Good communication is the key to good system development.

Following your initial contact with us, a senior consultant will contact you to discuss your requirements. Depending on the exact nature and scale of the work we will agree with you the process to be followed and the timetable of events. Once we both understand what is required and what is being delivered, we will draft a simple (plain English) contract so we are all clear on the scope of the work and our business terms.

We can offer you a fixed-price contract or a "time and materials" (T&M) basis. There are pros and cons of both approaches: with a fixed price contract you know exactly how much the development will cost but a T&M contract sometimes works out cheaper. There are cost risks with T&M work (since you are the one who will pay for any overruns) but it does offer the flexibility to change the design as work progresses - this is not possible with a fixed price contract without re-negotiating the cost.

There may be occasions where we are unable to offer a fixed-price contract (e.g. because the scope of the work is ill-defined) but be assured that no work will start until you are happy with the arrangement and both sides know exactly what is expected, what is being delivered and when.

We offer you a single point of contact within our company (who will be a senior consultant or company executive) and all your contact will be through that person so you know exactly who to contact. If possible we would like you to do the same so that a relationship can develop - lack of communication is the biggest cause of problems in software development but can be easily avoided.

If there are any issues with the work (e.g. development is running behind schedule) then we will contact you straight-away to tell you what the problem is, how it occurred and what we are doing to fix the situation. We believe in keeping you appraised of the situation at all times so there are no unexpected surprises.

One month after the work is complete, your consultant will call you to check you are happy with the product and everything is OK.