Case Studies

next >

Building Upon an Existing Foundation

Our Client: A distributor of free publications in the United States.

Their Challenge:
The distribution division of a publishing company wanted to automate their billing system. All of their contracts were created using a word processor, and data for invoices was entered into a Lotus Notes database. Every month their regional office managers had to verify and edit all of the invoice data. This was time consuming for the managers, most of whom were in charge of everything in their market – from making sales calls to data entry. There was also no way to ensure data integrity other than through manual reviews.

Our client wanted an entirely new contract and billing system. One that would automate their billing process and ensure data integrity.

frogware’s Solution:
Initially the client wanted us to build a new product from scratch. This would require a lot of planning and design work – everything from determining workflow and functionality, to coming up with usable data entry screens. It would take time and several people, and it would be expensive. frogware suggested a simpler solution.

We had already built a contract and billing system for the same client’s publications division. Although the two divisions had very different business models, their basic requirement was the same: to create contracts and automatically generate invoices from these contracts. Our client already had the core of their new system in place, had paid for it, and it worked well. If we built on the foundation of the existing system we would already have the basic interface, workflow, and functionality in place. We could then incorporate the distribution division’s unique business requirements in the new product while creating a consistent look and feel in the software used across divisions. An employee could move between the divisions without having to learn new software. And our client’s accounting department would be spared the headache of supporting another billing format.

It would mean less billable hours for frogware. But we felt that it made the most sense for our client. They agreed.

The Result:
We think our client said it best:

The feedback we have gotten so far on the new system has been extremely positive, and the only frustration the users have is among those who have not received the system!

While we still have much ground to cover, the launch of a new system is a tremendous event. The fact that we have now arrived at this point with a quality product speaks volumes to the creativity, hard work, and innovation provided by the Frogware development team to [us]. Your team members should feel confident that all of their efforts are paying off in new business technology capabilities that will extend our competitive advantage.

Next steps:
We’ve just completed work on the fourth release, and we continue to work with our client to improve the product and streamline their business. In future releases, we will integrate their current operational system with the billing system, essentially moving all of their data into one place.

next >