CDE Systems was set up in 1999 to design, build and look after database applications for businesses and public bodies. More than 25 years on, it’s still what we do./azure-cloud/
Most of our work now is on systems that already exist. That includes ones somebody else built, that the business depends on every day, and that nobody else wants to touch.
You’ll deal with the people who do the work. The system, the data and the documentation stay yours, and the source code of anything we build is held in escrow, so the business never depends on us still being here.
Who we work with
Public, private and voluntary sector organisations, some of them for over twenty years.
Central government. Department for Work and Pensions · Department for Education · Department for Business and Trade
Public sector and education. National Health Service · Sheffield City Council · Sheffield Hallam University · Northumbria University
Business. Scania Trucks UK · Yorkshire Building Society · DDB London · Aire Valley Catering · Dearson Winyard International · Delta Resins · Lilleker Engineering · · Portobello-RMF Engineering · Resolve IT Solutions · T&C Training Services · Trakker Products
Large organisations and small ones. Quite a few started with one problem and stayed.
Systems that already exist
Most software companies want to build something new. We spend most of our time on the systems businesses already run on.
That means Microsoft Access databases, SQL Server applications and bespoke business software. It also means reporting systems, older applications, and setups that mix desktop, web and cloud.
People usually call us when one of those needs specialist attention. It may have broken, or no one understands it any more. It may not do what the business now needs, or the person who looked after it may have gone.
Starting from the business, not the database
Technology problems are rarely only technical. Behind every database is a process, and behind every report is a decision someone has to make. Behind every application is a team relying on it to get through the day.
So we start by understanding how the system supports the organisation, as well as how it’s built. That’s what makes the advice useful and affordable, and not just technically correct.
How we work with a business
Most of our client relationships start with a problem. It might be a system down, data to recover, an urgent change, or a developer who has disappeared.
They tend to become something longer. Once we know a business, support gets quicker, development costs less, and planning ahead gets easier. Knowing the history of a system, the people using it and where the organisation is heading beats starting from scratch every time. Clients mention continuity more than anything else, and the business is built around it.
Credentials
- Microsoft Certified Professionals on the team
- Testing with the people who’ll use the system, before it goes live
- Over 25 years of continuous trading, through several recessions and a pandemic
- Registered in England & Wales, Company No. 03863754
References
Every quote on this site is from a real client. We’re happy to arrange references by phone, email or post, from organisations doing similar work to yours, at a similar size.
From people we support
What our clients say
CDE took our tired old access database and transformed it into a system that is at the heart of our business. Everything is integrated – from a client’s first phone call to invoicing once the job is done.
CDE integrated barcodes into our existing systems with no fuss, quickly,easily and cheaply.
CDE Systems created and maintain the system we rely on to report client progress. Keeping track is easy and simple with the database.
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
Something to send your manager
CDE Systems: who they are
CDE Systems is a Sheffield database and business software specialist, trading since 1999 (Company No. 03863754). It supports, repairs and modernises Microsoft Access, SQL Server and bespoke systems, including ones built by someone else. Clients have included the DWP, the NHS, Sheffield City Council and Yorkshire Building Society. You speak to the person doing the work, source code for bespoke systems is held in escrow, and references are available on request.
0114 249 1036 · cde.photonsurge.uk/about/
Tell us what you’ve got
Microsoft Access, SQL Server, a bespoke application, or an inherited system nobody fully understands. Tell us what it is and what’s going on, and we’ll come back with whether we can help and what it would take.