Zakon Group Expands Services, Supports Non-Profits

Conway, NH - November 17, 2008 - The technology consulting and web development firm Zakon Group is expanding its security and government services, further enabling its support of non-profit organizations.

In the Fall of 2008, Zakon Group was awarded a government subcontract by a federally-funded research and development center (FFRDC). Under the subcontract, Zakon Group will be providing technical guidance on a $2 billion federal agency procurement. Zakon Group's Chief Technology Officer, Robert Zakon, will also serve as the technical lead on a project developing a security framework to protect the nation's electronic health records. Zakon had been instrumental in a related effort last Fall as the technical lead on an assessment of the government's hospital quality data reporting payment initiative.

Zakon Group is also expanding its efforts to educate others about securing web sites. With over fifty percent of critical computer vulnerabilities caused by poorly developed web applications (source: sans.org), Zakon Group has put together a one day course on secure coding practices. The course also covers an overview of different security attacks, including those exploiting the latest Web 2.0 vulnerabilities, and how to prevent them. The inaugural course session is taking place in December 2008 at the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC) in Anaheim, California.

This services expansion comes amidst several achievements in other areas during 2008. In the first quarter, Zakon Group developed a phenology web application for the Appalachian Mountain Club's (AMC) Mountain Watch program, allowing volunteers to submit alpine and forest plant flowering information online, so that it could be more easily tracked by AMC scientists. "We enjoyed working with Zakon Group to develop our flower data entry system", said AMC Staff Scientist Georgia Murray. "They patiently worked with us to develop the online presentation and functionality we were looking for."

Zakon Group also continues to support the Mount Washington Observatory, developing and hosting the non-profit organization's heavily-trafficked public and intranet web sites. Zakon Group was instrumental in the redesign of the Observatory web site and its integration with the Convio constituent relationship management platform. "More than 40,000 passionate, loyal Mount Washington fans visit our website every day and we needed to better utilize that widespread attention for fundraising," says Scot Henley, Mount Washington Observatory Executive Director. "We made the decision to partner with Convio and utilize their comprehensive fundraising and relationship management software to help us reach that goal. Given the depth and complexity of our website, this was no easy task. The skill, expertise and incredible attention to detail of Zakon Group helped us through the project, every step of the way. We wouldn't be where we are today without their support..

Another new web site launch was that of Zakon Group's OpenConf peer-review and conference management software service. With a major new release of the OpenConf platform in October, Zakon Group spun OpenConf out into its own web site, and now also provides the software in multiple editions and deployment options. OpenConf continues to be a great success, and has now been used by events in over 80 countries.

With a strong belief in providing outstanding service matched only by its enthusiasm for community support, Zakon Group's work has permitted the company the privilege of supporting, through contributions and in-kind services, organizations such as the AMC, Observatory, Conway Humane Society, and the MWV Children's Museum, among others, during 2008.

Additional information on Zakon Group is available at www.ZakonGroup.com.

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