TeraTech recently got the chance to turn around a challenging project for a large governmental organization. A contractor had tried unsuccessfully for a year to automate a series of PowerPoint-generation routines based on extremely large, unwieldy sets of survey data. The survey data changes frequently, and it needs to be aggregated in various ways including state and national versions.
By applying our experience from similar projects, TeraTech created the solution our client was looking for. Now, the client uses a simple web interface to upload a large flat text file of raw data, which our automated system parses and loads into a relational database, runs data transformations and calculates the needed statistics. Next, through a series of steps utilizing ColdFusion, XML, and Java, it generates full-color charts and graphs, combines them with text into a finished PowerPoint presentation, and delivers it minutes later by email to the client. The client was so happy with the result; we have now completed three more of these PowerPoint automations for them and looking forward to the fifth!
