The system runs the business every day. But the developer who built it has moved on, the supplier has stopped answering, and nobody inside fully understands how it works. When something goes wrong, it isn’t clear who to ring.
CDE Systems supports Microsoft Access, SQL Server and bespoke systems, including the ones somebody else built. That’s most of what we look after.
When you ring, you speak to the people who’ll fix it and who already know your system. You’ve got enough to do. Looking after the system can be our job, and it stays yours.
Which support page do you need?
| If your system is | Start here |
| Microsoft Access | Access database support |
| SQL Server, or an application on it | SQL Server support |
| Bespoke, mixed, or you’re not sure what it’s built in | Database and inherited system support |
| Built by someone who’s gone, and nobody understands it | Legacy software rescue |
| Down right now | Emergency database support. Ring, don’t email |
What happens when you ring
Every supplier says “no call centres”, so here’s what it means in practice when you ring us.
The person who answers has seen your system before. They know how the database is put together and why the business does things that way, and you’ll get the same people each time you call. You explain it once, because there’s no first line, no triage and no “I’ll pass this to the team”.
We can often look at it while you’re on the phone, over remote support, so there’s no visit to book for Thursday. How remote support works
You hear what’s wrong in plain English, including “that’ll take a day, and here’s why”.
We’re a small team on purpose. It’s what lets the same people know your system year after year.
What we support
Microsoft Access. Faults, speed, data corrections, changes, new features, reports, recovery and planning a move to SQL Server.
SQL Server. Performance, query tuning, administration, troubleshooting, reporting and upgrades.
Bespoke and inherited systems. Line-of-business applications, departmental systems, and anything that doesn’t fit a category.
Mixed setups, which is what most businesses have. That could be Access on a SQL Server back end, desktop and web side by side, or cloud alongside servers in the office. Problems tend to live where the pieces join, and that’s ground we’re comfortable on.
MySQL and other databases behind websites and inherited applications. MySQL
How it’s charged
There are two ways to have us look after a system, and you’re dealing with the same people whichever one you choose.
ManagedWe take responsibility for keeping it running: monitoring, tested backups, maintenance, and problems raised before your users find them
| Arrangement | How it works |
|---|---|
| Support agreement | An agreed allowance of support time each month, with a defined response commitment for faults, fixes and smaller changes. |
The first conversation, where you describe the system and we tell you what we’d suggest, costs nothing.
Changes as well as fixes
Most calls aren’t breakdowns at all. More often finance needs a new report, a form needs another field, or a customer wants something the system was never built to do. That work gets done as it comes in, and small changes usually go through in days.
Because we already know the system, the bigger steps are less risky too. That includes upgrades, web access, mobile apps, better reporting and links to other systems.
Why it gets better the longer it runs
Over time we learn your processes, your users and your data, and what matters most when something breaks at month-end. That’s what turns a two-hour diagnosis into a ten-minute one.
It also means the business is no longer one person’s holiday away from a problem. Plenty of clients start with one fault and stay for a decade.
If it’s urgent
If the system is down, the database won’t open or people can’t work, ring us instead of emailing.
Emergency database support · Emergency Access support · Emergency SQL Server support
Systems we look after
New features are delivered quickly and issues are resolved efficiently, allowing our team to focus on running the business.
Budgen Motors
Case Studies
Commercial Catering Service & Maintenance (field service)
Aire Valley Catering
Field service apps that work with no signal
Aire Valley Catering’s engineers work in commercial kitchens across the UK, often with no usable signal, and every job still has to be recorded. We built four production…
View case study
Transport and logistics
ACC Worldwide
A faster SQL Server system, noticed on day one
ACC Worldwide’s staff used one business system all day, every day, and it was slow. We worked on the SQL Server environment behind it. The speed-up was immediate,…
View case study
Travel and leisure (adventure travel and expeditions)
Jagged Globe
Keeping bookings, customer records and the website in step
Jagged Globe runs on an internal database and a booking website that have to agree every day, and sometimes they didn’t. We traced and fixed the transfers between…
View case study
Tell us what you’re running
What the system does, who built it, and what’s going wrong. We’ll come back with whether we can support it, what that would look like and what it would cost.