Noosa Heads, Sunshine Coast Queensland

Capability Statement

June 28 – 2023

Service Overview

We are committed to delivering secure and functional web applications, support services and consulting services to our customers. We do this by being proactive in our communication, being innovative in our ideas and thorough in our work.

High Level Capabilities

PHP Web Application Development
HTML/CSS/Javascript Development
Web Design
Linux System Administration
MySQL / RDS Database Design

Invitation To Connect

The best way to learn more about how we can help is to make contact with us so we can arrange a call or online meeting. We pride ourselves on relationships based on trust and communication.

Commitment To You

We will be honest and upfront with you throughout the project and into the support lifecycle. Issues with a project will be discussed before delivering our proposed changes so that we both share ownership of the outcomes. We will work within your agreed timeframes and budget.

Web Application Development

Our inhouse language of choice is PHP which is the most abundantly used programming language on the web. It is fast, secure and stable.

Popular software like WordPress, Joomla and many online stores and open source (free) systems use PHP. This means our customers can be certain that their application or site will always be able to be supported.

Development Process

We follow an established process to deliver our projects. Part of our capability is not only the “what” of what we do but the “how”.

Consultation & Scoping

The first phase of onboarding any new client is an introductory meeting to walk through the project and assess the viability of working together. We need to make sure that your needs are aligned with our capabilities, your budget and the timelines involved. We do not charge for this process.

The second phase is when we have come to an understanding and we have a more in depth discussion, receive your project brief and spend some time together to explore all aspects required. From here you will receive a scoping report which suggests the who-what-when-how much that we all need to agree on to proceed. We do charge our time for scoping and preparing the report.

The scoping report forms the most crucial aspect of our joint reviews and progress meetings. We require that we all work off one document so that everyone is clear, informed and can contribute.

Technical Note:

PHP is a scripting language and not a compiled one. This means that we can showcase ad hoc changes in a development environment without waiting for a full release to be pushed. This is very useful in talking through proposed changes in real time because you get to see the ideas on the screen and not in a mock up.

About Our Workplace

We are a digital business. We do everything online. We do not email versions of documents back and forth but work on single online copies of each one that is required. We generally do all of our meetings online because it is efficient and we are used to working remotely.

We understand that some customers get a huge benefit from bringing the entire project team into one place and will happily attend however travel time, travel costs and accommodation (if required) will be passed on.

Potentially having one onsite meeting to kick off a project is all that is required and the remaining ones can be done remotely. We strive to make things as time and cost effective as possible whilst still having a level of contact that keeps everyone on track.

Sign Off

For us to commence building your application or site we need you to commit to the scoping report. This may take some revisions and discussion but that is to be expected. At this point the build cost will be agreed to and the project plan will be created from the scoping document.

We will commence the build when the first invoice is paid. This is a proportion of the total quote that we have mutually agreed to.

There will be changes along the way however if there is a new feature required then that is a variation and will need to be documented and signed off on.

Initial Development

This is where we take all of the information that has been discussed and turn it into software. Along the way project meetings to demonstrate the functionality or look & feel of the build may be required.

Part of this process may require your project team to undertake tasks. For example you may have to test a particular feature or provide data for us to import.

Data Extraction & Import

Many clients lack the ability to extract and convert data. Often they provide us access to the back end system and we undertake this work for them either directly or by using an external contractor. If your project requires this type of process and you need assistance then we can either put it in the initial scope or add it as a variation down the track.

First Release & UAT (User Acceptance Testing)

This is where we run through the software with your team in a training session. After that your project team will need to update the scoping report with their acceptance or feedback as to what changes are needed.

This part of the journey naturally involves a bit of back and forth but if the scoping was accurate it should not take too long.

At this part we raise an invoice for another portion of the project quote and variations.

Go Live – Production Release

There could be a need for a final cut of data to export or further user training. When the system is fully functional we require a final signoff and raise our last invoice for the project.

Support & Maintenance

Some clients are confident to move on with their software and manage it from there. Others engage us to support their application in terms of “Help Desk” and user training. These are retained services.

From a back end point of view we can host and run the solution for you so that you do not need to engage further IT support and costs. In addition you may require new features and reports. We can develop these for you as required.

System Administration

Running instances of servers means that you will require monitoring, backups, patches, updates and when things go wrong experts who will fix them. For most businesses this is not a core activity and the additional hire of an IT Manager is an expensive option whereas outsourcing to us is a fraction of the cost.

