So, we hear you have some questions...

Let's tick off the easy one first.

Who are we? We are Switchplane. A skilled team of developers to whom you can outsource with confidence.

We've been around since 2003 and we bring about meaningful change for the people we work with.

Read more about our history.

We work using Agile Scrum. What the hell is that?

It simply means we plan, execute and complete small, bitesize tasks every two weeks (a "Sprint").

These tasks build towards features and goals for your project.

For you, this means:

• Regular opportunities to see progress and give feedback
• It’s easier to accommodate new ideas and changes in scope
• You see a faster return on investment, as each Sprint brings new features and improvements

We trust in the process...and so do our clients.

Working ‘Agile’ has given our clients excellent results.

Here's a couple of our clients - James from Spitfire Audio and Miranda from Hiwire Lift Services - talking about their experiences working with us in this way.

You'll know work is being done.

You will always know what work we are doing on your system.

We set priorities and next actions with you every two weeks. You’ll see and test the work done in the last two weeks.

You’ll have access to a link that shows you anything on your backlog, helping you to prioritise what comes next.

Plus, you’ll also get an email copy of all requests carried out in the last Sprint and planned for the next one. Just to be sure.

We can build whatever you want.

Every project has its own specific set of challenges.

We use appropriate tools to tackle these in the best way possible.

Here are some examples of our previous work.

We aren't right for everyone.

Usually, a company wouldn’t admit this. But it’s true. There might be an off-the-shelf solution that works better for you.

Custom software is a good match when you have something unique about your business such as how you distribute your product - digitally, with unique logistics, or a remote/mobile workforce.

You could have complex workflows or regulatory requirements to meet.

Or perhaps you have tried off-the-shelf software and outgrown it. Or maybe you are running workarounds that are no longer efficient.

This is where custom software comes in.

Read more about who we work with.

We’re a team, not a product.

By working with us, you are outsourcing your development work. You are not buying an off-the-shelf product. This is key to know.

Like hiring a member of staff, you are paying them with the expectation that good things will come from it. You take a risk on that staff member’s productivity.

With Switchplane, you are buying into a process. Your custom software will be the outcome of the work of our team, working closely with you.

Partnership is a two-way process.

To get the most from your spending with us, we do ask for some small commitments from you.

1. Attend a video call with us once per Sprint, and be prepared!
   • Meetings to get your feedback are invaluable to us.
   • Think in advance about your priorities. Which feature will bring you the most value next?
   • If you aren't the expert on a particular business area, bring along someone who is, to help with the planning.
   • Share your feedback, good or bad - we love hearing it so we can make your software the best it can be.
2. Test thoroughly.
   • We test code and functionality as much as we can. But you have the true knowledge of what you expect to happen and how to deal with edge cases. So you’ll know what works best for you and your team.
   • Test any new features on your staging site when they are released. Your staging site is a testing playground for you to try out changes before they're released for real.
   • Ask any regular users of a new feature to test it.
   • Then, when we release the feature to the live site, you should be able to get stuck in using it straight away.
3. Report issues accurately.
   • If you have a bug, we need as much detail as you can give so we can squash it quickly.
   • This means any developer can solve the problem and get you back on track.

Your custom software is...yours.

It's different to other off-the-shelf software that you may be familiar with, like Xero or Quickbooks. These are rented on a pay-per-month or pay-per-user basis. You pay a subscription and you have access to it for as long as you continue to pay, but the software is never yours. You don’t own it.

Custom software is an investment in your own business. It's an intangible asset. You can even claim R&D tax credits for it.

In finer detail, there are thousands of components in custom software. We combine these to create new functionality.

Each component can have different ownership and licensing arrangements. We categorise these into three areas:

• Third-party dependencies. These can be databases, Amazon Web Services (AWS), or other open-source software. For these, we try to use open-source, freely available, or well-established suppliers. This ensures that we and our clients have the right to use those components or services.
• Switchplane Engine generic components. We have developed these components to power all our systems. We grant you a non-exclusive licence for usage. You don’t “own” these components, but you are able to use them in perpetuity without restriction on usage. We own and retain the right to use the source code as we see fit.
• Client-specific components. We create these specifically for you. This could be something like a process that’s unique to your business - it's yours alone.

We know you are taking a risk by partnering with us.

We need to gain your trust.

The 'Discovery' phase at the start of the project aims to mitigate some of that risk.

We will have the opportunity to get to know one another.

We will define a ‘minimum viable product’ (MVP) with you during this phase. This will give you a better idea of what you can expect to see from a particular component in a certain timeframe. The MVP should aim to tackle one of your biggest pain points and give you some return on investment.

We are stable.

We've been established since 2003 and have weathered all storms thrown at us to date - the financial crisis, COVID, you name it...

But any good business like yours will be thinking of worst-case scenarios.

In the unlikely event that Switchplane should go out of business, our intellectual property is effectively shared. You would be able to take the system to another developer with the appropriate expertise and qualifications and carry on as normal.

