Custom software for mid-sized companies, when Excel reaches its limit
We replace overgrown spreadsheet landscapes with a browser based application on a central database that several people can work in at the same time. With user permissions, a change log, automatic backups and reports that nobody has to copy together by hand any more.
Does any of this sound familiar?
Only one person still knows the file
Sheets, links and formulas have accumulated over years. Whoever built them knows how they work. If that person is unavailable, planning comes to a standstill.
Two people, one file
Working at the same time produces copies with suffixes in their names, and in the end nobody is quite sure which version is the right one.
No history
A number has changed, but there is no way to tell when or by whom. When a complaint or a recalculation comes up, the basis is missing.
Reports cost half a day
For every question from management, figures are gathered by hand, copied and reformatted. Every month again.
What you end up with
Not a toolkit you have to click together yourself, but a finished application for the way you work. A typical scope of delivery:
Multi-user operation
An application with a database, login, roles and access areas per user. Run inside your own company network where data must not leave the building.
Migration of legacy data
Import of your existing files with validation against the originals, so that the key figures are demonstrably correct.
Planning and capacity
Weekly and annual views, board and timeline displays with direct editing, workload with traffic light logic and bottleneck warnings.
Reporting
Freely filterable by period, customer, article or product group, with charts and export to Excel for everyone who wants to carry on working there.
Safety in daily use
A change log per user, an undo function, input validation and automatic daily backups with restore.
Handover
Installation package, a user guide, setup of the user accounts and an introduction for your team. Source code and rights pass to you.
What this typically suits
Anywhere a core process runs in spreadsheets and standard software is either too large, too expensive or simply too poor a fit.
If your topic is not on the list, that means nothing. What matters is not the industry, but whether the process can be described clearly enough. That is what we find out in the first conversation.
Step by step from spreadsheet to application
Every project follows the same traceable sequence, from the analysis of your existing files to the training for your team. Every work package is listed separately in the proposal with its estimated effort.
See the sequence in detailA task in SAP instead of custom software
What clients want to know beforehand
At what point is software of your own worth it instead of Excel?
As soon as several people need to work on the same data at the same time, changes have to be traceable, or the file has become so complex that nobody dares to touch a formula any more. For a single list maintained by one person, Excel remains the better tool.
Does the solution have to run in the cloud?
No. On request we run the application entirely inside your company network, without data leaving the building. For many manufacturing companies, and for companies with sensitive order data, this is the decisive point.
What happens to the historical data in the Excel files?
The data is migrated and validated against the original files, so that the key figures are arithmetically identical after the migration. This assumes the files have a largely consistent structure. Inconsistent or contradictory legacy data is agreed separately.
Who owns the source code?
You do, from the start. Source code, database, installation package and documentation are yours as they are created, together with exclusive rights of use, unlimited in time and territory, including the right to have them developed further by third parties.
How long does a project like this take?
For an application on the scale of a planning solution with several modules, around four to five months is a realistic rule of thumb, from analysis to going live. Smaller tools are finished considerably faster. Not every project has to start at full scope: often we begin with the module that resolves the biggest bottleneck, and extend step by step from there.
What does it cost?
You receive a written proposal in advance in which every work package is listed separately with its estimated effort, and you commission each package separately. Billing is on a time and materials basis, backed by a record of hours. If a package looks like exceeding its estimate by more than ten percent, we stop and agree with you how to proceed. No additional effort arises without your approval, and all results produced up to that point remain yours. This gives you the planning certainty of a fixed price, without the risk premiums usually built into one.
What happens if your developer is unavailable?
Your project does not depend on our memory. Source code, data model and documentation are in your hands from the first work package onwards, and every interim state runs and is documented. Development uses widely used, well documented standard technologies, and we set out the specific building blocks in the proposal. Any experienced developer on the market can pick up the work and carry it on.
Who supports the software after it goes live?
After go live we handle bug fixing and further development on call, billed by effort, with no maintenance contract required. Since the code, the rights and the documentation are yours, you are free to decide at any time whether your own IT department, another provider or we carry on the work.
What about data protection and the GDPR?
On request the application runs entirely inside your company network, without data leaving the building. User permissions, the change log and deletion functions are designed so that you can meet your obligations under the GDPR. Where we process personal data on your behalf during the data migration, we conclude a data processing agreement for it.
Why not simply buy standard software off the shelf?
Where standard software exists that maps your process without contortions, it is often the right choice, and that is exactly what we will tell you in the first call. Custom software pays off where your process differs from the standard, where per-user licence costs do not work out in the long run, or where you do not want to tie yourself to one vendor for years.
Tell us where you stand today
Write a few lines about which process runs in spreadsheets at your company and how many people work with it. You will get an honest assessment of whether a solution of your own is worth it.