Software Solutions

Tailored Software

Our products and services are designed from the ground up to accommodate change. You should never have to run your business the way a software application thinks you should.

Our Ring Matrix platform is our preferred starting point. The application foundation is formed by configuring tried and tested pre-built modules, which are then tailored to the exact features and functionality required. That gets us to a minimum viable product quickly without starting from a blank page.

This is very different from bespoke software built from scratch each time, which is often associated with poor implementations, high cost, and project overruns.

Experience

We have been doing this a long time and have picked up some good habits along the way. The only way to deliver software systems reliably is by combining technical excellence with great project management.

Project Management

A common-sense approach, kept lightweight and grounded in tried-and-tested techniques:

• Key stakeholders and project sponsors are kept fully informed and engaged.
• Visibility and clarity come first.
• Project deliverables are properly understood before work begins.
• Features are broken into small modules of work.
• Tasks and progress are tracked in software.
• Decisions are discussed and documented in online forums.
• Phased sign-off and regular reviews take place as the project progresses.
• Risk is reduced by designing out complex task dependencies.

Deployment

Strict, deliberate practice for making things live:

• Software developers do not get access to change production systems.
• Systems administrators implement changes by following a written procedure.
• Rollback plans are always written; backups are always tested before any change.
• The test environment mirrors production as closely as possible.
• Developers write an implementation plan to move code from development into test. The same plan carries through to production.
• Every change is recorded in the project management system.
• If anything goes wrong during a deployment, the rollback plan is triggered immediately.

Management of Change

We place substantial focus on the interfaces and forms we design, so they are intuitive and self-explaining.

The people who use our software day-to-day are involved in the design process. The interfaces we create "just work", and user training is reduced to a minimum.

Where possible, we show the overall process clearly within the software so users can see which step they are on.

Training environments can be provisioned where people log into a near-real version of production, test things, and make mistakes safely. Training environments are normally configured to reset overnight.

Documentation

Our documentation is a living record, stored online. The current version is always available; previous versions can be surfaced on request. This is how we ensure a single version of truth.

Every document starts in plain English and gradually gets more technically complex. The last few pages are typically for developers and system administrators only. Keeping everything in one place lets users grow into power users and team experts at their own pace.

As a core policy, INT6 require complete documentation for every module of work. We make that possible by providing the time, the culture, and the resources to do it right, and we enforce quality through peer review.

By liaising with your document controllers we can implement naming conventions, style requirements, and access permissions to match your own standards.

Support

Support is a key component in the success of any project and the foundation of a long-lasting business partnership. We are here for you and your teams.

Our general support statement is at INT6 Support. For Ring Matrix specifically, see Ring Matrix support.

Off-the-shelf Products

Not every problem needs a bespoke solution. We also build and maintain our own products, designed for specific use cases and available to use today.