Published on the 10/08/2015 | Written by Donovan Jackson
Despite the availability of a vast range of off-the-shelf software and a whole internet full of SaaS, too much work is still being done in spreadsheets…
That’s according to Neil Webster, sales chief at Appactiv, which provides a cloud-based platform for bespoke software development. The point of difference, Webster said, is that Appactiv is used by business people, not programmers or software developers.
“Particularly in larger businesses, spreadsheets are everywhere. That’s a reflection of people pulling information out of business systems and working on it in parallel; it’s a problem because reporting isn’t possible and you can’t get a consolidated view of what’s happening in that organisation,” he said.
Despite their universal acceptance and the value they undoubtedly have, the limitations of spreadsheets has given rise to the term ‘Excel hell’.
Webster said there are gaps in ‘the off-the-shelf stuff’ and what businesses are doing. “If you can get packaged software to meet your requirements, you should absolutely use that. The problem comes when there is a requirement that isn’t anticipated in the software and it isn’t easy or even possible to modify it. That’s when people go to a point solution off the web, or they fire up Excel.”
The other option is to procure a fully bespoke software solution or add-on, or customise existing systems. However, this typically involves business analysts and software developers, large sums of money and lengthy time frames. In other words, individuals or small teams, particularly, will instead seek workarounds.
That’s where Appactiv steps into the picture, said Webster. “We provide an application framework that allows people who don’t have development skills to build themselves a custom application in the cloud, in a matter of hours.”
Appactiv is hosted on Azure (Sydney and Singapore) and delivered via a web browser interface; it can also be installed on-site.
Priced per user per month, it starts with a free offering which Webster said can be accessed and used to demonstrate proofs of concept. There’s no particular vertical market, with the company’s customers including an airline, a house builder and a pharmaceutical company. “Typically, we work with data intensive organisations or teams of ten people or more – anywhere where there are spreadsheets being used to rekey and manipulate data because the line of business application can’t do it.”
