Software development
Software that follows your process, not the other way round
We replace the packages your team works around, build new software where it is missing, and automate the steps that are done by hand today. As custom work that becomes yours, or as SaaS we run and update for you. Which of the two it is, we put in writing per engagement.
What we build
Replacing packages
The off-the-shelf package with exports, manual corrections and spreadsheets on the side. We map what the package does and what your team does around it, build software that takes over both, and migrate your data across.
Business applications and tooling
The internal system that runs on a spreadsheet today and should not. Workflow, roles, audit trail and automation, connected to what you already run.
SaaS and client platforms
Portals, self-service and software you offer to your own clients. We build it, and can run it for you as a service, with a security model that weighs as much as the interface.
Websites with AI built in
Websites and web applications where AI does the work: an assistant that answers from your own documents, smart search, and enquiries that are read and routed to the right place automatically.
A standard website or web shop, without custom work or AI? We build those under our second name, Platform Direct, with this same team.
Visit platform-direct.com (opens in a new tab)Only need advice? We also take on code audits, technical assessments, architecture designs and second opinions on software you already have, as a standalone engagement.
Chapter 10 of the general terms and conditionsCustom or SaaS
Software you own, or software you use
Not every solution needs to be your property. Sometimes it is better value to use an Upward product that we set up, host and update for you. We say up front which form it takes, and what that means.
- Client work. Custom work that the quote marks as your property. Once paid in full, the code is yours, and you receive the source code and the technical documentation.
- SaaS. We make the software available remotely and keep it up to date. You get a right of use for your own business. Configurations and integrations we build for you are part of the service, unless they are marked as client work.
- Your data stays yours. At the end of the agreement you export it in a common, machine-readable format. Where the Data Act applies, you have a legal right to switch to another provider.
- Continuity. If you want certainty in case we are no longer around, the source code can be deposited with an independent escrow agent. We agree that in writing.
How the work is controlled
Design and development control, in the boring, useful sense
- Requirements are recorded before they are built. Including the ones you did not state: statutory, regulatory, and the intended use that determines what failure would cost.
- Review, verification and validation are separate things. Review asks whether the design still meets the requirement. Verification asks whether the output matches the input. Validation asks whether the result works in use. All three are recorded.
- Changes are controlled after go-live too. A change to a live system is assessed for security impact and for its effect on what has already been delivered, and it is authorised before it ships.
- Your material stays yours. Source, data, credentials and content you provide are identified, protected and returned or destroyed on exit, with a record of which.
How we work
Plan the work, then work the plan
Contract review
Before we quote, we determine whether we can actually meet what is being asked, including the statutory and regulatory requirements you may not have stated, and which side of the hosting boundary the engagement will sit on. If the answer is that we are the wrong supplier, that is a legitimate outcome and you hear it in week one.
Design and development
Planned stages with defined inputs and outputs. Review, verification and validation are separate recorded activities. Security and accessibility are requirements in the same list as the features, not a phase at the end.
Release acceptance
A defined acceptance against the recorded requirements, with nonconforming outputs handled explicitly rather than shipped with a note. Nothing reaches production on the strength of a verbal yes.
Go-live and service transition
The workload enters the hosted estate inventory with its backup schedule, monitoring, restore test date and named owner. This is the step most suppliers skip, and it is the one that decides what the next three years feel like.
FAQ
No. The split between Upward-managed infrastructure and infrastructure you own is decided per engagement and recorded at contract review. We deploy into client-owned environments regularly. The difference is what we can commit to afterwards: on infrastructure we do not control, we can commit to our work but not to the platform's availability.
That depends on what the quotation says, which is why we record it there. If we work on software you already own, or the quotation designates the custom work as your property, that is client work: the code becomes yours on full payment and you receive the source code and the technical documentation. If we build on an Upward product, you receive a right of use; ownership or the source code is possible too, but we agree that separately. Either way, leaving is a recorded procedure, not a negotiation, and your data leaves with you.
You export your data in a common, machine-readable format. If the service falls under the Data Act, a fixed switching procedure also applies, with a transition period during which the service keeps running. For software mostly built specifically for you, the Data Act makes an exception; what applies then, we agree up front.
Yes. Contractors and subcontractors sit inside our management system on the same terms as employees, and the same applies in reverse when we join your delivery process.
Yes. We also take on a code audit, a technical assessment, an architecture design or a second opinion as a standalone engagement, on software you already have or are having built elsewhere. We work from the source code, documentation and access you give us, and report what we find within the agreed scope. That is no guarantee that every defect comes to light, and we would rather say so up front. You use the report in your own business, and what you do with it is your decision. It is not legal, tax or financial advice.
Tell us which work takes too much time
That is usually the most useful first conversation. Whether the answer is a new system, an AI agent, an integration between what you already have, or nothing at all, you get an honest assessment.