Is your web application no longer enough?

Your company probably already has web systems to run its operation, and for much of it they are the right solution: they work from a browser and your team works from any device.

But some critical processes depend on something the browser does not control well: a printer, a reader, a scale or a specialized device; files on the computer; or keeping on working when the connection drops. That is where operations stop, things get re-entered by hand and mistakes are made.

In those cases the challenge is not to replace your web system: it is to reliably solve what the browser does not control.

In this article you will see when a desktop application makes sense, three examples of how it looks in operation, and the answers to what your IT team is going to ask.

A desktop application as the solution

For those processes we develop a desktop application designed for your operation, which coexists with your web system: your system remains the center, and the application takes care of what happens on the computer.

What if your team uses different operating systems?

We build a single solution that works on Windows, macOS and Linux, and makes use of the computers and equipment your company already has, without asking you to renew infrastructure. Before defining it, we review the devices, operating system versions, permissions and network involved in the process: that is how we decide together whether desktop is really the right alternative and what scope it needs.

Some examples

Your system needs to talk to the hardware

A sales, inventory or production system that lives in the browser and works all day with printers, code readers or scales. The web system keeps the information and the operation; the desktop application communicates with each device and returns to the system only what is needed: less manual entry, fewer errors and fewer stoppages. From the start we define with you what happens if the equipment, the network or the device stops being available.

You need to work with the computer’s files

An application that reads documents from a folder, processes them and saves the results on the same computer. In the browser that access is limited; on desktop it is done in a controlled way. Useful when you work all day with documents, images or reports that, by policy, must stay on your staff’s computers.

You need to keep working without a connection

We did it for an insurer: the agent quotes on their own computer even without a connection, and when the network returns everything syncs with the central system, with nothing to re-enter when back at the office. The design defines what information stays available on the computer, which actions wait for the connection and how pending changes are resolved.

What your IT team asks

• How is it updated on hundreds of computers? Centrally and silently, with the management tools your IT team already uses: your users always have the approved version, without going machine by machine.
• How does it fit with our security? It is installed with a digital signature, and each user signs in with their corporate account through your company’s directory, without one more password. We define with your IT team the permissions, what information may remain on the computer, the activity log and the channels authorized to your systems.
• Does it integrate with our ERP or central system? Yes, through its APIs or its database, depending on what your team authorizes; your central system remains the single source of truth.
• Who provides support? We do, with a service level agreement for your operation, which includes what happens when an operating system update affects a device.
• Does it replace our web system? No. It complements it.

Is it right for you? Three signals

• A critical process stops or has to be re-entered because the web system does not talk well with a device.
• Your team works with files that must stay on the computer.
• Your operation cannot stop when the connection drops.

If you recognize any of the three, it is worth a closer look.

How we start

Tell us which critical process stops today because of a device, a file or the connection. In a short session we review your operational and technical constraints, and you take away a concrete recommendation: whether a desktop application is the most efficient path, with what initial scope, or whether it is better solved another way.

The goal is not to build a desktop application for its own sake: it is to build the software your operation needs, using the computer’s capabilities when the browser is no longer enough.