Lots!
Starting with the company itself, at the end of 2011 we at Start Software had grown the development team to the largest we have ever had (in 10+ years of trading) and this year we will be taking on even more programmers.
We're working on an update to our web site - they say that plumbers are the most likely to have a leaky tap at home and our web site is now starting to look a bit out of date! The truth is that most of our new business comes from word of mouth and personal recommendation, but that shouldn't be an excuse for having a less-than-first-class web site. Watch this space.
With our new skills in Alpha Five we can now deliver web-based database systems with desktop-like ease of use and functionality, and I'm expecting our relationship with the Alpha Five team to grow in 2012 so that we become one of their leading UK partners. Does this mean we'll be dropping Microsoft Access for software development? Not at all - but I expect that the majority of new projects will use Alpha Five (against SQL Server databases).
For our Tracker customers, we are working on major updates to Tracker Web Server and Resource Tracker. Expect to see a more "Web 2.0" style with Tracker Web Server and much better performance with Resource Tracker. Our new module which links Resource Tracker to Google Calendars is proving very popular and this will be developed further this year.
We have an order book full of new "bespoke" projects, and although some of these will only see the light of day within a specific company, where clients have agreed that we can market the products more generally afterwards we'll be able to reach into new markets. Very exciting!
Finally, we'll be launching a couple of web-based subscription services this year, again into brand new markets.
We're all really excited about business prospects in 2012. The press are still talking down the opportunities for British business but most of my business contacts are doing just fine - I have a feeling that well-run businesses selling quality products and services will do well again this year... so our ISO9001 renewal and a re-certification within the prestigious AccredIT quality framework will hopefully stand us in good stead.
Great customer feedback x 3!
Three emails just arrived one after the other - and each put a smile on our faces and a spring in our step! Feedback #1... "We smashed our audit! Thank you so much for your help" from a new customer where we have been providing Alpha Five support and mentoring to help them to develop an Intranet quality & audit system Feedback #2... "hi Tom. It looks fantastic! Very well done" from a client reviewing the latest changes to a web data analysis system we have written using Alpha Anywhere , SQL Server and JavaScript Feedback #3... " The launch of Alpha Tracker here is going really well ... thank you so much" from an asbestos consultancy feeling the benefits of their Alpha Tracker asbestos software installation. We really appreciate it when customers take the time to send us feedback like this - it makes the hard work seem worthwhile!
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