Long term solutions from kalmstrom.com

Now and then I am asked if the kalmstrom.com developers can give a quick fix to a problem, and my answer is most often no. That is not how I want to work, and in this post I will explain why.

The well done quick-fix
When a fix is created in a good way, so that it works and solves the problem, there is a high risk that the fix will stay there and not be replaced with a more permanent solution. But as no long-term planning and life-cycle management has been involved in the design and development of the fix, it will eventually crash.

Due to the quick-fix nature of the solution there is often no organized support on the temporary solution, so when the crash happens the customer comes back to the developer again and asks for yet another quick-fix to solve an urgent problem.

The bad fix
When the fix is badly done it does not even solve the problem. Instead it creates new issues and seriously undermines the credibility of both buyer and seller. This can happen if there is no time to test the solution properly before it is implemented.

Learned from experience
I cannot remember that I have ever created a fix that the customer could not use, but I have developed  a few well-functioning quick-fixes that have eventually crashed. Therefore I try to stay away from them.

Instead I am doing my utmost to build my company based on products that will keep all stakeholders happy for the entire lifetime of the product. This long term strategy has proved successful for the kalmstrom.com products as well as for the custom solutions we develop.

The kalmstrom.com Community
The subscription system for the kalmstrom.com applications is in line with my long term strategy. Support and upgrades are always included in the subscription fee, so there are no discussions about valid support contracts or payments for upgrades. Users can always have the latest and best version of their kalmstrom.com product.

Stable product instead of quick solution
Kanban Task Manager is a good example on my long term reasoning. This application for kanban style project and task management in Outlook and SharePoint was first requested by a Community Member as a simple Outlook addon for dragging and dropping Outlook tasks in a few colors between fixed phases – new, working, done.

We decided to let the customer pay for the simple solution but give something much better. Now we have Kanban Task Manager for both Outlook and SharePoint. Users can decide colors, number of phases and their names, and there are many more good features. Thanks to this decision kalmstrom.com has a new popular product that will benefit Communtity Members for many years to come.

So – you are very welcome to contact me with your problem, but it is not likely I will give you a quick fix for it. I will give you something with a much higher value!

By Peter Kalmstrom
CEO and Systems Designer
kalmstrom.com Business Solutions