What Can We Do For You?
Our capabilities fall into several broad, related categories that are detailed below. In general, if you have a web hosting need, a web development need, are in need of a custom software system, particularly if it is an internet related system or a system that interfaces with a database, or if you have one or more unix based machines that need to be administered and/or an Oracle or MySQL database to be administered, we can help you.
Many of our customers have confidentiality agreements, meaning that we can't give details about who they are. However, we can talk about the kinds of things that we have done. This is just a selection of some of the more interesting items, but along with the information below, this should give you a sense of the variety and level of services that we can provide.
If you have any questions about any of this, please contact us.
Web Hosting
Enigo can host your site, either on a shared server or on a dedicated system, as needed/desired. We specialize in full service, managed web hosting. If your site is hosted with another provider, we'll do everything possible to enact a completely seamless transfer. We will setup any email accounts or email forwards that are needed. We can provide you with web based email as well as traditional mailboxes, and will provide whatever access you may require for your site. If you have someone who manages your site content, they can continue to do that. If you do not, we are happy to help you with any site work that you may require.
If your site is very large or very busy, it may make sense to put it on its own dedicated server. The advantage to this is that you are not sharing machine resources with any other site, which can be important if the site is a busy one. You also have more complete control over the environment that your site runs on. The disadvantage to a dedicated server is simply that it costs more. Some companies will charge a single flat monthly rate for a dedicated server. They do this by amortizing the cost of the server into the monthly rate or by simply leasing the machine and passing the cost of the lease on to their customer. We can do this, and sometimes it makes sense to do this. Where possible, though, we prefer to take a more direct approach. We can build a system tailored to your needs, and with the power of today's hardware, an impressive level of performance can be had for fairly little money. Less than $500 puts together a system capable of handling a large amount of traffic, even with a very dynamic or database dependent web site, and the benefits are that your recurring monthly cost will be a lot lower and you also own the hardware. If you want to move your site at a later date, you can take the whole machine with you to another provider.
System Administration
If you have systems of your own, and you just need someone who can monitor them, deal with the mundane issues of user and email management, install and configure software, monitor uptime, troubleshoot unexpected problems, etc..., we will do that. Our core competancy is with Unix, specifically Linux and Solaris, but with exposure to a variety of versions over the years. An administration contract will cost a small fraction of what a dedicated employee will cost, yet we endeavor to provide the high level of responsiveness and proactive management that one would expect of a dedicated employee.
If you run a database, we also have substantial experience dealing with both MySQL and with Oracle systems and can help provide monitoring, backup configuration, tuning, and maintenance for both products.
Development
This category includes both web site development and custom software development, as they can often be related. With web site development, our style leans toward a simple, uncluttered look. If a page takes too long to load, or has so much visual fluff that it is hard to read, people will go elsewhere. At the same time, good color choices, attention to detail, and attractive clarity tend to give people a positive impression, and while impressions alone don't keep viewers on your pages, a nice impression coupled with valuable content goes much farther than either impression or content alone. As a general rule, our sites are designed so that they render well on all modern browsers while still degrading usably for the small percentage of viewers who are still using very old software. We test our sites with multiple browsers on multiple platforms in order to assure that the look is correct and consistent, regardless of whether one's audience uses Windows, Macintosh, or Unix based machines.
Custom software development is often the other side of web site development for situations where the customer has a specific set of needs that they want fulfilled by their web site. We develop a wide range of customized software solutions, from things as simple as a customized guestbook or a system for referring friends to a web site to transparent backend systems that allow for intelligent content delivery to site management systems allowing a site owner to create and deliver password protected content to their customers themselves (this is a system that has great flexibility for allowing a site owner to deliver controlled access content themselves to their own customers, and it is a system that we can setup for anyone) to complete systems for taking a traditional paper based business process and making it partially or completely paperless and in the processes easier and faster to perform.
Custom software is not limited to just web applications, however. We can deliver standalone software solutions for Windows or Unix platforms ranging from non-graphical system level applications such as email handling software or tools to automate data gathering and handling to GUI based data entry tools for handheld computers and specialized graphical applications for desktops.
Documentation
Though not often mentioned, the other half of many projects is the documentation. Instructions for use (or maintenance) need to be written, and tutorials may need to be developed so that the customer can use whatever it is, small or large, that they are paying for. This is important. We like writing documentation and are happy to deliver whatever level of documentation necessary to meet the needs of the customer.
