AB has decades of experience of developing innovative custom software systems to transform and improve how businesses operate.
We are experts in building solutions that match your business needs exactly and help you to overcome your technical challenges. Whether it’s a simple data capture form or a large scale end to end software application, no challenge is too big or too small for our development team.
Our experienced bespoke development team can help you with your custom business software requirements, including:
- Bespoke business applications
- Operational software
- End to end software development
- Custom software development
- Modernising existing systems
- Website design, build and integration
- Improving your internal and external systems
- Bespoke database software – data migration, database management, cleaning, removing duplication and converting and consolidating your existing databases into one central system
- Automating your data entry
- Online stock control, goods in systems including barcode scanning
- Membership and training platforms
- Custom CRMs
- PDF generation, such as certificates and invoices
- Converting Excel spreadsheets into custom online applications
What are the benefits of bespoke software?
While off-the-shelf software may look like an affordable option, it’s likely you’ll need to have it adjusted to fit your business.
To do so, a software developer will need to configure the software to remove sections that you don’t need, move around features to fit your workflows and start building the missing functionality. All these adjustments will likely take a long time and cost far more than expected at the beginning.
That’s where bespoke software development comes in. Bespoke software is like having a tailor-made suit that fits your business and yours alone. Built from the ground up, it’s designed with your business in mind, to provide an intuitive, seamless experience.
Management and KPI reporting can also be built within your software to give you the data you need, the way you want to see it. Additionally, third party systems can be incorporated to further enhance your system.
Barcodes to scan in deliveries, judges inputting scores into iPads and winning entrants being able to instantly download certificates and logos have been gamechangers for us here at the Guild of Fine Food. It makes organising the World Cheese Awards a lot easier, meaning we can be more accurate and get results back to entrants in about twice the speed.
Christabel Cairns from The Guild Of Fine Food
How do I know if my business needs a bespoke system?
Computer systems are supposed to work for you. If you need to change the way you work to suit the software, you are probably in need of a bespoke system.
If your business has straightforward workflows, then a standard, ‘one size fits all’ solution might be the way to go, but the reality is that most businesses do things differently and a bespoke system is often the right solution. Consider the benefits of your own tailor made system rather than trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
How can AB’s development team help?
AB’s Developers have many years’ experience of building bespoke cloud-based software systems, tailor made for a variety of businesses.
Building a bespoke CMS for CLAAS
After failing to find standard software that could work with their extensive and varied dealer network, CLAAS, one of the leading global manufacturers of agricultural machinery, turned to AB for help. We built them a bespoke website content management system that could support their entire dealer network in the UK and Ireland and run multiple websites and sales channels.
Transforming data systems for The Guild of Fine Food
The Guild of Fine Food promotes artisan food and drink across the UK, supporting thousands of retailers and producers as well as running both the Great Taste Awards and World Cheese Awards. They needed a system capable of seamlessly joining up all of the various different business processes, including managing and judging the entire awards process from start to finish.
The team at AB evaluated their entire business, before designing a bespoke cloud-based system that could transform their old data and systems into one integrated system that was personal to their business.
Whichever industry you are in, AB can evaluate your unique situation and advise if a bespoke system is the right approach for you.
FAQs
Off-the-shelf refers to ready made generic software. It usually forces users to comprise and work in a set way that may not suit them or the way your business operates. Quite often off-the-shelf software suffers from bloated features and can be over complicated because it’s trying to work for lots of different types of use cases. Off-the-shelf software is also pre built and you can’t request changes or new features.
Yes, we can help modernise or replace your legacy systems. Often outdated systems can slow the growth of your business and stop you reacting quickly to changes. Other key issues are security, speed, unused feature bloat, system knowledge, integration, time and cost. AB can review your current systems and replace it with a solution specifically tailored to your business needs.
Yes, we’ll help to identify any time consuming manual processes that can be automated, such as data entry, to make inputting data as easy as possible – saving you time and money. We’ll also help your business to maintain good data hygiene by removing any duplicated data that appears in your systems.
We can make your internal processes more efficient by uniting your systems. We’ll help you to connect various pieces of technology in your business, such as accounting software and your website, to create a single system. Consolidating everything into one central system ensures you’re able to view data accurately and make better informed decisions.
Yes, from the way we configure servers to implementing security features such as Secure Certificates, Content Security Policy (CSP), Multi-factor Authentication (MFA), Malicious IP Address, Web application firewall (WAF), Cross-site scripts and bot blocking, we will keep your site safe and sound. We also use a specialist provider for Penetration Testing and implement recommendations across our servers and websites.
A native app only works on a specific platform or device, such as an iPhone or Android mobile phone. A web app works on a browser such as Google Chrome, Safari, FIrefox, Edge, etc. regardless of the device being used.
We have a consultative approach to bespoke software, working closely with your team, we’ll start by getting to know your business inside-out to ensure your software is robust and future-proof. We do this by talking to staff at every level, to make sure we understand the ambitions of your company and what’s important to your team.
We’ll also perform a technical review of your existing CRM and other business systems to discover what already works well (and what doesn’t) to help form the basis of our recommendations.
Yes, a number of our clients use and rely on complex systems that AB have developed for them. We excel in understanding our clients specific requirements and building the most appropriate and cost effective solutions.
The cost will depend on the specific requirements and scale of the project. Bespoke software can work out more affordable than you might think. It is often a cost effective longer term investment than needing to use multiple off-the-shelf solutions. Having a system that matches your requirements perfectly is both time and money saving.
Yes, we have helped many businesses move away from having to use disconnected spreadsheets onto a connected system that is simpler to use. Moving from data siloed away in spreadsheets, helps reduce duplication of work and means data can be used together to streamline reporting and improve decision making.
Interested in talking to AB about a bespoke application or legacy system update or replacement?
Need some help with a bespoke project? Contact our team today.