Approach
We believe great applications have the following core attributes:
Humane:
Computers rock at some things. Humans rock at others. We think that if the two can work together, with software that supports rather than frustrates, you can create productivity magic.
Simple (which is different to simple):
There's the simple that ignores much of the problem, and then there's the Simple that gives the feeling of simplicity, but with all the capabilities of the complex. We shoot for the second type, which is much harder, but also much more powerful
Software as a Service (web-hosted):
Remember when all your software arrived on disks and required elaborate installation procedures? In recent times, the best applications live online, and give you access through your internet connection. This is more secure, gives you access from any computer, and removes massive headaches for your business.
Built for maintainability:
You can't stop a business evolving, so its software needs to evolve with it. We build our apps so that changes are simpler and cheaper to achieve, so you can go back to focusing on the profits.
Business focused:
We develop and market several of our own successful applications, so we know a P&L from a Balance Sheet, and we know the importance of understanding the key business drivers before we start a project.
Empirical:
There're lots of theories out there, but lots of them are wrong. Writing code means that our brains have learned to check that our theories and assumptions are right, that they work, and that they match reality.
Further Reading:
If the above is sounding interesting, we encourage you to delve a little deeper into our favourite learnings.
Business, Strategy & Marketing: From the Theory of Constraints, to Lean Thinking and Christensen's Disruptive Principles, we have built a framework that helps us recall and apply our more valuable insights.
We call it our Theory Of Everything (TOE), and you can check it out at investling.com/approach
Programming: There're some pretty amazing developments happening in dynamic programming languages right now. Lots of our work is done with Ruby on Rails, but we also utilise Python, HTML, CSS, and most good languages.
If you'd like to understand just how we are utilising these languages, check out our blog for some applications and insights. Much harder, but also much more powerful.
what they said:
Gerard O'Donnell - Director SMT"Programmers that understand business... that's a powerful combination."