WHY STEPWISE

Stepwise Manufacturing Corp is a solutions company able to provide a wide range of services, including creative consulting, system development, and platform integrations. We're a team of seasoned business leaders, marketers, and skilled developers. We've been on the front lines of growing businesses looking for relevance within existing markets while exploring new market opportunities. At Stepwise, we believe that in today's hyper-accelerated technology landscape, change is a fundamental requirement for business growth. But change alone, for the sake of change, is reckless. That's why we not only build and operate platforms for our business partners, but we also help them understand the change impact and their growth opportunities within the evolving technology landscape.

Our business and technology expertise includes financial, government, healthcare, transit, identity, retail, and small business. Let us know when you're ready for change.


YOUR BUSINESS HAS OUTGROWN SPREADSHEETS

TIME FOR SOMETHING NEW

At Stepwise, we believe that secure cloud services can overcome many business growth obstacles. Whether the challenge is consolidating data, process management, or even reducing response times for product approvals, a secure cloud solution provides unlimited connectivity options for employees, partners, and customers.


STEPWISE CAN PROVIDE A GREAT ALTERNATIVE

WE START BY LISTENING TO YOU

We know there are many companies selling you products and solutions. They all have technology with experienced people pushing their offers. What sets us apart is an unmatched commitment to customer satisfaction. At the end of the process, we hope you agree that working with us was one of your better business decisions. To achieve that, we start by listening. We aren't just good listeners; we're great listeners. And when dealing with technology, it's often difficult to articulate the nuances of your business. By listening to you, we can help ensure that what you want is what you need.


INSTEAD OF MAKING YOUR BUSINESS FIT OUR PRODUCTS

OUR PRODUCTS FIT YOUR BUSINESS

Is your business requirement unique? Not every platform comes in an off-the-shelf product package. And too often, the hosted solutions for a business application aren't extensible to the rest of your business. A Stepwise solution or platform module will be unique to you. It's what your business needs to stay relevant to today's market requirements while opening the door for tomorrow's growth.

TECHNOLOGY


Stepwise Technology

Stepwise Manufacturing Corp is a global provider of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions for our business customers. Our solutions include portal, web, and mobile applications, along with various business platforms, including Analytics, CRM, Order Management, and Project Scheduling. Each business customer solution resides within its own secure and operational domain (as opposed to a multi-tenant offering). This setup allows us to locate the customer's business solution at the Amazon Web Services (AWS) data center within the closest proximity to the customer's business operation.

 

The AWS Cloud

Stepwise has partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to offer secure cloud-based business hosting throughout the AWS Global Cloud network. AWS offers 55 Availability Zones within 18 geographic Regions around the world. Each AWS Region is isolated from other AWS Regions, providing the necessary security infrastructure to support in-country transactions (as needed by some financial and identity markets). This regional support enables Stepwise to provide high performance and availability local to our business customers without sacrificing security. The AWS data centers provide secure access to a variety of advanced system services, including reliable data archiving and recovery, blockchain, system scaling, identity management, AI, big data, AR/VR, and analytics.

What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing is the delivery of computer services via the internet through one of three service models that are Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).
 

Infrastructure-as-a-Service

IaaS provides the fundamental building blocks of computing that include renting physical hardware and virtual servers for software development teams along with network engineers to create software products and services.

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)

PaaS provides an integrated set of data management, analytics, and insight application development and management components offered as a platform the enterprise does not own or control (as defined by Forrester).

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)

SaaS provides the delivery of applications as a service. Although performance and security are essential to the end-user, the underlying hardware infrastructure and operating system are irrelevant.

Integrated Components

Integrated Components are a set of reusable components leveraging the Amazon infrastructure. The elements can be quickly and securely incorporated into your business system, providing design flexibility that's not available from a strictly configurable ERP platform.



SECURITY

SECURITY
Stepwise security, begins by leveraging the global Amazon Web Service (AWS) infrastructure as our solution delivery partner. Within the AWS infrastructure, Stepwise makes use of the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) with multi-industry compliancy to provide platform security and scalability. Further securing the platform application is the Identity Access & Management (IAM) service that allows Stepwise to manage users and groups securely. Finally, through SSL connectivity, Stepwise data is encrypted to the client browser.


BACKUP & RECOVERY

BACKUP & RECOVERY
Stepwise backup & recovery has three simple components. 1) Each customer solution is running its instance. A single instance simplifies security and the backup and recovery process. 2) System data is backed up on secondary AWS storage at designated intervals. 3) Platform management is accomplished using Docker containers. The Docker system packages the application and OS along with necessary libraries and dependencies as one container package. Docker simplifies platform recovery into a one-button operation.


DATA STORAGE

DATA STORAGE
Stepwise uses MySQL and SQL Server for relational data storage and MongoDB for highly scalable and flexible data storage. All database applications are running within the security of the AWS cloud. For ample object storage, Stepwise uses Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3). For security, the S3 data storage supports unique access control lists (ACL), storage policies, and cross-origin scripting for permissible website requests. The stepwise platform also uses one-time sensitive token certificates, further ensuring application security.


