

12. The “Sales-Oriented” Firm Focuses on how many resumes can be sent your way Focuses on how fast they can respond Takes your orders quickly Minimizes time with consultants (in order to close more sales) Provides little to no stability long term for consultants (thus attracting a different kind of candidate – one who is temporary or “migrant”) Pays attention to key “buzzwords” in your requirements Perform little or no in-depth analysis and screening (usually left up to the client to do) Often spend little or no time understanding your business, your projects and what drives your projects Assume they will have a given number of contractors returned (just a cost of doing business in today’s world in their minds) Primary interest is in closing the sale

13. The “Service/operations” Firm (Paros) Learns the details of your business – both IT and nature of the firm Takes time to understand “all” aspects of a consulting/contracting requirement; Technical skills Life cycle skills Nature of the project Soft skills sought (people and trait issues) How software products are going to be used Key issues at stake with the project Other factors that make for a great “fit” The consultants roles Is solely concerned about finding and matching the “right” consultant for your needs Realizes “buzzwords” are just one part of your requirement Spends regular time with both the consultant and the client after the project begins to insure quality service delivery and support for the consultant Provides significant stability long term for consultants (thus attracting a different kind of candidate – one who is more fully committed to each client and remaining in Paros’ employment) Our interest, first and foremost, is how we can help you achieve the best outcomes of your project and employee satisfaction

14. Advantages of using a “Service/Operations” Firm like Paros Delivers much higher value to the client for virtually the same pricing schedule due to: higher quality individuals less management time spent evaluating resumes and candidates Far less turnover of contractor employees – team turnover is acknowledged to be a major risk factor in software development Less time spent by client management in “tending to the needs” of consultants while on assignment since this is a routine service performed by Paros and is INCLUDED in the pricing structure Significantly increased amount of management time available for related work Less time spent interviewing, selecting/evaluating BOTH resumes and candidates Actual working partnership develops which allows Paros to much better understand the TOTAL environment that is unique to your company – (over time) much more efficient use of client time Overall quality and satisfaction is greatly improved for the same or less price Understanding each unique client’s environment and steadfastly refusing to compromise the background our candidates is one of the biggest reasons for long term success Highly experienced in worked in “managed-vendor” programs, Paros continually receives the highest (or one of the highest) rating for vendor satisfaction, overall Paros highly emphasizes using our own “employees” first brokering independents and/or 1099 personnel. Independents/1099’s tend to attach their loyalties to contracts and the highest bidders. This often makes for a tentative situation where the loyalty to clients often ends up in last place – the client becomes the biggest loser in the transaction by having higher turnover, higher prices and “hired guns” brought in just to do a job, rather than seeing the customer as the sole reason we exist, and acting accordingly Service/Operations oriented firms like Paros deliver additional value via ongoing service delivery Each of our Account Manager’s has an extensive background in managing on-going projects and service delivery – as such, they often bring unexpected value in the course of service reviews that normally are paid for services in higher cycle service providers such as Accenture, etc.

15. Core Competencies and Values Microsoft (.NET and DNA/COM) (Microsoft Partner since 1995) J2EE, C” and other object-oriented technologies Advanced degrees and ongoing professional education IBM Mainframe (no, we are not kidding) Noted in our industry for performing the most extensive review and analysis of candidates before hiring Advocates for advanced certifications: Microsoft, JAVA, PMI, PMLG, Mercury, etc. Agile, Iterative, RUP, Waterfall, Scrum, etc. Staff profiles include: Program Manager, Project Manager, Project Leader/Coordinator, Business Analyst, Technical Architect, Lead Developer, Developer, QA/Tester, Technical Writer

16. Staffing Solutions The BEST of “Best Practices” – doing it RIGHT the first time Software Staffing Services: Doing it Right Best Practices for repeatable success – the keys : Starts with a comprehensive needs analysis (which is operations oriented vs. sales oriented) Each consultant (and client) receives on-site management support once a project begin Long term relationship with career development programs and community involvement Utilizes a Four Piece Matrix approach to selection and evaluation

17. Full Project Responsibility w/deliverables (actual case study) Health Services Company ASSEMBLED A COMPLETE PROJECT TEAM AND UTILIZED OUR OWN BEST PRACTICES IN SDLC AND PMLC THE PROBLEM : Project had completely failed and was scraped two times previously This third time was based upon a commitment to deliver the software and have it scale properly for a new Fortune 500 client – failure on this project would have resulted in major financial and marketing setbacks THE SOLUTION Paros assembled a comprehensive team from PM & BA’s through developers and testers – experienced with our own proprietary Paros Framework Created and delivered for pre-approval a complete Project Workplan with estimates, staffing levels, standards, time and capability deliverables, etc. for pre-project approval Project was initiated and delivered on time and budget with enhanced functionality. The Fortune 500 customer was signed and turned into a major contract

18. Project Management Consulting – (actual case study) Major Print Publisher outsourcing subscription fulfillment Assigned Paros’ Director of Projects to Lead the Enterprise Initiative (for all parties) THE PROBLEM : Need to manage client, vendor and key personnel (IT and users) for all parties Was the largest project undertaken by the at the time Client had very poor track record on projects of similar size THE SOLUTION Paros assigned our Director of Projects & Process Improvement Services He utilized all of our standard/proprietary SDLC and PMLC tools and principals – the same taught and used for our SPI (Software Process Improvement Practice) Project was delivered on time and within budget, commencing earlier savings than projected and avoiding stiff vendor penalties

19. Software Process Improvement – Top 5 Bank - Investment Management Services IMPLEMENTED REPEATABLE PROCESS FOR ESTIMATING AND PROJECT-INITIATION THE PROBLEM: Client’s IT consistently hit about 35-38% of original time/cost estimates Problems and inconsistencies in Requirements Analysis THE SOLUTION Paros introduced/taught/used (on a live project) our proprietary Project Estimating & Planning practices After 14 months client was realizing about 85% on time/budget original estimates Confidence greatly improved with IT, LOB, Finance Better business decisions were being made earlier greatly improving ROI Faster implementation of approved initiatives