Most custom software gets commissioned because a spreadsheet stopped coping. The risk is replacing a flawed spreadsheet with expensive software that models an imagined process rather than the real one.
What we build
- internal tools replacing spreadsheet workflows
- customer portals for accounts, documents or orders
- booking, quoting and calculation tools
- dashboards pulling data from several systems
- integrations between tools that do not talk to each other
Understand the process before designing it
The documented process and the real one differ, usually in the exceptions that consume most of the time. We watch how the work is actually done, including the workarounds people invented, because those are requirements in disguise.
Building for the tidy version produces software that handles ninety percent of cases and gets abandoned over the ten percent it cannot.
Scope discipline
Custom software is where budgets disappear. The defence is a small first version that solves the most painful problem, in production, being used.
That gives real feedback rather than speculation, and it means the second phase is informed. A twelve-month build before anyone touches it is how projects fail expensively.
Choosing what to build
Sometimes the right answer is that you should not. If existing software does eighty percent for a monthly fee, configuring it usually beats building from nothing.
We will say that when it is true. It is a shorter engagement for us and the right advice for you.
Maintenance is part of the cost
Custom software needs updates, dependency maintenance and someone to call. Any honest budget includes ongoing cost, not just the build.
We choose boring, well-supported technology for this reason. Interesting technology creates a maintenance problem the client inherits.
Data protection
Applications handling personal data need lawful basis, retention rules, access control, deletion routes and an export path. Designed in, this is straightforward; retrofitted, it is expensive.
FAQ
How long does a project take?
A focused first version typically two to four months. Anything quoted at two weeks is either tiny or optimistic.
Who owns the code?
You do, under the contract, along with the repository and deployment.
Can you take over an existing application?
Usually, after a review of the codebase and its dependencies.