We use the systems you already own to automate tedious tasks and free up time to focus on your business
By leveraging the untapped the power of the Microsoft products your business already operates, we can reduce the time you spend on admin, speed up every days tasks, reduce needless errors, and allow you and your team to spend less time managing data, and spend more time focusing on the tasks that make your business rock!
How we can help your business
Building bespoke IT systems is time consuming, and for many SMEs, too costly.
But it’s possible to use the tools you already have, in ways you may not have realised were possible, to build bespoke IT systems designed specifically for you.
Advance technologies built into Microsoft 365 products (eg Office products such as Excel) allow us to automate your workflows in ways you may not have realised was possible.
And because it uses the systems you already work with, we can build them quickly, cheaply, and with no extra infrastructure for you to install.
Excel Development
Using advanced Excel techniques such as VBA and Power Query we can add serious automation to your everyday Excel tasks, automation that can often make previously tedious tasks as simple as the press of a buton
Access Databases
Microsoft Access is an oft-forgotten part of the Office suite – but it’s a tool that allows you to quickly and easily build bespoke databases for your business, at vastly reduced costs to larger options. It’s perfect for smaller teams and SMEs.
Power Automate Mobile Apps
Using Microsoft Power Automate with its Sharepoint cloud service (included with most Office 365 products) we can quickly create simple mobile and web apps givng you instant access to data as soon as it’s collected. All on the infrastructure you already possess
VBA
All Office apps (Excel, Outlook, Word etc) contain a fully-fledged, in-built programming language, VBA. Using this allows you to use to use the full power of a flexible computer language to do things uses can do at vastly increased speeds, applying logic, and with zero errors. Seeing it in action is a game changer!
Office Interperability
Using tools such as VBA and Power Automate, we can get office apps to “talk” to each other. So Excel extracting data directly from databases (or the web) and automatically manipulating it, or Access creating bespoke emails for customers in your DB, unleash the full power of Office!
Outlook
Send data from emails straight to Excel spreadsheets, search for emails based on data in your Access database, or even set up search folders to automatically eg link all emails from a certain client.
Example: Extending the power of Excel with VBA
VBA and Power Query allows Excel (and indeed, other apps in the Office suite) to do things that simply aren’t possible in the ‘normal’ Excel interface.
We can scrape date directly from websites, upload data from various databases directly into our worksheet, or send emails based on data in our workbooks. Or we can even create folders in Winows Explorer – take a look at our DirecTree Excel app to see this in action!
Example: SNOWbiz, a bespoke Access CRM
Our independent ski chalet client was expanding their chalet portfolio, so increasing the number of guests, but had no system to manage the extra workflow from an ever-increasing number of guest.
We worked to develop SNOWbiz, a 100% bespoke Access CRM solution, enabling the client to easily keep track of the booking path of all their guests, easily generate bespoke emails based on the customers’ booking journey, as well as integrating with invoicing and staff knowledgebase requirements. Take a look at the power of SNOWbiz!
SNOWbiz has entirely changed the way we run our business day-to-day.
Everything is integrated in one place, so we can easily see on the customer dashboard what needs to be done, send emails at the touch of a button, and create our staff info sheets to ensure the best experience for our guests when in-chalet. Not to mention a hundred and one other time-saving features there’s simply no space to highlight!
Director, Alpine365 Ski Chalets
FAQ
How long do projects typically take?
There’s no right answer to this, but the joy of using these ready-made systems is that it is super-quick to get a project started – it’s not unusual for an initial prototype to take as little as a few hours.
Is there a minimum project size?
Not at all – whilst we’re obviously happy to look at larger projects, we’re also happy to look at simple stuff too. Have a spreadsheet that just needs a few expert tweaks – no problems? Some quick Outlook automation to quickly filter client emails – we’re fine to look at it. Our minimum billing amount is only for 15 mins work, so there’s no need for bit projects (or big budgets)
You talk a lot about Windows, what about Macs?
We do work mostly with Window, but if you use Microsoft’s Office products on a Mac then we can still help – a lot of the functionality is the same, and we can still bring our expertise to bear in many instances. Just drop us a line if you want to find out more .
Isn't everything in the cloud these days?
It’s true that cloud computing offers some big advantages, and for many projects it’s a great solution. But it also come with heftier price-tags, and longer lead times. If you work mostly in your office, or work a lot with Microsoft Office apps, then our solutions can often be a great way to get started!
How much does it cost?
That really depends (sorry!) We start pricing from just 15 minutes work, so our minimum cost is really not too much. For smaller projects we can often provide a fixed cost, and we can also look at billing by hour based on agreed rates, with lower hourly rates for bigger projects. If in doubt, just ask, we’re happy to provide a rough idea upfront.
Do you have any key industry skills?
At lot of what we do can be applied to almost any small business or team. But we have key background prior to Matrix9 in the advertising/media/marketing business, and then small business experience in the travel trade. And when in advertising we worked for clients as diverse as tech, food & drink, and entertainment. So across a broad range of different business really!
Ready to get started?
Get in touch, for a quote, or just to ask us a question!