The UML Guy is Martin L. Shoemaker, a requirements analyst, architect, and C# developer (past Microsoft Visual C# MVP) who has taught UML, Analysis and Design Practices, .NET programming, Process Improvement, and more to clients such as Microsoft, Siemens, and the University of Michigan. Now he’s ready to help your team, with a tailored combination of consulting, mentoring, and classroom training to help your developers meet their current challenges and add new skills to manage the challenges to come.

Through TheUMLGuy.com, Martin offers architecture and design services, including:

• Architectural models in UML.
• Architectural specifications.
• Architectural reviews.
• Distributed architectures using Web Services and WCF.
• Scalability and performance optimization.
• Component designs using Windows Forms, ASP.NET, ADO.NET, WPF, WCF, Windows Workflow, and more.

If you'd like to discuss particular Architecture and Design challenges you face, contact The UML Guy.

Or maybe you want The UML Guy to train your team in analysis and design...

I think of projects in three broad metaphors: tents, townhouses, and towers.

• A tent has to be set up and configured. You find a nice camp site with a great view, you pop open the tent, you break out the camp stove, and you settle in for the night. Tomorrow night will be another camp site with another great view; but the camp will look much the same, and you won't throw any dinner parties.
• A townhouse has to be designed. You find some nice property and a basic floor plan you like, and then you design and build a home. It's a great place to raise a family. Later, you'll design and add extensions; but you're limited by the original design and the property bounds.
• A tower has to be architected. You'll scout out a range of sites, considering different architectural balances for the terrain and geology of each. When you draw up the architecture, you have to include a lot of general, extensible features, because you know your occupants and needs are going to change over time. There's a lot more space and a lot more flexibility; but it calls for more thought up front.

Before I start a new project, I have to understand: tent, townhouse, or tower? Then I pick the right processes, tools, and team to fit the particular needs of that project. That's not coding, that's software engineering: finding and applying a strategy that's both successful and affordable.

-- Martin L. Shoemaker
(The UML Guy)