Benefits of Infoworks
Specialized service
Infoworks does only one thing: development of information systems and web applications for all business processes in the not-for-profit sector in the UK. You benefit from knowing Infoworks is the best team for the job.
Consistent methods bring predictable results
Our approach to software development and business is methodical.
Our PaperBuild methodology gives you certainty that we will get the requirement definition and design right.
Our development workflow ensures your software meets the requirement first time, on time, and on budget.
Our management ethos and well-defined roles and responsibilities keep the ship running tight and provide you with a stable supplier.
Understanding
We bring to the table an in-depth understanding of around fifty business processes (e.g. case management, contact management, project management, workflow automation, etc.) that have come up again and again in different guises and degrees since our team formed in 1988.
It’s this understanding that enables us to provide the critical review of your thinking and, when appropriate, the leadership to steer you to a successful system.
Expertise
Our team has technical strength in depth, and is used to tackling large systems development projects using the best software currently available.
The range of not-for-profit applications experience in our development team is broad, and there is a good team spirit – all but two have been Infoworks developers for over three years.
We have developed software to generate large parts of the our systems straight from the design – this saves you money, and makes larger projects possible.
Architecture
The PaperBuildDB, the Slotsa architecture – massive. They give our systems the flexibility of bespoke systems with the reliability of packages.
Reputation
We regularly write, give interviews, and present on information systems, e-services and trends in information systems web applications for not-for-profit sector publications and seminars (e.g. Virtual Promise, VolCom Internet Task Force, NCVO ICT Strategy magazine, Voluntary Sector Insight column, etc.)
These activities help us bring a broader perspective to your project. They also – when taken with our reputation as a centre for excellence in information systems and web applications development – give us a high standing in the sector which we would be foolish to jeopardize. Small, unknown software companies do not worry about the occasional horror story: we depend on our reputation, and you benefit from knowing that we will always act to maintain it.
Inside
We get inside you. We get so close to our clients we become a part of them – we’re the information systems team you can boss around without internal politics, we do what you ask, and we don’t complain!
Safe
With everything mentioned above in place to bring a successful outcome, we think we are probably the safest pair of hands you could find.
Benefits of an Infoworks solution
The right thing
Our PaperBuild process is good at revealing the underlying requirement.
We have long experience of implementing the business processes at issue here - we understand their nuances to a degree that other developers may not.
These factors combine to give a high degree of confidence that the resulting system will do the right thing - a less rigorous approach may, on the surface, appear cheaper, but may miss the target.
The thing right
We have a strong team of developers with a high level of experience in the technology we will be using for this application.
The nature of this application is familiar territory for our team.
We have a high level of confidence that our system will be well written – we do the thing right.
Flexibility
Our system are not a fixed package - every Infoworks system is purpose built without compromise for other clients or trying to fit you to an existing template. This enables us at the outset to be very flexible, in that almost anything is possible.
And when we design it with you, we anticipate likely future changes/extensions, and make room for future growth, so the system remains easy to adapt.
But because this is just your system, if your operating environment changes, we keep the flexibility to quickly change it to meet new requirements in future.
You’re in control
You control us absolutely.
We don’t start until you say, "Go!"
Every stage is subject to your sign-off, and any stage payments are dependant on your sign-off.
And we don’t stop development until you say the project is complete – and then we start support.
Long term
Our first phase of development has to dazzle you – it must be economical, fast, and profoundly effective.
When we complete the first phase you’ll be really pleased with the system you have, and the value for money, and you’ll be thinking positively about extending it deeper into the business process once it’s proved itself. Our survival depends on this, so we have to make sure we do a good job.
The initial implementation is the beginning of a long term information systems partnership relationship, where over time we become a part of your organisation – we are your software development team.
Benefits of this solution
1. First and foremost, this system will make the jobs of users easier and more efficient.
2. Secondly, it will facilitate better internal management of the whole operation – you’ll be able to see bottlenecks, underperforming teams, monitor pipeline throughput, and take action before problems become crises.
3. Thirdly, it will deliver management information – the reports that take days to compile now will be able to be produced at the press of a button.
4. The automated workflow will guide staff to their next assignments, and remind them what needs to be done
5. Staff with little training will be able to use this system effectively, and they won’t be able to damage it through an inadvertent key stroke.
6. The system is web browser based, so you don’t need a high spec PC – it can be used from almost any PC. Should you wish it, it could be used from home or, in future, from PDAs/mobile phones.
7. There are no license fees – it’s your system, you own it.
8. It will be written using industry standard tools and best-practice project documentation. If you ever wanted to switch to a different software company, or bring development and support in-house, you could, and we would make it easy for you to do it.