Decent Group January update
Decent Group
We are business software specialists. We create the tools to transform businesses.
Welcome to our first update of 2025. If one of your new year’s resolutions is to do less software development work, you might be interested in our article on how we support retiring software developers by taking on their projects and clients in a thoughtful, mutually respectful way. We also look at an example of where we’ve integrated systems to save repeat data entry, and we continue our series of self-audit questions by asking whether your systems really support mobile working in the optimum way. Happy new year!
If you’re a developer hoping to retire, here’s a way to do it responsibly
Plenty of freelance FileMaker developers would like to retire but feel obliged to keep supporting a system they built and they alone know how to work with. It’s a trap you can find yourself in simply because you do your job faithfully and well. We have developed a process for managing an orderly transition. Respectfully and collaboratively, we gradually learn how you’ve built the system, how you maintain it, and what your clients’ needs are. When you’re ready, and only then, we take over.
Delivering the dream: all your software tools in one seamless system
We’re working with an interiors company to connect their existing FileMaker system with the other key software tools they use. Currently they’re having to re-enter the same data time and again. Our project will link up their quoting tool, project management software, email and accounting software into one seamless system. Apart from transforming their efficiency, they’ll have important business data at their fingertips for the first time. Which will have an even bigger impact on their future.
If you have employees working remotely and travelling for work, they need to be connected to the services, platforms and networks they use to do their job effectively.
Which of the following applies most closely to your organisation?
?? Improvised: Mobile teams use paper for record-keeping, supplemented by emails, phone calls and photographs taken on personal mobiles sent back to the office using WhatsApp or similar.
?? Basic: Mobile apps are integrated fully into the main systems. They are designed specifically for the workflow of field sales and technical teams, ensuring the right data is readily available and easily collected.
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?? Tailormade: Access to client, product information is restricted automatically with information only made available as part of specific workflows. Copying is prevented. Access attempts are audit-logged. If you know your data isn’t fully secure, it might be time to do something about it. We recognise how valuable IP is and we have enormous experience in setting up systems that only let the right people have access to it.
Take our free business systems self-audit?to be guided through this and other questions about whether your systems are supporting your business well.
Taking the initiative to automate tasks we do every day
If a task seems relatively easy to do, and there’s no obvious way to automate it, humans will typically keep on doing it, however mindless it is. So when it came to doing backups for our clients as part of our preventative maintenance service, we would manually carry out a sequence of simple checks. As the number of clients grew, the task became seriously time-consuming – until Russell, one of our newest developers, decided he had had enough.
Off his own bat, he wrote a set of software tools that take the automated backups, check they are valid and verify that they work. ‘I wondered if there was a way to get FileMaker to open these files, and it turned out there was,’ says Russell. ‘I wrote a program to run the right commands, carry out a series of activities, and then produce a report that’s waiting for us when we arrive at work.?We’ve actually improved our maintenance service because we now do the most in-depth checks every day.’ It’s also allowed our team to focus more on creative problem-solving for our clients. This is a key part of our Decent Group ethos: if you see a problem, improve it.
If you haven’t already, have a look at our website to see the four key areas where we can make the most impact on your business:
FileMaker solutions: a new system, an improved system, or the support you’ve been missing.
Bespoke software: when no existing software fits your needs.
Business applications: a growing range of apps to solve different problems.
Business consultancy: find out where your systems and processes could be improved.
If you’d like Decent Group to supercharge your business, speak to your Client Manager or get?in?touch.