Linux Servers

Linux is the dominant operating system that most web applications run on by a wide margin. Our personnel have decades of experience on multiple versions of the Linux operating system and the myriad of services they can provide.

We use industry standard tools to securely connect to and maintain servers in datacenters all around the globe.

MySQL / AWS RDS

The most common back end database server is MySQL. In addition there is a product in Amazon’s AWS offering called RDS (Relational Database Service). Managing databases, including monitoring them and backing them up, is a crucial part of the system administration process.

In today’s business landscape the legal requirement of data security and the operational requirement of being able to restore data is a crucial skill set to have on hand. Our team has worked with many database servers for many years and by retaining us that expertise is available to you.

Other Capabilities

Linux and other operating systems like Microsoft Windows have many more capabilities than just being web servers.

AWS – Amazon Web Services

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud, offering over 200 fully featured services from data centers globally. There are far too many features to list but these include:

Cloud servers
Databases
Email servers
Active directory
VPN
Storage

We use and recommend AWS. Our preference for Australian customers is to utilize their datacenter in Sydney. This offers a legislatively compliant platform that many businesses require.

DNS – Domain Name Servers

DNS servers map yourdomain.com.au to its IP address 123.123.123.123. It is a phone book of sorts. We have managed DNS servers for 1,000s of sites.

Email – Yours, Ours or Hosted

Some businesses require their own email servers to be used. If not they can elect to use our servers. In addition we can manage the need via a 3rd party like Google or Office 365.

Data Migration & Backup & Storage

Even if a company has a server in their office, offsite backups are essential. We can configure this for you and manage it. The data can be hosted on our network in AWS or your provider.

In other cases you may need to convert one data set to another. We have extensive experience in database field mapping, export, conversion and importing.

Our Founder

Our CTO, Piers Rowan, has extensive IT knowledge and business acumen since he entered the workforce in 1991.

In the early stages of his career he worked in the Recruitment sector rising from a Payroll Assistant to, Recruitment Consultant and eventually to become the Managing Director. This is relevant because along this journey he met with many businesses, toured their facilities and interviewed their candidates. Each role he had to fill meant new knowledge, new processes, new cultures and ultimately new needs.

There was not a single industry he was not exposed to. When asked about his approach he said:

“Even if it is the 100th time you visit a client like this, assume you know nothing. Sure, ask the right questions but listen more. The building blocks of their brief will fall into place which leaves the door open to looking at their ‘unique’. “

He does not subscribe to management but culture. When pressed on the subject he said:

“No one has ever worked for me; only with me”.

This philosophy is why he works so well in teams – because he is always present and part of them.

And this is when the magic happened

Along the way he became the Marketing Manager this was when most firms did not have email let alone websites. He was part of the process of commissioning the first web site. Of course soon changes were needed to the site and his inclinations drew him towards Web Development.

The timeline:

Enters the workforce – a few computers but mostly faxes and typewriters
Part of a transition management from paper to digital involving OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software so resumes could be read and searched by computers
Seconded to the IT team where he was part of roll outs of computers, troubleshooting and resource management.
Promoted to Marketing Manager and re-wrote the website for online adverts and candidate applications – one of the first online job posting and application systems ever built
Was seconded to a secondary role of IT Manager as there was a vacancy. Implemented Linux for security on the network border and administered Windows Servers. After a while new hardware was purchased and undertook rollouts in all branches.
Was frustrated with peers when Y2K loomed Operations didn’t look for other options. Created a web service off the Windows legacy database using ODBC, PHP and Apache. So effective that the Management team agreed in 2001 to pilot this option.
Wrote a Recruitment CRM called RecruitOnline www.recruitonline.com.au [ROL] for internal use
On the back of buying a business in NZ a payroll invoicing system was needed so payROL -NZ was written and 3 months later he wrote payROL – AU (Both now PinvoiceR www.pinvoicer.com )
External customers adopted these products so he moved out of Recruitment to IT
After 25 years in the same space he moved out for new challenges as a Consultant and formed www.webgen.com.au

Piers is a seasoned “full stack” professional. What he brings to the table is a deep respect for the individualism of businesses and their projects balanced with a pragmatic approach to how their projects will be successfully implemented.

The obligatory “about him” section

When not spending time with his 3 children and family, Piers learns new skills; on a professional level, new technologies and on a personal one flying planes. When not in the air his “happy place” is underwater scuba diving.

Ironically when he lands or surfaces the first thing he reaches for is a pen and paper to write down new ideas.

“Not all problems are solved by dwelling on them,” he said.