Services
OUR SYSTEMS PERFORMANCE REVIEWS
Feeling that something in your technology or processes just isn’t right?
Things not working as they should? You are not alone. We’ll analyse your entire system, beyond just the technology, to ensure your business is as efficient as possible.
With technology continuing to evolve at a rapid pace, it doesn’t take long for a business’ systems to become ‘out of date’. There are often so many different pieces of technology involved in a business, sometimes it only takes one piece of software to be updated—or to fall behind in its development and no longer be compatible with other updated software—for your systems to start to get the wobbles.
Thankfully though, when a system’s performance is properly analysed, the solutions can often be quick and simple to implement. Things like:
- a simple software or firmware update, or
- a slight change to how the system is being used, or
- a modification to the business process.
The key is, of course, knowing which changes and tweaks to implement. That’s where our Systems Performance Reviews come in.
With many years of experience conducting these reviews for our clients, we can quickly identify the core issues affecting your business’ overall efficiency, and then provide you with a clear and easy-to-understand action plan to fix the issues and get you back to peak business performance.
A Systems Performance Review is an ideal place to start your journey towards improving your business’ performance through better use of technology.
Get in touch with us to discuss your options and to find out more about this service.
BUSINESS SYSTEMS INTEGRATION
Struggling with app fatigue? Don’t know which of your systems talk to each other? Finding cases of mismatched customer data between systems? That’s hurting your business. We’ll implement a ‘single source of truth’ for all your business’ data.
“There’s an app for that” is a phrase we hear more and more these days, in everyday life and in business. We’re in a new era of ‘killer apps’ which are highly-specialised and very good at doing just one or two things. As a result of the proliferation of new software apps available to small businesses, it has become a challenge to have a centralised place to store all of your information across your core business activities, as well as manage your accounts and finances to keep everything on track.
It’s crucial you get all your important business apps ‘talking amongst themselves,’ so to speak. While forward-thinking, growth-oriented businesses tend to have a multitude of software systems and platforms, each addressing a specific need within the business’ processes, you have to be careful that you are not multiplying the potential for problems by multiplying the number of systems in use.
Have you ever experienced this issue? An invoice, delivery or message has gone to the incorrect address because the customer’s details were changed in one place—in the accounting system, for example—but were not also changed in, say, the marketing and production systems?
This is frustrating for you, your team and your customers. It makes you look bad and it costs you money. We’ll get your business to a point where you and your team are crystal clear on the single source of truth, which means you’ll have 100% confidence that the data you’re looking at is the correct, up-to-date data which flows through to all linked systems in your business.
AND WE’LL ACHIEVE THIS SYSTEMS INTEGRATION IN THE MOST ROBUST, COST-EFFICIENT WAY POSSIBLE.
Sure, off-the-shelf integration tools like Zapier and Skyvia are good at creating some basic connections between apps, but they have issues including:
SMARTS: they lack the ability to specify advanced logic on what is to be synced between apps
LIMITS: they often have limits on which fields can be synced between systems
COSTS: the cost of subscribing to these tools can quickly add up if you are performing a large number of synchronisations across multiple systems
FLEXIBILITY: They typically only sync between cloud-based apps and cannot handle more advanced integrations, such as syncing existing on-premise systems with cloud-based platforms.
If you are ready to rid yourself of ‘app fatigue’ and get your systems talking to each other so you can improve efficiencies and reduce errors,
get in touch and we’ll explore your options.
CUSTOM SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
It’s impossible to find an off-the-shelf app that perfectly meets your business’ needs. Your processes are unique. Rather than stitch together ‘almost right’ apps, we can develop a custom app for your business that will be ‘just right’.
Sure, our Business Systems Integration service (above) can get your off-the-shelf software systems playing nicely together, but what if there are no off-the-shelf solutions for the specific type of work you do?
Have you ever selected an off-the-shelf software platform because it was the best you could find for your requirements, but it really only did 80% or 90% of what you needed? And then you had to go looking for another app to do that 10% or 20% of missing functionality? So you ended up with multiple apps to do the job, and then they overlapped in certain functions, which—apart from forcing you to ‘double pay’ for those features, which is a waste of your money—then created an integration issue for the business, creating more work and additional places for errors to occur.
That’s messy, and inefficient. So what’s the solution?
Getting a custom software system or web platform created to exactly meet your specific needs clearly eliminates all these issues, but isn’t custom software out of reach for small businesses?
Well, it used to be. Not anymore.
Custom software development is not as expensive as you might think. The Agile Software Development Methodology allows us to create software faster so we can focus on early delivery of valuable software. This means your business can start enjoying the benefits sooner and quickly generate a return on what is a relatively small up-front investment.
Once your custom software’s critical core functionality is built, implemented and operational, we then turn our attention to the ongoing delivery of future improvements and updates. As your business and external factors change and evolve, we can further customise your system to handle the changed requirements or new ways of thinking. This just isn’t possible with off-the-shelf software.
If you’re frustrated with missing or overlapping functionality in the systems you currently use, or you and your team are still doing things manually because you just can’t find a system that suits your business, let’s have a chat to discuss what could be possible for you with custom software development.
cloudmigrations
Is moving your systems ‘to the cloud’ the right move for your business? Maybe. Maybe not. We help you assess the risks, identify potential roadblocks and map out the ideal journey to the cloud for your business. Then we make it happen.
Moving your business’ systems to the cloud will make your business more efficient, right? Well, not necessarily.
Moving to cloud-based applications can be the best decision for many businesses, and the worst decision for others. Deciding whether to ‘go to the cloud’ or working out which of your systems should or should not migrate to being cloud-based requires a plan and careful implementation.
Cloud computing for small businesses is about:
- more than just websites and browser-based apps
- more than having ‘no server’
- more than being finally able to ‘get rid of the IT guy’
After all, who is going to manage and troubleshoot that shiny new ‘cloud’ when something goes wrong?
Admittedly, maintenance of cloud-based apps is generally easier than maintaining software that is installed locally on your computer network and servers, but the ongoing management aspect of cloud computing is not where the issues typically arise.
To take full advantage of all of the benefits of cloud computing requires a plan from the outset.
QUESTIONS TO RESOLVE INCLUDE:
Can you simply take what you have and transplant it somewhere else?
Or do you need to start from scratch or redesign some of your processes?
Can your internet connection handle the increased traffic of moving all your data elsewhere?
Is your available download speed AND upload speed fast enough?
Will your data be secure from hackers and be regularly backed up?
Will your data still be accessible should something happen to the location where it is hosted?
These are just some of the critical questions which need to be asked and carefully considered by any business looking to free themselves from the ‘server in the corner’.
If you are contemplating a move to the cloud, get in touch with us to tap into our advice and experience. We can map out an implementation plan to ensure all possible roadblocks on your cloud journey are removed, and we can help you put it into action too.
total care it management
Imagine having someone in your business, that whenever IT challenges cropped up, you could simply say to them, “You handle it” and you move on with your day. That would be a huge load off your shoulders.
Our Total Care Package gives you just that. Acting as your Virtual CIO (Chief Information Officer), our Total Care Package takes the headache out of managing your IT on a day basis, freeing you up to do what you do best.