We would always be upfront about any problem and let you know should you need to switch to another provider.

Security, sorted.

All our source code is held in the Cloud. It's available to our developers with the correct access requirements. As a team, we commit new code to source control every minute, so code is always in a safe place in our AWS servers.

AWS is safe. It’s quite difficult to hack a system and AWS accounts have a layer of Shield, which stops malicious traffic. A hacker would need to get into Amazon and past their firewalls before reaching Switchplane’s code and the application itself. We have systems in place to protect against the most common kind of attack (SQL injection). We keep file uploads away from where we execute our code to minimise risk.

The biggest risk we see is actually humans! The ones who give away their passwords accidentally or through a social engineering attack. It’s important to be aware of phishing scams and using the same password in too many places.

We can’t tell you how much it will cost upfront...

...BUT we can help you identify the value you will get.

How? Well, imagine a repetitive task you do. You know the one. 20 minutes a day, every day. An hour a week. Four hours a month. 48 hours a year.

Now, what's your hourly rate, what does your time cost? £120 an hour? Ok, so that 20 minutes a day is worth £40. £200 a week. £800 a month. £3200 a year.

So you could automate that task and it'll pay for itself in revenue based on repurposing your time to something more beneficial for your business.

And, of course, this repeats - with different tasks, different people and different teams across your business.

Ultimately, it becomes a no-brainer - why wouldn't you want to invest in software which is going to generate ROI multiple times over across the years?

Now, to be clear, we're not a product - so you can't say "I want to buy one Switchplane, please". Every project is custom-built and unique - you're buying our time and starting a business relationship with us.

The requirements for a project can change over time and as you have more understanding of them.

You might think you know exactly what you want. But you don’t. Once we get into the finer details and processes, the system can end up being vastly different.

Once upon a time, the main method of software development was ‘Waterfall’. This meant fixing scope and pricing at the start of a project. For clients, this meant slow delivery, little opportunity for feedback, and requirements and technology could become outdated during the build. Agile changes all that.

With Agile, we are flexible and responsive to external changes. You can change your priorities - and start using those features in as little as two weeks.

For guidance, our clients typically spend between £3k and £10k per month with us. This provides progress and results at a pace they are happy with.

We will suggest a budget for a retainer agreement with us. Your budget buys developer time within a sprint, at an indicative rate of £115+VAT per hour.

You set the monthly retainer budget, based on how comfortable an amount is for you. You can increase or decrease your spending as your needs change.

There are some running costs too.

Once your project is live, hosting costs start at £100+VAT per month. This includes a security certificate so the sending of personal information is safe. We review hosting costs quarterly as they depend upon usage and can increase over time.

Domain name renewals are £25+VAT annually per domain.

Our regular meetings once per Sprint are not billed. But your monthly budget funds extra meetings, such as technical consultancy with third parties.

We reserve 10-15% of your budget for technical planning, quality control, and maintenance on the codebase.

Once development work comes to an end, we recommend a small monthly budget for ongoing maintenance and support. This allows us to keep your codebase and infrastructure up to date and help with any queries you may have.

OK, you made it this far, so let's talk about how you get started with us.

There are a few steps we go through with all clients when starting a new project.

1. Initial meeting
   • We get to know each other and discover the pain points in your business.
   • We explain how our process works.
2. The paperwork bit
   • We prepare a proposal and paperwork for you to review and sign.
   • We sometimes have another meeting at this point for you to ask any questions you, or any other team members, may have.
3. The Discovery phase
   • This month-long phase is at half of your usual budget.
   • We learn about your business from top to bottom. You learn more about how we work and what you can expect from partnering with us.
   • We’ll probably ask you for some things - your logo, a spreadsheet you are perhaps trying to get rid of, or a sketch of your workflows.
   • Behind the scenes, we’ll do the ‘boring’ technical setup of your project.
   • At the end of this phase, we’ll have a clear idea of where to begin tackling your pain points. Plus a rough roadmap for longer-term development.
   • If we find we’re not a good fit for each other at the end of this phase, we can call it a day.
   • But usually, we would then move on to our regular Sprint process with you.
4. Development
   • Your Project Champion (your lead Switchplane developer) plans ‘requests’ for the next two weeks. They hand these to the most appropriate developers on the team.
   • The two-week Sprint kicks off and developers begin work on these requests.
   • Your requests are quality checked by the Project Champion.
   • The Project Champion releases the new code to your staging website.
   • We have a video call, share our progress with you, and get your feedback.
   • You have the opportunity to test the latest features on the staging site - you know your workflows best! If you’re happy, we release the updates to your live system.
   • We decide together what our next priorities should be.
   • The process repeats.

Phew!

We hope we have been as transparent as possible with this information and that you can now imagine what partnering with Switchplane will be like.

But everyone is unique, so you will likely have some specific questions for us too. We welcome your queries - please get in touch so we can chat it over.