1. Happy clients
Preferably, those happy clients will have had the firm develop the same or very similar software to yours. Look for detailed case studies or “success stories” similar to the services you need.

2. An ability to give you a firm estimate.
An inability to give you a firm estimate indicates that the company has insufficient experience in developing the kind of software you need. Assuming the scope or requirements are not changed, you should be guaranteed that the project will be delivered at the set price agreed upon at the outset.

3. Microsoft certification.
It should be an absolute requirement that your developer be certified in the software being developed.

4. A solid history and promising future.
Obviously, you do not want to enter into an application development project with a company that appears unstable or shady. Look for signs that the company has excellent financial health.

5. A Team Development Approach.
Good companies will at least pair developers to share responsibility for a project. This ensure continuity, project ability and higher final quality.

6. A process of constant improvement by quality control.
Mature, forward-thinking organizations have deliberate and disciplined processes for tracking and improving product quality. Ask how your prospective business application development firm approaches Quality Control.

7. Access to a Standard set of re-usable Application Features.
The best application development companies will have pre-built modules for standard requirements that are not only tried-and-true and guarantee high quality, but are tremendous development time-savers, which will significantly reduce client costs.

8. Offers full product support.
You definitely want an application development firm that can deliver you application on time and on budget.

But, wouldn’t it also be cool if the company is able to offer you on-going support and maintenance? The best application development companies will be able to provide a wide range of services, from simple product support and updates to minor modifications to adding features to significant expansion to cloud migration and hosting services.

9. Can make sure your database application can grow with you.
Should the joyful some day arrive that your company’s database needs have outgrown the capabilities of Access, your application development firm should be able to plan and execute your migration to enterprise database applications.
No, it’s not an absolute requirement. But, your migration project is likely to be smoother and more affordable if it is handled by a company already familiar with your business and your business database application.

Black & Veatch, a global, consulting, engineering and construction company headquartered in Overland Park, Kan., worked with Help4Access to design and implement a custom application to assist in monitoring air quality at one of its California project sites.

Sasha Froyland, Help4Access Founder and CEO, made this comment about the project. “Black & Veatch needed an approach that provided a way to capture and report on the data as soon as possible to ensure that any problems with air quality would be identified and addressed immediately. However, more robust capabilities like anytime, anywhere accessibility and automated disaster recovery back-ups are back-end functions that can elongate a project timeline. This is where the versatility of our approach made it possible to do both.”

In order to achieve all the goals of the project, the requirements were split into two phases.  The first phase involved the development of the custom application focused on capturing and reporting the air quality data.  Help4Access was able to rapidly respond to this need using the power of Microsoft Access. The back-end functions were moved to a second phase so that data capture and reporting could start right away.

After the successful implementation of the custom-built application, additional work was requested to improve accessibility of the application and provide additional back- end functionality. In order to make the critical data available anytime and anywhere, the application needed to be migrated to the cloud. In addition to providing enhanced accessibility, this migration made it possible to implement automated back-up of all data, enhancing disaster recovery capabilities.

“By leveraging our key competencies, our team was able to provide Black & Veatch with a two-phase approach that met all of their needs” added Froyland. “With the application in place, the Help4Access team was able to partner with Black & Veatch to migrate the application and all existing data to the cloud which increased accessibility and made it possible to address disaster recovery requirements like automated backup.”

About Help4Access

Help4Access is a provider of highly affordable, data-driven business applications and services. Since 1998, the company has built more than 800 custom applications for a wide variety of businesses, educational institutions and nonprofit organizations.

Founded by Sasha Froyland, Help4Access has successfully completed over 800 custom database application solutions for companies ranging in size from large Fortune 500 to small start-up companies in every industry. Help4Access is a Microsoft Certified Partner and focuses on delivering Microsoft Access solutions.

Products & Services: Custom business application development, support and cloud hosting

For a free consultation, call us at:  1-855-484-3435.
Email: Sales@Help4Access.com – San Francisco, CA.

ClientCare360 is a comprehensive client management and billing system designed specifically for special needs service providers.  Help4Access created the ClientCare360 package and proudly continues to support and maintain it today.  In order to make this type of functionality available to all special needs providers, Help4Access provides the software itself at no cost.  Naturally, there are costs associated with hosting and customization, but by providing the software package at no cost, Help4Access makes it possible for special needs providers to get the functionality they need in order to more efficiently and effectively administer care while keeping costs low.

Would your organization benefit from ClientCare360? Click and see, it’s FREE.

