Working together
Some things are easierwith a friendly outsider.
Bringing another company into your business is a big ask. You are handing over something you built, to people who did not build it. Most of the businesses we work with felt that at the start, so it seems only fair to say plainly how this goes.
Our approach
Making light workof tough stuff.
We know your processes were built painstakingly, and that makes change hard to instigate when so much depends on them. We help you drive it carefully.
You get to know us
A small group of senior people from very different backgrounds, and you will meet all of us rather than one account contact. Whoever you start with is still here in a year when you want something changed.
We get to know you
Before we write anything we spend time with the people doing the job. Half of what makes a system good is understanding why the last one did not fit, from the very people who were using it.
We tell you what we think
An outside voice is only worth having if it is honest, so we do not mince our words. If we think you are about to spend money on the wrong thing, you will hear it early, while it is still cheap to change.
How it goes
Three stages, and what each one gives you.
They run in this order because each one makes the next cheaper and less risky. Most people start at the first and carry on from there.
01
Wayfinder
Clarity, before anybody spends
A short piece of work that establishes what is really going on. You come out of it with a written recommendation, an order of play and a realistic idea of what it involves - which is worth having whoever ends up doing the work.
You are left with a decision you can defend.
02
Build
The thing itself, working
One piece of work with a defined edge, built to connect to whatever comes next rather than to stand on its own. You see it working long before it is finished, so there are no surprises at the end.
You are left with something your team actually uses.
03
Continuity
It keeps getting better
The businesses we have worked with longest are not the ones who bought the most. They are the ones who kept moving: small changes every month, made by the people who built it in the first place.
You are left with a system that ages well.
The first stage, in detail
What actually happensin a Wayfinder.
Most of the companies we work with will come to us with a pretty solid understanding of the problem they want to solve. When we sit and examine the bigger picture with them, they start seeing things differently.
All we need is half a day in a room with whoever makes the decisions on your side, and the senior people who would do the work on ours. Then we ask the people who are in the system every day, because they know exactly where it hurts and are almost never in the room when it gets discussed. A week or two later you get it back in writing - what we found, what we would do about it, and in what order.
The first step
Start with a Wayfinder.
Tell us what is going wrong, what you have already tried, and what it is costing you. We will come back with what a Wayfinder would look like for you - or say so honestly if you do not need one.
The things worth saying up front.
The sort of thing you would otherwise have to think to ask about, and nobody thinks to ask until it matters.
What we build is yours
The systems, the designs, the code and the data. We share the intellectual property with you and we put that in writing at the start, so there is never a question later about who owns the thing you paid for.
We are in it for the long run
We would rather be the people you call in five years than the people who delivered a project once. If it does not work out that way we will still hand over properly and leave you in a good position, because that is a small world and we would like to be well thought of in it.
Technology carries risk, and we treat it that way
Security, backups, dependencies, the parts nobody enjoys talking about. We hold ourselves to current best practice and we will encourage you to do the same, because most of what goes wrong later was decided early.
Before you ask
The questions we always get asked.
How long does a Wayfinder take?
Two to three weeks end to end, and most of that is diary rather than work. The session itself is half a day.
What if we already know what we want built?
Then say so and we will quote for it. The first stage earns its place when the brief is a well-informed guess, and it is worth being honest with yourself about which of the two you have.
Do we have to do all three stages?
No. Each one leaves you with something worth having on its own, and plenty of people take them one at a time with a gap in between.
Who actually turns up?
The people who would do the work. You will not meet a salesperson and then be handed to a delivery team you have never spoken to.
What does it cost?
The first stage is a fixed fee and we will tell you what it is on the first call. What comes after depends on what that stage finds, which is rather the point of doing it first.
Can you work alongside our in-house team, or our existing supplier?
Often that is the right answer, and it is one of the things the first stage looks for. Replacing a supplier who is doing a decent job is an expensive way to solve a communication problem.
No pitch, no deck
Tell us what isactually happening.
Describe the mess in your own words. We will say what we think is going on underneath it, and whether there is anything we could usefully do about it.
Unovo LimitedSteel City Stadium, Olympic Legacy Park
Worksop Road, Sheffield S9 3TL
Registered in England and Wales, company no. 16375453