| Our Philosophy | ||
| - President's Message - | ||
| Our
Approach to Business:
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The idea for
Icefan Systemhouse started in the late 1980's and was a direct result of
an unhappy situation. I had worked for a couple of computer companies and
was appalled at the fact that most of these companies clients were
extremely upset. They were very disappointed with the functionality of the
software, they felt ripped off about the endless cycle of hardware
upgrades, they were astonished at the exhorbitant costs of support and
maintenance.
I was shocked to discover that most of those problems could be directly traced back to the selling process. The salespeople, armed with little more knowledge than that gleaned from a glossy brochure and a set of slides, were selling sophisticated computer systems to business owners and managers who themselves had little technical knowledge about their requirements. Salespeople were boasting, "bullshit baffles brains", but it was more like, "the blind leading the blind". The result, of course, were systems ill-suited for the tasks they were performing. Our approach to ensure that the system fits the client, is to analyze exactly what the requirements are. The stated objectives are investigated to determine their completeness and to find the best possible solution. This process results in all parties understanding precisely what will be delivered, how much it will cost and how long it will take. A fortunate consequence from this approach is that the vast majority of our sales have been from referrals. We take a long-term view. We want your business today and we want your business twenty years from now. The only way to have everybody prosper is to have a completely honest relationship that results in your having a powerful, effective system that facilitates your business operations and can provide a strategic weapon to you.
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| Our
Approach to Software Development:
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We
have three unique types of engagements with our clients. We offer a
turn-key service whereby the complete IT function is out-sourced to us,
then there is the situation where we develop a point solution and are
responsible for ongoing support and development, and finally a consulting
scenario where we may develop and integrate but transfer the necessary
knowledge and documentation in order for the in-house staff to support.
These three types may evolve over time and have necessitated a disciplined approach to documentation and support which has resulted in our development mantra - structured, extensible, maintainable. All code, interfaces, scripts, and processes are modularized, commented, and documented so that whether it is our staff or yours, the system can be easily extended or maintained. The other major tenet to our software development can be summarized by the slogan - "the right tool for the job". With our wide range of experience, we can competently make the decisions regarding both the appropriate tools and the required skill sets. Unfortunately, we often encounter the other infamous saying - "when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail".
-Paul McTeigue |