Our approach to developing software is governed by balancing the following:

• The need to innovate and for stability
• Flexibility and standardisation
• What is appropriate for internal and external development

In general, we work without named departmental units and, in flexible groups, we deliver solutions on time, within budget and to specification. Teams are formed around:

• Key initiatives, such as projects, products or important technologies
• A technology/business continuum from core ‘C/C++’ capability, through scripting expertise in Python, Perl etc, application systems development expertise and into implementation and support

We believe this to be the most effective way of balancing the contrasting demands of needing to innovate with the need to provide stable, quality solutions. It also means that we don't enforce only one way of working on our staff, or on our customers.

We can and do follow formal quality procedures where necessary, but we believe that a quality system does not guarantee a quality solution - or, as importantly, a useable one. In fact, it can cause complacence and an attitude that quality is something to "switch on" or "switch off", and the responsibility of a given system or department. We therefore place equal importance upon responsiveness and continuous improvement, and embed quality in all processes.