Web Application Development in Ripley

Often, yes, and we do not have to replace everything at once. A sensible first step for Ripley firms is one shared job list that both sides update, sitting alongside the accounts package you already have. Once that is bedded in, we look at what else can be pulled across. Building it in pieces keeps disruption down and lets you stop at the point where it stops paying.

We do not sell a fixed package, because a two-screen booking tool and a full client portal are not the same job. We scope the work first, break it into stages and quote each stage, so you can start with the part that pays for itself and decide about the rest later. You will have the figure in writing before anything is built.

We can usually get out to your Ripley office within a few days for a first conversation, and urgent issues on something we already run get a same-day response. Build work starts once we have agreed the scope, and the first stage is normally usable in weeks rather than months, so you are not waiting a year to see anything.

No. The build is quoted as a piece of work, not a tie-in. Hosting and support are monthly and you can stop them with a month's notice. If you ever leave, the code and the data are yours and we will hand them over properly rather than holding them hostage. Most projects start small for exactly that reason.

Both, and we pick whichever suits the stage. The first scoping session is usually best face to face at your Ripley premises, because watching the job get done tells us more than any questionnaire. After that most of the build, the demos and the support happen remotely, and we come back out for training, go-live or anything that needs us stood next to your team.

A conversation, not a sales pitch. You tell us where the friction is and we ask a lot of questions about how the work flows today. Then we write up what we heard, sketch what a tool could do and give you a staged quote. If we think an off-the-shelf product would do the job cheaper, we will say so.

Usually, yes. If your CRM, accounts package or supplier system has an API, which most modern ones do, we can make them talk to each other so a job entered once appears everywhere it needs to. Where there is no API we can often work with scheduled file exports instead. We check what is possible before quoting, so there are no nasty surprises halfway through.

Often not, and we will tell you when a spreadsheet or a cheap off-the-shelf tool is fine. It is worth building when the manual work is costing real hours every week, when mistakes are reaching customers, or when one person is the only one who knows how it works. If none of that is true for your Ripley team, save your money.

Often, yes. We start with an honest review of the code, the hosting and the backups, then tell you what it would take to keep it going and what it would take to replace it. Sometimes it is a tidy-up and a move onto our UK hosting, sometimes the honest answer is that a rebuild costs less than the patching. Either way you get the facts first.

Both. Plenty of day-to-day faults get sorted remotely the moment you ring, without anyone leaving their desk. But Ripley is about twenty-five minutes from us on the A610, so when something needs hands on it we come out. Dead switches, cabling, a server that will not boot, a new machine on the shop floor: that is a visit, and for urgent jobs we aim to be there the same day.

Sometimes yes, sometimes no, and we will tell you which. If your drawings, machine files or job-costing software need to sit on the local network, a properly specified on-site server with a backup that actually gets tested is still the right answer for a lot of Ripley workshops. We look at what your kit really does, then show you which route costs less over five years.