My company has an IT staff in place. How can I use both my
firm's resources and the resources of EPS Custom Software Group to develop a
needed application?
EPS Custom Software Group has successfully handled many mentoring projects. The
company has done everything from supervision and assistance to working directly
with the client's IT management and staff. Depending on the objectives, this
can be an excellent working experience for EPS and the client. EPS may work
onsite, side-by-side with company developers writing code, guiding them in
difficult areas, or providing the analysis and design specifications while your
in-house staff does the actual programming. For years, EPS employees have been
involved in classroom training, lecturing at conferences, and writing
books and articles about software development. We know how to teach and
how to partner in the development process.
Is the software you develop for your clients a "canned"
package that is customized for each project or is it a solution built from
scratch?
EPS software applications are custom built for each client. Our software
development is not "canned." We do not have a single product with functionality
that we unwrap for certain clients based on their needs. EPS software solutions
are programmed using pre-designed components and standard library routines as
building blocks. We then link the customized pieces together in a scalable
fashion. The component nature of this process allows for quick in-line
enhancements and upgrades, as business needs change. The best way to describe
our solution is custom, but not "from scratch." "From scratch" is more
expensive and usually ends up as being more costly and bug-ridden.
If the software application is custom-built, how does the price compare to
buying pre-packaged solutions?
EPS Custom Software Group can provide quality solutions that easily compete
with pre-packaged software in both price and speed of delivery. Because of the
nature of our architecture, EPS can use pre-built objects for comparable
functionality. The implementations and features are specific to the individual
job. This architecture allows significant savings in cost, development time and
debugging. Also the time-to-use is usually faster than a packaged solution, as
well as having far fewer headaches and hassles. With EPS the client gets
exactly what they want and pays less for it!
EPS is located in Houston, Texas. We're on the West Coast. How can EPS
Custom Software Group know our business needs or our people?
While the EPS Custom Software Group is headquartered in Houston, the vast
majority of our business is outside the state of Texas. We rely on frequent
interaction with our clients including email, advanced collaboration tools,
online project management and online source code distribution. The EPS
development process is about working smart. Often, EPS software engineers and
developers are at the client site for a considerable stay doing the project
analysis, design, and system specifications phases of a project. We involve
client management throughout the process so that needs and expectations are
well designed and documented before we start building your software. Whether
the goal is developing a complete software application or simply resolving a
software conflict, it is EPS people, with their technical knowledge,
communication skills, and attention to detail that our clients value. It is not
dependent on where our corporate office is or where our people reside.
What are the qualifications of the EPS Custom Software Group management and
developer staff? Have they done any noteworthy speaking or writing?
EPS developers and project leaders have unparalleled industry qualifications.
This includes four Microsoft Excellence Award nominations and eighteen
Microsoft MVP awards. Company personnel handle local, regional, national, and
international speaking engagements. They have published eight
books and written countless magazine articles for trade and developer
magazines. The company has also produced software tools for in-house use that
are so popular that they have become commercial products. Finally, EPS Software
Corp. is a Microsoft Certified Partner.
How does EPS Custom Software Group communicate effectively
with their clients during and after my system is developed?
EPS has an internal development site dedicated to each client where design
specifications, programming issues and progress reports are kept. What makes
this unusual is that our clients have access to their site and participate in
discussions on design and implementation. Our clients have found this to be an
excellent way of monitoring and participating in development discussions. The
EPS project leaders are in constant communication with their client
counterparts. EPS believes in long term relationships with clients. We invest
in these relationships and don't let them vaporize when the last bill is paid.
We have several clients that have been with us for years, giving us
maintenance, upgrade, enhancement and expansion projects that have followed up
the original work.
Many client companies are rushing to develop web services and distributed
software applications. What skill-set does EPS Custom Software Group have in
these development areas?
EPS Custom Software Group wrote a best-selling
book on Web services and distributed application development. We have
taken development of web services and distributed applications to new levels by
providing leading-edge technology and tools. This allows our developers to
efficiently develop cost-effective web solutions. In distributed environments,
EPS utilizes Windows-rich client applications, web interfaces and mobile
Internet solutions. The company has the experience and insight to help our
clients develop and execute superior and secure web-based software.
If I have your Custom Software Group build my application for me does that
mean that I'm going to be tied to EPS support forever?
This question does not have a "Yes" or "No" answer. The way that EPS builds its
software, however, makes the answer closer to "No" than it might be otherwise.
EPS works with a framework and tools that it either developed or modified. The
expertise that is embodied in the project is a compelling factor towards
retention of our services over time. The architecture of EPS work is open and
modules are loosely coupled, communicating with each other using industry
standard text-based protocols. Unlike software "suites" from enterprise
software vendors, any module can be replaced, as long as the new module adheres
to established communications protocols. EPS architecture is significantly more
open than other alternatives and therefore our work is significantly less
"binding" than that performed by our competitors.
How does EPS Custom Software Group respond to requests for proposals? What
level of detail is needed to submit to get a proposal?
It's as simple as making an introductory phone call. Tell us what you need and
what your timeframe is. The experts at EPS will draft a questionnaire that will
lead to a request for proposal. The EPS goal is to keep it simple. Whatever you
have, just share it with us and we'll help guide you through the preliminary
stages. Of course, this does not mean that you are going to get an immediate
response with a firm quote from the company. That may require a much more
extensive investigation to determine exactly what your software needs are. The
bottom line is that once you identity a need, EPS is there to help you all the
way to having a working software application.
Why did EPS Custom Software Group choose the Microsoft®
Visual StudioT .NET architecture over other alternatives for application
development?
EPS believes that Microsoft® Visual StudioT .NET tools provide a superior
foundation for software development. Visual Studio .NET is a complete suite of
tools for building everything from desktop to team-based Enterprise web
applications. EPS uses Visual Studio's powerful component-based development
tools and libraries as well as other complementary technologies to simplify
programming and deployment of its custom software solutions. We continue to
evaluate other promising technologies whether they are from Microsoft or from
other software vendors. We have found that other alternative solutions or mix
of solutions from other vendors does not give EPS and its clients the same sort
of price/quality ratio as does the Microsoft development and deployment suites
of products. There are exceptions to this rule and we have worked in situations
where other products were either specified as part of the solution or were
already in place. We have found that, without an overriding need to use a
specific replacement product, our development and deployment strategy has
exceeded client requirements.
How does EPS Custom Software Group handle software maintenance?
Once the EPS custom-built software is delivered and installed, the job is only
half-done. Software has to be maintained and enhanced through its useful life.
EPS Custom Software Group's goal is to design and document systems so that
maintenance and enhancements are easy to implement. The company stands behind
our work by providing information, training and follow-up. We do maintenance
for certain customers under contract or on an as needed basis. We also work
with clients to ensure that they can handle most of the routine work
themselves.
Customer satisfaction and ongoing communication doesn't stop with delivery. In
fact, it never stops.
