Why use Textor

Textor is not a web design company; our objective is to work with designers - not compete with them. We supplement your creative talent with our technical know-how.. 

Larger agencies and specialist web design companies can afford their own internal technology resources, Textor helps the small to medium sized agency compete by providing the same level of technical expertise. We work with designers through the whole sales cycle starting with the original proposal, working closely with you so that it is like having your own in-house resource.     

Why not cut out the middle-man?

I see all sorts of books like 'Learn Perl in 21 Days'.  How hard can it be?  The answer is that programming is not something you can learn in few weeks, it requires a left-brain approach and experience that takes years to acquire. 

So why not hire a programmer yourself?  Maybe you can reduce costs even if you don't have enough work to keep him/her busy 100% of the time.  Tempted?  Think about this: 

Selecting staff

How do you find the right person?  Its hard enough for a company like ours with decades of collective experience in the IT industry to pick out the best software staff from the output of the University system!  We regularly interview dozens of candidates for each job and are astonished at how little actual knowledge and skill you need to exit a University with an IT degree.  

Communication

Someone is going to need to explain the end user's needs to your programmer and check that what they have done is sensible.  Believe it or not, what is obvious to you may not be obvious to a computer science graduate. Most projects go wrong because the programmer develops the wrong system, not because the programs don't work. Turning your client's requirement into a brief for a programmer is a skill that you will have to aquire.  And it will be harder than you think.

Safety

What do you do when the programmer is on holiday or worse - decides to leave you? 

Programs require ongoing support because what works today may not work tomorrow.  The technical environment can change and programs stop working, or your client may exercise a new part of the software and find a program bug. 

What do you do if your client's site has crashed and your programmer is on holiday?

If your programmer decides to leave you (and turnover is high for experienced IT staff) you have another level of problems.  You will find that any new programmer coming on board will have a steep learning curve - often preferring to rewrite rather than patch someone elses code. Why - because any programmer left to their own devices will work in a certain way which others will find hard to follow. 

I know this PHP programmer who is really good

You just have to pay a freelancer on a project basis, so the cost exposure is less.  However other than this you have many of the same issues as hiring your own person, with the additional risk that when you need a project started, your guy (or gal) is on a contract in Amsterdam.

Go with an experienced team of software professionals

The bottom line is that you can't just hire a programmer, you need to hire a team and manage them using IT disciplines.  You need to be very large to be able to justify the cost and management time this will incur. 

We are a team with a common set of standards and skills.  We are used to working with designers and their clients and have an extensive library of pre-programmed solutions.  You will never be left high and dry and there will always be someone around who can investigate any queries.