Many special needs providers are operating on limited funding while still striving to provide the best possible care for their clients.  This often leaves little left over for investing in technology solutions that can increase efficiency and improve client care.  As a result, many providers operate using a patchwork of functionality, pulled from many different applications like spreadsheets and email; requiring them to jump from one application to another to complete a single task, re-enter information multiple times, and construct reports manually.  This way of operating is very manually intensive and takes up time that could be better spent providing care or services to clients.  ClientCare360 provides the perfect affordable solution.

The ClientCare360 client management and billing software offers a comprehensive, 360-degree view of each client.  For special needs providers that are dependent on public funding, much-needed technology can often exceed their budget. But, as many providers have found, it isn’t possible to effectively manage a client load in the thousands with a hodge-podge of disconnected excel spreadsheets, reporting tools and email.  At some point, the quality of care begins to suffer and providers find they cannot help everyone who needs them simply because they cannot administer that many clients manually.

In order to meet the varied needs of special needs providers, ClientCare 360 offers 6 completely integrated components: admittance, assessment, program placement, grant funding, attendance, and financial reporting.  By centralizing and integrating these functions, ClientCare360 makes it easy for special needs providers to enter, access, and report on their data, manage their client load, perform all billing tasks, and create a myriad of reports.

By streamlining certain processes, ClientCare360 improves billing capabilities offering a significant impact on cash flow, resulting in a decrease in overall operating costs. Providers can achieve additional cost savings because of the centralized client database provided as part of the ClientCare360 software.  Capturing and storing all client data in a single location eliminates duplicate entries and makes it easier for managers and administrators to find the information they need and produce the reports they require.

Similar packages offered by competing vendors charge as much as $130 per client.  But, according to Sasha Froyland, ClientCare360 founder, “With ClientCare360 we have developed a cost-effective product that makes a centralized client management system available to special needs providers.  The package saves them both time and money by increasing cash flow and allowing them to provide better care to their clients.” Froyland goes on to say “We are VERY proud that we can provide such a comprehensive product to a well-deserved market.”

Would your organization benefit from ClientCare360? Click and see, it’s FREE.

About ClientCare360

Founded in 1997 by Sasha Froyland, ClientCare360 provides comprehensive client management and billing functionality designed to meet the specific requirements of special needs service providers. The package offers a 360-degree view of the client and client billing capabilities in a single, easy-to-use cost effective solution which helps to reduce operating cost, improve cash flow, and enhance customer care.

About Help4Access

Help4Access is a provider of highly affordable, data-driven business applications and services. Since 1998 the company has built more than 800 custom applications for a wide variety of businesses, educational institutions and nonprofit organizations.

Founded by Sasha Froyland, Help4Access has successfully completed over 800 custom database application solutions for companies ranging in size from large Fortune 500 to small start-up companies in every industry. Help4Access is a Microsoft Certified Partner and focuses on delivering Microsoft Access solutions.

Products & Services: Custom business application development, support and cloud hosting

For a free consultation,  call 1-855-484-3435.
Email: Sales@Help4Access.com – San Francisco, CA.

An international company specializing in designing and manufacturing robotics, liquid handling, automated storage solutions, and process analytics, the Hamilton Company has headquarters in Massachusetts, Nevada and Bonaduz, Switzerland. The company has  regional offices throughout the world.

In order to provide a high level of service and support for current and potential customers in China, the company needed a way to capture, track, and report on its business development opportunities in that market.

To meet this need, Hamilton turned to Help4Access to migrate and host its customer relationship management (CRM) system.  The solution provided by Help4Access gives Hamilton a more accessible way to track leads and prospects as well as better reporting and exporting capabilities, increasing the likelihood that it will win more contracts. The project focused on business development opportunities and customer relationship management specific to the Chinese market in order to support growth targets in that region.

Sasha Froyland, Help4Access Founder and CEO, explains how Help4Access’s access migrating service helped Hamilton Bonaduz AG meet its goal.  “Hamilton has significant growth potential in China, but like many other companies, its existing systems were not able to provide the robust capabilities needed to leverage available opportunities and achieve business development goals.  By migrating access to the cloud, companies like Hamilton get the best of both worlds – robust, custom solutions that are easily accessible from more than one location.  Our access migration services and customized hosting solutions are a great fit for Hamilton’s specific project needs.”

The Help4Access business analysts went on to work with Hamilton team members located in 5 different countries to identify their high level and detailed business requirements.  This partnership enabled Help4Access’s engineering team to recommend and implement the right solutions on a rapid timeline.

