Internal applications
An application built around your process
A spreadsheet works until several people are editing it at once and the change history stops being readable. An off-the-shelf system tends to go the other way: too rigid to reflect how your company actually works. An internal application puts one process into a tool with rules, permissions and a record of who changed what and when.
We start with one process. Further areas follow once the team is working in the finished tool.
- 01
Rules held in the system
Conditions, statuses and mandatory fields live in the tool, so they do not depend on what the person handling the case remembers.
- 02
Access by role
Each role sees its own part of the data and performs only the operations that belong to it.
- 03
Work away from the office
Field views work on a phone, so data reaches the system on site rather than after the crew gets back.
Where a bespoke tool fits
The starting point is a process with a repeatable course and a result somebody checks. The technology is chosen later.
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Requests
A panel for handling requests
A request lands on a shared list, receives a status and an owner. You can see what is waiting and since when.
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Registers
A register of equipment, contracts or assets
One place with a change history. You know who holds what, since when, and what the next date is.
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Quoting
A product and price configurator
The salesperson selects the options and the tool prices them by your company's rules, blocking combinations that are not allowed.
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Forms
A form with rules and validation
Fields appear depending on the earlier answers. An incomplete submission does not go through.
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Management
A panel for the person running the team
A view of workload, deadlines and the cases that have stalled at one stage.
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Field work
A phone view for the crew
The technician completes the report, adds photos and closes the job at the customer's site, with no notes to type up afterwards.
What the application holds
The tool reflects your data, your rules, your roles and the stages of the work.
- 01
Data structure
We agree which objects you track and which fields have to be filled in before a case can move to the next stage.
- 02
Statuses and rules
We describe the stages, the conditions for moving between them and the points where the tool requires approval from a named person.
- 03
Roles and permissions
Each role gets its own view and its own set of operations. Sensitive data stays out of reach of people who do not need it.
- 04
History and export
Changes are recorded with the author and the date. Data can be exported or passed on to another system.
Scope of implementation
The scope depends on the number of roles, how complex the rules are, the integrations required and whether the tool also has to work on a phone.
On our side
- a description of the process, the roles and the decision rules
- design of the screens and the flow of work
- building the application together with its permissions
- migration of data from spreadsheets or the previous tool
- user testing, documentation and handover
What we need from you
- a process owner who signs off the rules
- your current spreadsheets or sample cases
- a list of roles and the permissions each one needs
- people who will check the tool before launch
From spreadsheet to application
Stage 1
Describing the process
We write down how a case moves, who does what, and where mistakes arise today.
Stage 2
Screen design
We show the layout of the views and the user's path before we start building the tool.
Stage 3
Build and testing
We build the application, migrate the data and test it on cases from live work.
Stage 4
Launch
We bring the team on board, switch on bug reporting and agree how later changes are handled.
Common questions
Answers on the line between an off-the-shelf system and a bespoke tool, on spreadsheet data, and on changes after launch.
An off-the-shelf system imposes its own flow of work and its own data model. An internal application reflects the process you already run and covers only what is needed. If a standard tool would be enough, we say so during the conversation.
Contact
Discuss your process
In the first conversation you describe how a case moves, who is involved and the point at which the work stalls. Afterwards we set out the scope needed for a fuller assessment.
- 01
Process
You describe an activity run today in a spreadsheet, in an inbox, or across several places at once.
- 02
Roles and data
We establish who works with this data and who approves each stage of a case.
- 03
Further assessment
We set out what has to be clarified before the scope and the order of the work can be defined.