Services
TeraCode is an Agile development company. We focus on:
Design and Architecture
The principals of TeraCode have spent the last 15 years designing and developing world class applications. Our passion is working with our clients to design and architect the latest and greatest solutions. We stay on top of all the new trends in development and technologies so that we can offer the most cost effective design strategies with the most efficient architectures.
We work with you to identify requirements, build specifications, write use cases, develop wireframes and present an architecture and plan for your project. We are happy to come on-site and meet with your team as part of this process.
Development
TeraCode provides a range of development services. Our team is experienced in developing Web applications (Java, PHP, Ruby and .NET), client/server applications, and mobile applications (WAP, J2ME, iPhone, Android, RIM).
The types of applications delivered include content management systems, CRM, ad servers, management consoles and back-end infrastructure.
We specialize in developing solutions that require algorithmic components for deep pattern matching, data yield optimization and machine learning. Most, if not all, of our projects have requirements for proprietary workflow technology, data warehousing and an analytics engine integrated into the specifications.
Our development process is Agile. We work with you to collect specifications, build use cases and wireframes and begin coding as quickly as possible. Once we get a first release up and running, we keep re-iterating every week until we reach the features, functionality and stability you need to be market ready. We stay in constant communication with you throughout the development process. Our teams meet daily, weekly and monthly to review the project and ensure we remain on track.
Specific areas of expertise include Experts Systems, Natural Language Query, Domain-specific Languages, eCommerce, Reporting and Data Warehousing.
Technologies
- Domain Driven (OO) Design
- Relational Database design
- Aspect Oriented Programming
- UML
- Test-driven development
- Unit and Regression testing
- Rational Unified Process
Rapid Prototyping
A specialized service TeraCode often provides to emerging ventures is Rapid Prototyping. We've developed proprietary tools that enable us to quickly prototype an application that can be used for demonstrations to potential clients, investors, analysts.
Prototypes are extremely valuable for helping make a business case for a large scale development project and enables a meaningful discussion between business partners to identify key features, functionality and usability.
While often not re-usable or scalable, prototypes can often be created with component technology so that portions of the effort can be re-used in later development.
Quality Assurance
Software quality is often overlooked but is one of the most critical aspects of any project. If a great product or new offering is riddled with bugs, customer acceptance will falter and you may not get a second chance. And, in today's world of web-based applications there is a temptation to release early with less QA under the assumption that you can quickly roll out fixes. But what we're really doing as an industry is making our customers beta testers.
At TeraCode we believe in test-driven design and automating as much test coverage as possible to ensure stability in your releases. On top of automated unit tests we have a team of train QA engineers who can be assigned to your team to create test scripts, develop and manage a testing plan, manage bug reporting and work closely with development to ensure high quality releases. In addition, TeraCode utilizes uTest (http://www.utest.com) services (with client consent) to leverage a global community of testers to identify bugs and improve quality.
Additional Services
Graphic Design
We maintain a team of talented graphic designers with specific expertise in User Interface design. Often our team of designers are used during the specification phase to create wireframes and prototype designs. However, in many instances our team has gone on to design the final UI for clients. Our team is available to you on an as needed basis.
Technical Writing
We have trained, English language technical writers on staff to help with user documentation and other written needs your project may have.
Hosting Support
While TeraCode does not host production systems for clients, we do provide hosting architecture design and support. Our trained team of network engineers can design and implement a hosting solution to meet your needs. We are a certified partner of RackSpace (http://www.rackspace) the leading provider of managed hosting services in the world today.
Our team can configure your servers, manage the installation of your software, implement monitoring solutions, and handle release management. In addition, we provide on-call services if outages occur during off-hours and can provide real-time responses.
Help Desk
Because we work so closely with our clients to design and implement their solutions, we are often very knowledgeable about the end product. Many clients rely upon us to provide Level I and Level II customer support. We can staff phone lines and email queues to handle your in-bound customer inquiries and provide professional and near-real time responses.
Consulting
Strategic Planning
The principals at TeraCode have started, developed and exited a number of venture backed companies over the past 15 years. They are available to work with our clients on a range of strategic planning issues including capitalization, organization structure, business processes, vendor selection, business strategy, sales and marketing.
Virtual CTO
Our principals often act as Virtual CTO for client companies - particularly early stage, newly emerging ventures that have yet to staff up. In the role of Virtual CTO, we can help get technology development underway, meet analysts, help with hiring permanent staff, write white papers, speak at conferences, present to analysts and fundraise. Several clients rely on our Virtual CTO services exclusively and do not have a full time CTO on staff.
Fundraising
We regularly help our clients with fundraising activities. This includes introducing clients to Angels, Venture Capitalists and Lenders. We have a large network of partners who provide capitalization services spanning North America, Latin American and Europe. Services include helping prepare to present the business to potential investors, pitching and helping negotiate terms.