4.1Software and webERP · CRM
Bespoke software
When information passes through spreadsheets, paper and messages before it reaches the people who decide, we build the program that takes it there directly, shaped around the way your staff already work.
Signs you need this
- The same data is typed by hand into two or three different programs.
- To find out stock levels or where an order stands, someone has to phone someone.
- The monthly report takes days to put together from files held by several people.
Many organisations work with an off-the-shelf program that covers half the tasks and with spreadsheets that cover the rest. The problem is rarely a shortage of software: it is information scattered across places that do not talk to each other, and the hours staff spend copying it from one to another.
We begin by gathering requirements with the people who use the systems every day, not only with those who commission them. We then develop in short cycles with regular demonstrations, so that your staff see the work early and can ask for changes while they are still inexpensive. Every project includes testing before the system goes live, documentation and training for the people who will use it.
After launch, we continue to support and extend the application. Because we also look after servers, hosting and domains, when something fails we can tell a fault in the program from a problem in the server or the network.
Web applications and portals
Portals for clients or partners, and internal systems that open in the browser with nothing to install on each computer. People in the office, the warehouse or the field use the same application from the same address.
Management systems
Programs for the daily running of the operation: customers, orders, stock, staff or equipment maintenance. When an off-the-shelf program forces your staff to work around steps that do not apply to your organisation, we design a system that follows the real process and produces the reports management needs.
Integrations between systems
We connect the programs, databases and services you already use, including those of your partners, so that a record entered in one place appears in the other without being copied by hand: the online shop with the stock, the management system with the accounts, the website forms with the customer list. Wherever possible, the data passes through the interfaces those programs provide for the purpose (APIs).
How we deliver
Requirements from the people who do the work
We listen to those who do the work every day and set down in writing what the system must do and what is left out.
Proposal and design
We propose how the system will be built, the stages and what each one delivers, so that you know what you will see at every phase.
Development in short cycles
Each cycle ends with a demonstration: your staff try it and comment, and adjustments are made at that stage.
Testing and launch
We test and adjust the system before your staff begin using it in their daily work.
Training and further development
We train the users, hand over the documentation and keep supporting the application, adding whatever the work later requires.
What you keep
- The working application, on the agreed server or hosting
- The agreed requirements, in writing
- Technical and user documentation
- Users trained for daily use