To get started I would like to outline some of the services that we provide at Appflak Software and how we work.
Software Services Overview
Our approach at AppFlak Software is two fold. We provide bespoke application development services to companies where we charge an hourly or project rate and we develop hosted software products that we rent to companies on a subscription basis.
This article will focus more on our bespoke development services and follow up with a later article on our hosted products.
Bespoke Application Development
We develop custom software applications based on client requirements. These applications are typically once off applications and, depending on the size and nature of the project, we will quote either an hourly or project rate. If we quote a project rate then we simply estimate the number of hours it will take to complete the project at our set hourly rate.
This site is very much dedicated towards our software development services (we are in the process of setting up separate web sites for each of our products). We aim to provide information to potential clients who require bespoke application development whether it be for the internet, mobile or office/desktop environment. We have the expertise to develop for any of these platforms.
We are also, at this stage, very much focused on the UK market and provide bespoke development mainly for UK based companies. Our plan is to branch in to Europe in the future.
Bespoke Database Development
Our bespoke applications nearly always incorporate some form of database development and we have experience with Microsoft SQL server as well as mySQL.
Programming Languages
This very much depends on client requirements based on their existing infrastructure. However we have the capacity to develop in any of the major languages including Java, Microsoft .NET and LAMP (Linux, Apache, mySQL, PHP).
As mentioned in previous pages on this site, we tend to gravitate towards open source languages that have wide spread following and have proven themselves on the internet.
How We Work
We have in house application developers and when required we will outsource or make use of contractors.
We do not outsource our bespoke application development to offshore companies. We do however made use of offshore companies for developing our own in house products.
Agile Software Development
We like to apply an Agile approach to our projects so that customers get updates of working software at regular intervals. Usually weekly. This allows the client to test and to ensure that we are making real progress. It also tends to keep the project on track because any deviation from script would be very quickly be picked up by the client.
Prince2
“Projects in a controlled environment” is the strap-line of the APMG Group who provide the Prince2 accreditation – something about that line always makes me smile – of course, how could a project environment be anything but controlled 
.
As the owner of AppFlak I am a big fan of Prince2 project management methodologies and am qualified as as a Prince2 Practitioner. If you visit the APMG Successful Candidate Register you can view my Prince2 Practitioner Result. Just type in my first and last name.
My point is that at AppFlak Software we apply Prince2 methodologies to some of our larger more formal projects. Prince2 is really just a set of common sense principals and methods and elements of the Prince2 methodology can be applied to any size projects.
Who we provide Bespoke Application Development Services for:
Really, we work for any size business. We usually work directly for the end client but often we are called on to help out when another service provider needs additional resources. We have worked with small to medium companies through to large blue chip clients. The size of the project has no correlation to the size of the client and no project is too small.
Thats it for now. Thanks for reading.
Liam Kiggen
