Software Development IQware's Way

Traditional software development and applications are inefficient and insufficient to be effective in today's fast-paced world. Applications need to be deployed faster, less expensively, and they need to work correctly "out of the box." IQware understands the issues involved with software development and directly addresses those issues, offering a real solution.

The Problem

The problem that IQware addresses is ongoing, never-ending, costly, error-prone software development in the Master Data Management/Business Intelligence (MDM/BI) space. That's it. Every company does it - especially those that are NOT in the software business. In order to solve this problem, we must first understand both how and why it happens.

Traditional software applications are developed through design and programming efforts. Nearly all decisions are made at compile time and only a very restricted set of user inputs is allowed at run-time. There is almost no prior planning or provision for significantly altering the behavior of the delivered system in response to significant changes in the operational environment and/or significant changes in the tasks that the system needs to correctly perform. Business needs change and IT can't keep up.

As an example, the vast majority of dedicated data management applications are really subsets of MDM and BI functions that are intended to fill a specific and immediate need. Consequently, most of these applications start out as "home-grown" code, spreadsheet macros, JAVA script, XML scripts, etc., then expand over time to a standalone application.

As the organization's needs grow, such applications are edited and modified until they resemble a patchwork quilt - or a plate of spaghetti - that is nearly unmanageable. Development and support costs increase while functionality does not. New hardware and platform changes force additional development costs that do nothing for the bottom line and do not provide any new relevant capability.

IQware understands these issues and provides a complete solution.

IQware adapts, grows and evolves to meet your needs
without the endless code-compile-test-debug loop.

At this point, the dedicated application must either be rewritten or discarded. Either way, it costs a significant amount of time and money to adapt - not to mention the disruption to your ongoing business operations.

No matter what approach is taken, the new software system must be implemented and deployed. This is always an expensive undertaking and results in a serious loss of operational capability and continuity. The never-ending "code-compile-test-debug" loop always drains dollars and delays delivery. It is the Achilles' heel of all software development.

This situation is so bad that many organizations are forced to find cumbersome "work-arounds" because their IT systems cannot adapt to new functional requirements and operational needs, which forces yet another trip around the lengthy, error-prone "code-compile-test-debug" loop.

As a more concrete example, if a pharmacy wants to implement a Medication Therapy Management (MTM) application based on the flow chart to the right, that pharmacy can do so using traditional software packages. It will take time and dollars to design, build, and test, but a usable system can be produced.

The problem starts when changes are needed. Changes in Federal rules and regulations, software operational requirements, audit procedures, reporting formats, and so on will each cause a change in how the system has to operate. This generates a new and different model, as shown in the bottom flow chart. If the traditional software approach was used, the pharmacy would have to re-engineer, re-compile, re-test and "re-debug" its existing application. Of course, that costs a lot of money, delays delivery and misuses staff. Not good.

The Solution

These costly trips around the lengthy, error-prone "code-compile-test-debug" loop should not only be avoided - they should be prevented. IQware does exactly that.

Having to go back to your IT department every time you want something changed and going through this painful process is also expensive and time-consuming. IQware eliminates this disruption and lets you keep pace with a changing environment. IQware understands these issues and provides a complete solution. IQware is secure, platform-independent (US Patent #7,322,028, others pending), and grows as your needs grow.

IQware solves the problem of ongoing, never-ending costly error-prone software development by offering a patented software system that is flexible, interoperable, and displays immediate results whenever a change is made. IQware breaks the vicious, costly and error-prone software development cycle.

Flexibility

IQware's rule-based architecture is far more flexible than traditional software. By design, it can be reconfigured as needed so it can adapt to radical changes in its operational requirements and/or its deployment environment. IQware can also adapt to significant changes in the tasks that the system is required to do. This eliminates the need for extremely expensive re-design, re-programming and re-deployment of large-scale software systems. IQware's design also ensures 100% continuity of operations - even while system changes and/or reconfiguration is underway. This is a unique advantage of IQware and makes it suitable for all critical infrastructure applications.

IQware's software is a rule-based Business Intelligence (BI) and Master Data Management (MDM) system that morphs into the solution you need - without writing new code. By setting up the rules properly, IQware will perform the BI and MDM functions that you want. IQware gets the right data to the right place at the right time. Like alphabet blocks used to spell a variety of different words, rules are arranged and rearranged to serve the particular functions of each application.

On the user side, IQware is rule-based so it is configured to act exactly as you want it to act. By setting up the rules, IQware functions in an intuitive way that makes sense for your specific operations. The rules control how the IQware's screens "look and feel." The rules also control how and where IQware gathers data, how it analyzes data and how it presents information to you.

On the configuration side, IQware is also very easy to use. The rules are set up graphically so you can see what you are doing as you do it.

IQware's rule-based architecture means that rules, rather than traditional programming, govern IQware's operation. This feature is fundamental to the architecture of IQware and is also one of the primary reasons for IQware's tremendous flexibility. Rules control data acquisition, data analysis, data presentation and data storage. By changing the rules, you change how IQware behaves. These changes may be made while IQware is running.

Interoperability

Other applications are not interoperable; i.e., they cannot automatically deploy on different platforms. Using such applications means that different versions of the software must be purchased and installed for each platform. This process is extremely labor-intensive, costly and prone to error.

IQware's patented (US #7,322,028, others pending) rule-based system can deploy across any client platform, including all Windows, Linux, Apple, and Sun machines. With IQware, you can upgrade your computers at any time and be confident that IQware will function perfectly on the new machines. IQware works equally well on ALL platforms, so you only need one version to install and maintain. This feature can save you a tremendous amount of time, money and hassle: you do not need separate software, separate license agreements, separate installations, or new software which requires re-testing, re-debugging, re-checking and re-writing!

Immediate Results

IQware can be centrally deployed and managed so that changes in the rules can take effect almost immediately to the deployed system. If you have a large number of users and/or they are geographically distributed, then a central deployment means that there is never a need to slide a DVD/CD into each machine to install/use/upgrade or react to a changing environment. For command center and first responder applications, this ability is critical because it ensures that as the operational picture changes, everyone sees it right away.