Tailored Systems Development

Infomace International strongly believes that there is ONE fundamental reason why it is able to provide EXACTLY what is required and needed for so many companies’ I.T. plans.

Quite simply, that fundamental reason is:

THE SUITABILITY OF OUR WHOLE COMPANY APPROACH AND BUSINESS METHODOLOGIES

Having said that, we do not try to sell and develop systems for everyone. Indeed the opposite! But if a potential client believes it might like the way we conduct our business, and its management has the time and inclination to introduce us to its I.T. objectives we are extremely interested in meeting and discussing the possibilities.

Aware that our systems provide clients with a distinct edge over their competitors, our strength is in working to provide often 'exclusive' services and directly associated business solutions to clients within their particular industry sectors.

We do not merely provide Computer Systems, we work with clients over a long period of time to ensure their I.T. investments evolve with needs, and are enhanced to meet new business and operational objectives as they are identified.

Although the origins of our company go back to 1984, it is over the last ten years that we have evolved into an international Information Technology Systems Development, Consultancy, and Support Company.

We believe our success is attributed to the following factors:

Developing and operating according to a definitive strategic Business Plan;
Offering an innovative I.T. Business Partnership approach to combined client Project Management, Tailored System Development, Long-term Consultancy and Support; (It just isn’t effective to carry out meaningful Systems Development, without thorough Project Management control, and solid client liaison)
Possessing an in-depth knowledge of the industry-standard hardware and software products available across today's Open Technology environment and an ability to integrate them; (these days, few, if any Tailored System Developments would be required to operate in a stand-alone environment)
Demonstrating the proven suitability and tailorability of our own Infomace suite of software to meet individual client needs;
Creating a unique commercial position in this part of the world as innovative pioneers of Neural Networking and Computational Intelligence; (to provide our clients with ‘competitive edge’ systems, we have to be at the forefront of technology)

We are very proud of our unique approach to client relationships, and for many clients we represent almost their Information Technology Division itself. With others we work in very close liaison with their own I.T. personnel to develop, implement, manage and monitor their management’s full on-going Information Technology strategies.

We gain a high level of respect from our clients by acknowledging that they have a business or organisation to run, and not necessarily the computer system itself, that they demand to gain maximum benefit from their system investment, and expect us to advise them of how latest technology can be effectively integrated into their host operational environment.

One of the more important features of Infomace's clients relationships are the regular meetings held between its own Directors and those of its clients. Here, Steve Millington(left) and Kris Spurling(far right) meet with John Dashwood, Managing Director and Keith Tattersall, Systems Manager (Morgan Furniture Ltd).

We meet these high expectations by developing an organisation to organisation relationship which introduces the full benefit of, not just our development skills, but our complete I.T. and business expertise, consultancy knowledge, and commitment.

In today's Open Systems environment it is not merely our Company and our clients who might be directly involved in a Tailored System Development. Our Project Managers might well have to co-ordinate the efforts of third-party product suppliers, specialist engineers and the like. It is their skill in co-ordinating all aspects of design, implementation, documentation, trialing, training and monitoring which is the hallmark of our successful System Development methodology.

COMPANY CREDENTIALS

We believe that there are basically five important areas by which client senior management evaluate a potential Tailored Systems Developer.

These are:

STABILITY – potential clients need to know they are dealing with a stable company, with a defined business plan and structure, and personnel of equal stability and experience;

COMMITMENT – potential clients need to know that we are committed to our stated direction, products, services and existing client base;

CAPABILITY - it is all very well having a plan and a commitment but potential clients also need to have the confidence in our ability to fulfil our objectives;

INTEGRATION AND FLEXIBILITY - if we are to be a Business Partner in fulfilling a clients Information Technology direction, we need to have knowledge of the main industry products as well as our own, their suppliers, AND the skill set and methodology to integrate them.

SYSTEM SECURITY – clients need to know that the systems we tailor and develop for them are robust from disaster, and secure from internal and external harm or additional cost.

RECOGNITION - clients rightly like to feel that they are dealing with an established company who are a significant organisation within their own industry.

We will deal with each of these in more detail:

STABILITY

established in 1984
that in itself is worth noting in the recent economic climate and particularly our industry where Information Technology companies come and go
very long-serving experienced staff, some with over 30 years’ hands-on experience across all Information Technology aspects including:
- operations
- business management
- programming
- business & I. T. consultancy
- analysis
- research and development
- project management
- facilities management
complemented by highly qualified technical analysts and systems developers across a range of platforms
proven long term liaisons and escalation procedures with key industry suppliers, including:
- Microsoft
- Unisys
- Unix
- IBM
- Informix
- Compaq
- Oracle
- Hewlett Packard
- (technical representatives from those companies are often included in our project teams, and we are experienced in working together)

COMMITMENT

we do not try to sell to everyone and anybody; indeed, it is rare that we seek out formal RFIs
we rely on our reputation with significant clients and earn much of our living from those long-term relationships and recommendations that ensue

CAPABILITY

proven technical expertise across all platforms this is seen by our formal relationships with key industry companies
proven project and facilities management methodology
appointment of dedicated project manager
appointment of dedicated technical team leader
team co-ordination - us, client, third parties
steering committee management
detailed system specification as appropriate
strict trialing procedures as appropriate
standard and tailored operations and application training as appropriate
full procedural documentation and escalation procedure
solid client base:
- many since the mid 1980’s
- throughout New Zealand and Overseas

INTEGRATION AND FLEXIBILITY

in the open systems architecture environment it is essential that:
- we have the cross platform skills
- the working interface with the suppliers
all of those suppliers state that their products are prepared for the systems environment; the reality is that:
- special expertise is required to integrate the system and co-ordinate the technical resources of those suppliers
we need to be cognisant of and able to implement latest technology:
- standard networking
- complex communications and connectivity tools
- high performance 4GL database engines
- all major open systems operating systems Neural Networks, Computational Intelligence and Hybrid Systems

SECURITY

The development, implementation and support of innovative tailored systems is one thing, but it is just as important that they properly interface and integrate with other systems, both internally and externally, and that they are 'secure' in the mission critical environment in which they operate.

Once, the focus of Infomace International client activity was on developing, enhancing and supporting systems in a predominantly in-house environment followed by a need for more integration and connectivity with other systems and the outside world. These days however, as world wide ‘Information Technology’ has evolved, and while Infomace has continued its traditional work, there has needed to be a stronger emphasis on "System Security", be it on aspects of deliberate or accidental misuse, or on essential disaster recovery procedures for the whole host operational environment.

Once, a company’s computer system and equipment was provided strictly for work related duties and activities, and there was no way that outside non-business activity software could be downloaded electronically. Now there are numerous ways in which a system can be misused by employees, or be the victim of external "hacking". Such circumstances, apart from crashing the systems, delaying business processing, and corrupting business software processing, also increase the direct costs of dollars, lost man-hours, and overall business efficiency.

This is another reason why Infomace International has further established such solid long-term relationships with its clients. We work to understand ALL of their business needs and strategies, develop systems which serve as an integral part of them, possess technical expertise across the disparate I.T. platforms available today, and perhaps above all else, recognise that they must continue operation, with no loss of information, in any situation. Also, it is imperative that recovery plans are in place in the event of any failure due to a hardware malfunction, a software corruption or any other extraneous cause.