Systems we build
Every business is different, but the systems we build tend to fall into a few familiar shapes. Everything on this page is something we have built, and still look after, for a real client.
What they have in common is that none of them stands alone. A quoting portal is only useful if its orders reach the accounts. An online shop is only useful if its orders reach production. So every system we build is designed to be joined up: with your other systems, your staff and your customers, so information is entered once and used everywhere.
Partner and reseller portals
Your partners and resellers need accurate prices and quotes at any hour, in their own language and currency, and your team needs every order to arrive complete.
For iTS we built and continue to develop a reseller portal that:
- prices perpetual, subscription and cloud editions, hardware, services and maintenance
- applies each reseller's own discounts automatically
- works in 7 languages and 3 core currencies, across several operating companies
- releases each year's price book without a rebuild
- lets resellers manage their own accounts and passwords
- sends every order on to the CRM and the right Xero company
A reseller's finished quote, priced in euros with their discount applied, ready to become an opportunity in the CRM.
Ecommerce and ordering platforms
A college's own shop on the ACE platform, with the kit its construction students need, branded with the college logo.
Online ordering is rarely just a shop. It's pricing rules, payments, approvals and getting the order into production without anyone typing it again.
For ACE Embroidery one platform runs more than 65 branded online shops for schools, clubs and organisations, with:
- secure card payments with 3D Secure checks
- collated school orders, delivered as one batch with box and pack labels
- Pupil Premium, Learner Support Fund and invoice orders, approved by the school first
- sale prices tied to stock, and flexible discount codes
- order feeds into OrderWise, including orders from a partner's own website
Membership and organisation management
Organisations with many branches, roles and members drown in admin unless the system does it for them.
The BoB Clubs platform let a small head office run 100 networking clubs on four continents. It gave each level of the organisation (head office, regional directors, area coordinators and meetings coordinators) its own tools, and covered:
- finding a club, applying and paying online, with invoices raised automatically
- scheduling meetings, inviting visitors, name badges, table plans, attendance and receipts
- member profiles, referrals, recommendations and one-to-ones
- renewals, with one member per business category enforced
We also build and look after BoB Connections, with renewal forecasts for head office and automatic meeting reminders.
A coordinator's view of the next meeting: who's coming, who hasn't replied, and one-click reminders, badges, table names and meeting sheets.
Specialist calculation and planning tools
An LM3 project dashboard: the budget checked as it's entered, the LM3 result, the supplier picture, and the next step to take.
Many businesses have expertise locked in a master spreadsheet, or a method only a few people know how to apply. We turn it into a proper tool that anyone in the organisation can use and trust.
- LM3 measures how much of an organisation's spending stays local. The new calculator picks the right model for each project, matches the master spreadsheet to within half a percent, and is used by organisations including Morgan Sindall, Wellcome, Kier and EDF.
- Nutricalc plans nutrients for farms. We refined its yield, silage, potato nitrogen and buffer-strip calculations alongside the advisers who use them every day.
Client portals and approvals
Give your customers a secure place to approve, sign, download and check, instead of emailing your team. Proof Manager lets ACE's clients approve their designs online, and approved proofs become shop products automatically. The CXCS Portal gives farmers their documents and lets them sign requests online, with housekeeping that keeps storage under control.
Internal tools and back-office systems
The systems your own staff use all day should fit the way they work. The Cabinet manages CXCS's clients, collects satisfaction feedback on a schedule and saves time with one-click copy to Outlook. Logo Manager is where ACE creates every logo, ready for embroidery, print and the shops.
Integrations, APIs and background services
This is the glue that makes everything else joined up, and it is a large part of what we do. We build:
- APIs that let approved systems use your data, such as ACE's logo API, which serves a customer's logos at the size each system needs
- connections to other systems, including Xero, webCRM, Freshdesk, Princity, OrderWise, PayPal, SendGrid and Amazon Web Services
- webhooks and scheduled services that keep systems in step, like iTS's renewal leads, Freshdesk links and Xero payment status
- alerts, so the right person is emailed when a connection fails, rather than finding out from a customer
Email and notifications
Automatic emails only help if they arrive. BoB Connections tracks delivery, bounces and activity for every member through SendGrid. Reminders, invitations, renewals and receipts go out on their own, so nobody has to remember to send them.
Taking over and modernising existing systems
Many of the systems above were not new when we took them on, and are older still now. We keep long-serving .NET systems secure and supportable while new features keep arriving: upgrading frameworks, replacing unmaintained libraries, adding logging and staging environments, and removing the code nobody uses. Over two years, iTS's code has become 7,400 lines smaller even as 70+ features were added. See technology for how we do it.
After launch
- Support: fixes, changes and improvements as your business grows, from the developer who built it.
- Hosting: we can host, monitor and back up your system for you.
- Training: we make sure your team is comfortable with what we've built.
Recognise your business here?
If your team re-types the same information into two systems, or your customers ring for things they could look up themselves, call 07884 433240 or send us a message. Or read the case studies in full.