Bespoke Development Services

overview

Our enterprise-strength .NET application development capability enables us to rapidly design, build and deploy complex software solutions that will exceed your expectations. Utilising the same core framework technologies used within our product offerings, and operating an agile development approach, we can create innovative custom / bespoke applications. We specialise in building web-based enterprise applications using ASP.NET, SQL Server 2005 and related Microsoft technologies such as BizTalk and SharePoint.

what we do

The development team at Contigo has many years of experience in designing, building, implementing and supporting large-scale, complex, integrated I.T. systems. We have worked in a number of market sectors - such as Energy, Finance and Logistics - and have in-depth knowledge of the latest Microsoft development tools, database technologies and Business Intelligence solutions.

We are a certified Microsoft partner and many of our team are Microsoft-certified.

business benefits

Contigo provides a unique blend of technical capability with business knowledge, allowing us to understand your business and system requirements quickly and design a complete solution to fully deliver business benefits. We provide an extremely cost-effective approach to software development, allowing you to get a great solution whilst ensuring the highest quality.

quality

Contigo’s primary focus is on the quality of the systems that are delivered to our clients. We appreciate that the systems’ reliability, robustness and performance are of paramount importance in the world of 24/7 system availability. The right systems design, combined with appropriate quality assurance at each stage of the development lifecycle, allows us to provide fully functional systems that are fault tolerant, easy to maintain and highly extensible. We pay particular attention to the supporting documentation, an area which is, far too often, overlooked.

agility

In today’s fast moving business environments, speed of delivery is key; this is why at Contigo we continually strive to provide great solutions quickly. We don’t make anything harder than it needs to be, and we operate an agile development approach. Working in conjunction with your business, using our Jazz Framework components and productivity tools, and employing iterative project management techniques such as Scrum, we converge on the end result much faster than a traditional development approach could.

Our agile approach produces innovative solutions more quickly, and this means extra benefit for your business. Costs are reduced as there is less man-days’ effort required, and your highest business value features are delivered sooner, providing a faster return on investment. We also aim to provide fixed-price development stages where appropriate, ensuring your costs are manageable throughout the project. For customers looking to develop partnership applications, we offer significantly reduced rates to provide maximum value for your business.

usability

Many IT solutions are inflexible, rigid and are not enjoyable to use. Contigo focuses on providing ergonomic systems that maximise business benefit through highly usable and attractive graphical user interfaces. We utilise design studio expertise to ensure your corporate branding is maintained where required. Better interface design reduces training costs and helps you to work smarter, maximising your productivity, leading to higher information quality.

communication

Good communication is the key to success in implementing complex IT projects. We want you to feel in control of the projects you are investing in. We provide an online collaboration portal for every project undertaken. This allows users, project managers, sponsors and senior executives to keep up-to-date with events, track the status of actions and provide input at any time.

project management

Contigo follows a lightweight project management approach focusing on providing deliverables that add business value rather than generating lots of superfluous documentation. Our project managers are Prince2 certified and have experience in managing projects of all sizes in both small and large organisations. We aim to keep the client involved and informed through all stages of project delivery.

specialities

Contigo is happy to evaluate all bespoke development opportunities, however, the team has in-depth knowledge and experience in the following areas:

ease of deployment

Contigo’s core project deliverables are 100% server-based, browser-delivered components. There is no lengthy application scripting or packaging to add to the project timescales and costs. Application downtime is considerably reduced compared to "fat" clients, as upgrades can be installed without loss of service.

latest technology

As a Microsoft partner, Contigo is committed to using the latest software tools, technologies and products as they become available, such as Visual Studio 2008, ASP.NET and SQL Server 2008. We spend considerable time evaluating these new technologies and, where they add value and deliver benefit, we use them within our own product suite. This knowledge and understanding is then passed on to our customers. By making use of technologies such as AJAX, Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) and Silverlight, we can develop and deploy highly compelling systems earlier, providing maximum performance with increased longevity which ultimately allows you to realise an earlier and higher return on investment.

integration

Solutions developed by Contigo can be easily integrated into an enterprise using a range of integration technologies such as web services, message queuing and SOA. We have deep understanding and experience in a range of integration technologies, such as BizTalk and WCF, to enable your solution to be integrated into an existing application set to prevent the creation of application and information silos.

support

Although we design our solutions to require as little support as possible, at some point this may be required. To facilitate this and to ensure you get the best from the solution we have created, we provide a flexible set of support package options - web-based, telephone help desk and on-site support. We can of course provide systems enhancements and upgrades as required.

clients

We have implemented a range of solutions primarily in the energy sector. Recent clients include EON UK Energy Wholesale, PPM Energy, Glencore International, ROME Corp, EON UK Power Technology & Scotia Gas Networks.