We love technology.
We endeavor to use all relevant technology ourselves so that we can speak from first-hand experience.
Our mission has remained unchanged since we opened for business in 2001:
We truly enjoy watching our clients benefit from the use of technology. Just as a carpenter might derive their greatest joy from seeing a bench that they made years ago, worn with constant use and appreciation, we love to see our web applications still being used and appreciated after years of constant use.
Here are some early projects that we built that have continued to be in constant use since we created them:
These are only a few examples of the first applications we designed and created. Most of the newer ones promise to have rich and busy histories as well.
To view a larger list of the projects we have completed, see the portfolio section.
Here is how we ensure that your web site project will succeed:
The most important part of any business is the people. It also seems to be the most difficult part. After 5 years of hiring, firing, and laying off staff we have developed a good hiring process. In reality however, it doesn’t seem to matter. After using three different staffing agencies and spending a lot of time ourselves, we have found that it is still almost impossible to consistently hire the best people. You just can’t tell how good someone is (and how good a fit) until they have been working for at least a month.
Consequently, we don’t have a large staff, but every one of them is exceptional. They each love what they are doing. We go out of our way to treat our employees with respect and to make sure that they have an excellent working environment.
Software development projects are one of the most difficult projects to manage. We all know that one of the best ways to approach a large project is to break it down in to small pieces and focus on each step in turn. In addition to this, it is best to start simple and then add complexity as needed.
This concept is one of the core focuses of extreme programming. Although we don’t formally practice extreme programming, we do subscribe to many of the same ideas.
As a customer, or web site user, you will likely never see what the code (that makes up your website or web application) looks like. For the most part it will not affect the performance or effectiveness of your web site; however, it makes a big difference when it comes to making changes or when someone else has to work on the site.
Most web designers and programmers do not follow standard coding guidelines. At Claero Systems we have clearly documented guidelines for scripting and markup languages so that all of our code is consistently formatted and clearly readable regardless of who works on your project.
In addition to this, we also have a standard in-line documentation notation for our code. It is identical to the standard Javadoc style comments.
Source control is a standard method of keeping track of changes to software, as well as managing changes being made by multiple programmers. A source control system helps manage the changes and different versions of your software. Although the use of a source control system is standard procedure for standalone software development, many web application developers still don’t use a source control system.
Claero has a redundant source control system that our programmers use on a daily basis to ensure that all changes are tracked and conflicts are managed systematically. We use an open source product called Subversion.
At Claero Systems we have a set of standard libraries that we have developed and revised throughout the years. These libraries allow our programmers to quickly implement standard features within your application without having to rewrite them each time. Not only does it speed up development time, but it also allows for more consistency across our client’s applications. This means that once our programmers become familiar with the libraries, they can easily understand and work on any of our projects.
There is nothing worse than reinventing the wheel. At Claero we always look for a software package that has already been written to solve your needs first. It may be commercial software or open source software.
Although not widely understood or appreciated, we believe that open source software can provide significant advantages to small and large businesses who are willing to take the time to understand how it works and why it makes so much sense.
Some web-based open source software packages that we have implemented are:
We also use many open source and shareware libraries and tools to create our web applications. These include:
For more information on Open Source software see the Open Source Initiative website or read about it on Wikipedia.
Founded in 2001 in Calgary, Alberta, Claero Systems is a thriving consulting company that helps small businesses take advantage of technology.
During our first 5 years of business we provided turn-key solutions to our clients that included management consulting, network design, web site design, tech support, and basically everything related to technology.
Since early 2006, we are focused on web sites, web application design, and senior management consulting. In our experience, web applications (web sites that are more than just brochures) provide some of the best ROI for small businesses.
In August 2009 we opened an office in Ottawa and we are expanding into the Ontario market.
In July 2013 we moved our office to Huntsville, Ontario and continue to server our existing and new customers mostly remotely.