The Business Software Problems We Solve

Nobody wakes up wanting custom software. They wake up with a problem: a spreadsheet nobody trusts, a system too old to change, a developer who stopped answering. Since 1987, nearly every project we have taken on has traced back to one of five problems.

Find yours below. Each page gives a straight answer first, then the detail.

Spreadsheet and paper chaos

If your business runs on spreadsheets, it runs on luck. Conflicting versions, silent formula errors and one person who knows how it all works are signs the business has outgrown the tool.

• Our business runs on spreadsheets and we have outgrown them. What should we replace them with?
• Can our Excel workbook be turned into a multi-user web application?
• Our Access database is too slow, breaks with multiple users and cannot be reached remotely. What replaces it?
• We still run on paper forms. How do we move a paper process into software?
• Everyone has a different version of the same spreadsheet. How do we get one source of truth?
• Only one employee understands the spreadsheet that runs our operation. What happens if they leave?
• Manual data entry keeps causing errors and re-keying. How do we add validation and lookups?

Legacy system paralysis

The VB6, Access, FileMaker or Classic ASP system that once moved the business forward is now holding it back: it cannot be reached remotely, it is hard to secure, and the people who understood it are gone.

• Our business depends on a VB6 application. How do we modernize it before it fails?
• Our website or application is written in Classic ASP. How do we migrate it to ASP.NET Core?
• Our system is decades old (FoxPro, COBOL, green screen) and runs on hardware nobody can service. How do we replace it safely?
• Our software only runs on office PCs. How do we make it web-based so people can work from anywhere?
• We lost the source code to the software that runs our business. What are our options?
• Our .NET Framework / Web Forms application still works. Is it a security risk, and when does support end?
• Our application does not work on phones or tablets. Can it be made mobile-ready without starting over?
• We have outgrown FileMaker. Can it be rebuilt as a web application?
• Our legacy system is holding the business back. Where do we start?

Lost programmer and stretched IT

Your developer quit, retired, got sick or stopped answering, and nobody understands the code that runs the business. Or a project another firm started has stalled. This is the most urgent problem we see.

• Our only programmer quit, disappeared or stopped answering. Who can take over the system?
• We hired a company to build our system and the project failed or stalled. Can it be rescued without starting over?
• The person who wrote our software retired, is ill or has died, and nobody else understands it. What now?
• Our freelance or part-time developer cannot keep up and has too many other clients. What is the alternative?
• We inherited code with no documentation. Can another team take it over?
• Our current developer is fine for fixes but cannot handle a large project. How do we scale up?
• Our IT team is maxed out or has no web application experience. How do we add capacity without hiring?
• We are too small to have an IT department. Who builds and looks after our software?

Data silos and no visibility

The same information is typed into three systems and none of them agree, so decisions get made on gut feel. You cannot run a business on data you cannot trust.

• As the owner I cannot see what is happening in the business in real time. What do I need?
• Every division or location runs its own system. How do we move to one central system?
• We merged with or bought another company. How do we combine the two sets of systems?
• We need customers to log in, see their own data and send us information. How do we build a client portal?
• Our crews and staff are spread across the country. How do we collect field data and manage them in one place?
• Our systems do not talk to each other, so staff type the same data three times. How do we connect them?
• Reports take our staff days to assemble by hand, and we need to build our own on demand. How?

Off-the-shelf software that does not fit

The package gets you 80% of the way there, and the missing 20% is exactly where your competitive advantage lives. The business ends up bending to fit the software.

• Our off-the-shelf software only does 80% of what we need. Should we customize it or build our own?
• We keep spreadsheets and workarounds alongside our ERP or QuickBooks. How do we close the gaps?

Do not see your problem here?

These are the ones we hear most. If yours is different, tell us about it. Book a call with Lance Keene and you will get a straight answer on whether custom software is the right fix.