“Because Help4Access has expertise in migrating MS Access to the cloud and providing  hosting services post migration, we were able to solve Hamilton’s business problem quickly and efficiently. We made use of all our core competencies in order to implement this business critical solution for the company,” Froyland said. “The exceptional teamwork exhibited by our business analyst and engineering teams in partnership with the team from Hamilton enabled delivery of an effective, efficient solution customized to Hamilton’s specific requirements.

“Customized solutions using MS Access 2010, SQL Azure, MS Excel, and the cloud are cost-effective ways to achieve specific business development goals. The customer-centric solutions provided by Help4Access provide the perfect balance of performance and accessibility with low cost and low risk.  For clients, this means getting the technology they need when they need it at a cost that enables them to get a high rate of return on their investment,” Froyland said.

About Help4Access
Help4Access is a provider of highly affordable, data-driven business applications and services. Since 1998 the company has built more than 800 custom applications for a wide variety of businesses, educational institutions and nonprofit organizations.

Founded by Sasha Froyland, Help4Access has successfully completed over 800 custom database application solutions for companies ranging in size from large Fortune 500 to small start-up companies in every industry. Help4Access is a Microsoft Certified Partner and focuses on delivering Microsoft Access solutions.

Products & Services: Custom business application development, support and cloud hosting

For a free consultation, call 1-855-484-3435
Email: Sales@Help4Access.com – San Francisco, CA.

MagTec Alaska, LLC is a cutting-edge provider of flameless heating equipment and Tier III generators.  Based in Kenai, Alaska, the company has contributed to the oil, gas, and mining industries for more than 15 years.  This experience and expertise uniquely qualifies them to understand the specific types of heat and power needs found only in Alaska.  They rent, lease, and sell specialty flameless heating equipment that provides highly efficient heat while while staying within industry emissions standards guidelines.  In order to operate at effectively as possible and ensure they were providing their customers with excellent service, MagTec decided to invest in an automated system to assist with the procurement process from start to finish.

Magtec Alaska looked to Help4Access in order to meet the specific needs of their business as MagTec’s business requirements were unique enough to require the design and development of a custom application.  The system would need to provide functionality supporting the entire procurement process beginning with order intake and continuing through to the servicing and rentention of customers.   Additionally, any solution would have to support the procurement of parts and provision of any maintenance or repair services.

According to Sasha Froyland, Help4Access Founder and CEO, “Magtec Alaska realized that in order to make the most of their technology investment, they needed a comprehensive  solution that was built to meet their specific needs.  Because Microsoft Access is the fastest prototyping tool in the world, it was the perfect platform to rapidly build the custom functions needed to meet the business requirements.

Help4Access’s engineering team worked closely with MagTec’s subject matter experts to get a feel for their high level business requirements and then dove into the details in order to understand exactly what was needed to improve effectiveness and increase efficiency.  This detailed understanding of the customer’s requirements allowed them to create the best solution at the best price.  Utilizing the built-in power of Microsoft Access, the team took the project from conceptual design to high-quality application, meeting MagTec’s needs across the board.

“By leveraging our key competencies, our team was able to provide MagTec Alaska with a comprehensive procurement system that includes all the functionality required to meet their needs and expectations.”  added Froyland.  “By partnering with the team members from MagTec, we were able to provide a rapidly-developed, fully-customized solution that met their need for cost-effective functionality.

The Help4Access team designed and built a custom Microsoft Access solution that supports MagTec Alaska’s procurement process from beginning to end.  The system supports order intake, tracking and processing of purchase orders, tasks related to material requisition, ordering, inventory, part sales, customer service functions and supply management.  By tying the different pieces of the procurement process together into a single application, this solution increases MagTec’s efficiency and provides them with robust data management and reporting functions.

Froyland added “For small businesses, custom-built solutions using MS Access 2010 are a cost-effective way to get the functionality they need at the price they can afford.   All custom solutions designed and developed by Help4Access using the Microsoft Access platform provide just the right balance between performance and cost, between functionality and risk.

About Help4Access
Help4Access is a provider of highly affordable, data-driven business applications and services. Since 1998 the company has built more than 800 custom applications for a wide variety of businesses, educational institutions and nonprofit organizations.

Founded by Sasha Froyland, Help4Access has successfully completed over 800 custom database application solutions for companies ranging in size from large Fortune 500 to small start-up companies in every industry. Help4Access is a Microsoft Certified Partner and focuses on delivering Microsoft Access solutions.

Products & Services: Custom business application development, support and cloud hosting

For a free consultation, call 1-855-484-3435
Email: Sales@Help4Access.com – San Francisco, CA.