Looking for software development in Bristol | Bath? Microsoft Access? Excel? WordPress?

Someone to fix that database the student created for you all those years ago? Always meant to improve that spreadsheet that runs your business? But never quite got around to it? Have an idea for a new software development project but don’t know where to turn?

We know exactly how it is for small businesses. Over the years someone kindly offers to write you a Microsoft Access database/spreadsheet/other application. From a small acorn that idea grows into something you can’t do without. But that student you had for the summer/the guy that worked in accounts those years ago/the web developer that unfortunately moved to Australia (delete as necessary or add your own) has long gone and now that application you rely on is creaking at the edges and is no longer really fit for purpose.

The alternative scenario we hear from clients is that they have a new idea for an application but they don’t know how to proceed. It won’t be a big enough project for ‘proper’ developers, their web people look at them blankly because it isn’t a website as they understand it. What to do?

Call Thompson Consultants

We like difficult and we like interesting. We have formal software develop backgrounds (See Meet the Team) and the rise of the cloud means that we are increasing our (web dev) software development work. We don’t have the resources to write you a new operating system but we are small enough to pick up those irritating projects others won’t touch and able enough to use the latest technologies such as S3, EC2, VPS, etc.

Recent software development projects that we have either completed or have going through the office currently include;

	Analysed several large, complex Excel spreadsheets that held all the inventory for a large retailer and e-tailer and converted that data into a Microsoft Access database in order that reports could be run to find missing inventory.
	Updated a contact database for a charity. Based on Microsoft Access it maintains a sensitive database of members, produces reports based on various criteria such as membership renewals, e-shots, etc. Very important for this organisation was that the existing database was updated rather than replaced as, with a large number of volunteers using it, re-training on a new product was the least favored option.
	Developed an intranet based property management system on a MySQL backend and PHP front-end. Running on a hosted VPS this block management system is now an essential part of this business and is used by field staff on their iPads as well as the office staff on PCs and tenants. Stage 2 of this development will be to turn it into a commercial, subscription based product for property managers nationally
	Re-engineer the e-commerce website of a small bookshop. Moving from a bespoke backend we are exporting the data in XML format and then importing into an X-Cart based e-commerce system.
	We have created and maintain a number of WordPress based websites for businesses diverse as beauty salon, kitchen fitter, groundsman, property developers and others. For a modest cost – around £200 + VAT – we will take your existing marketing images and copy, put that onto a WordPress template and get you up and running on the web with a very credible web presence

Call us for a chat. We’ll look at what you have got and listen to your ideas. We will see what, if any, documentation there is for your application. And from that we will see if we have a software development project. We might try and persuade you that an off-the-shelf application that can be customised is the way forward for your customer database or we might come up with a novel cloud based web application that will allow you to work in ways you never imagined!

For Microsoft’s view on the cloud, including development have a look here

If it is a new month that must mean there is a new service from Amazon Web Services.

We are using AWS to provide cloud storage for our TCL Cloud backup service as well as some of our hosted applications and sites.