TEMPLATE ENGINE

TEMPLATE ENGINE
To quickly create and manage ad-hoc reporting, quotes, or other exportable documents from the system, Stepwise makes use of a TEMPLATE ENGINE that provides a simple way to get consistent output from the system. The TEMPLATE ENGINE can support DOCX, EXCEL, or an internally based WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) interface. For many applications, the TEMPLATE ENGINE is configured, allowing the customer to create their templates along with the tools necessary for automatic data mapping.


POLICIES

POLICIES
Policies provide a clean method to manage the access and permissions of the Stepwise application securely within the Amazon infrastructure. Stepwise supports three different types of policies that are: 1) Identity-based policies – managing users, groups and roles, 2) Resource-based policies – managing system resources like data storage, and 3) Access Control Policies (ACL's) – managing what principals can access a particular resource. Policies can be dynamically updated and are securely managed under document control.


MESSAGING

MESSAGING
A general observation regarding business systems is the lack of a messaging system. Notifications or approval requests should be visible to relevant parties ASAP. Many systems will utilize an EMAIL notification that typically overflows the EMAIL account, making it difficult at best to manage. Stepwise uses Dynamic Data Loading (DDL), which allows a website application to update immediately, regardless of any action from the user. This approach provides a practical and secure foundation for both internal or external messaging.


SCALABILITY

SCALABILITY
The Stepwise platform was designed to scale. Scaling begins with the Amazon Web Service (AWS) infrastructure that quickly supports computing and data resource expansion. With the docker container service to manage deployed instances, Stepwise can configure dynamic allocation of system resources to allow, when necessary, the platform to scale real-time. Further leveraging the MongoDB backend, Stepwise is enabling a new breed of business applications that will never outgrow your business requirements.


HYBRID MOBILE

HYBRID MOBILE
Stepwise has adopted ReactNative as our standard platform for mobile development. ReactNative was created by Facebook several years ago to power their mobile applications across different mobile devices. The ReactNative platform accelerates the development effort by providing a single development environment for both android and iPhone mobile devices while continuing to support device-specific hardware features. For Stepwise, this hybrid approach provides a simple, secure, and elegant mobile solution.


ECOMMERCE

E-COMMERCE

Whether you're looking for mobile or online payments, Stepwise can provide your business with an e-commerce payment gateway. We can process credit card and ACH with options that include recurring payments and electronic invoicing. Our solutions include customized checkout forms that can simplify the transaction to the touch of a button. And transactional security is maintained through the AWS PCI Level 1 certifications and Stepwise compliance.

PLATFORMS

STEPWISE BUSINESS PLATFORMS

A Stepwise Business Platform can be a great addition or alternative to a full ERP migration or ERP implementation. With a Stepwise Business Platform, we can transform your spreadsheet driven operation to a secure cloud-based system, including integrated process management and real-time reporting. The Stepwise Business Platform reporting tools provide instant access to the metrics that drive your business, allowing you to quickly find out what (and who) is working, and what's not.

Our platform starts with Integrated Components enabling us to develop a broad range of solutions.

Customer requirements have helped shape the Integrated Components into our Platform Modules. The Platform Modules are a set of consistent and reusable business “packages” that can readily be customized for your solution.

Your business solution is the combinational result of both our Integrated Components and current Platform Modules, creating a solution unique for your business. Better than an off-the-shelf product, a Stepwise Business Platform solution is tailored to fit your business today and tomorrow.

Want to learn more?

COMPANY

ABOUT US

We're a team of experienced business leaders, marketers, and developers that understand how fast technology is changing our lives. In 1965, Intel co-founder Gordon Moore suggested a doubling of chip technology every two years. Over 50 years later, Moore's doubling curve, known as Moore's Law, is only now slowing down. During that 50+ year timeframe, transistor count went from 2 to over 10 billion, the internet was born, and telephones became sophisticated mobile devices. Programming languages rapidly advanced from early Fortran, C, and Pascal to highly scalable scripting languages, including Node and React. And within the last 2-3 years, significant technology providers have significantly ramped up cloud capabilities. Leaders in this space include Amazon (AWS), Microsoft (Azure), and Google (Google Cloud Platform). According to Gartner, in 2018, AWS is the market leader with over 40% market share. Microsoft is second with 29%, and Google is trailing with just 3%.

We believe that by 2025, every business operation and product offering will, in some way, connect to the global internet. This connection includes business transactions, security, data transformation, analytics, identity management, IoT (internet of things), not to mention excellent opportunities with deep learning, artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR). Three years ago, this would be a difficult and expensive challenge, but today we're able to securely leverage technology components readily made available within the cloud.

Change is coming. We are passionate about helping our business partners understand how change can impact their business future. And we're equally excited to help them build affordable solutions and platforms that ensure their current and future business relevance and success.

At Stepwise, we believe:

  • Your business solution needs to grow and scale with your business. Traditional solutions require significant effort to migrate from one version to the next, let alone one vendor to another. Our solutions are built to scale and evolve.
  • Your business isn't a cookie-cutter operation. Best practices are what's been working for you, not an option coming from an off the shelf system.
  • Business services are going to the CLOUD. Your system(s) need to talk to them.
  • Business information and operations should be available to anyone through managed access.
  • Our customers are part of the company. We're passionate about creating viral customer relationships. As our customer, we want you to be 100% happy with our service and solution. Our base offer includes essential support, so no matter what your future business needs are, we will always be there to support the existing platform.

CASE STUDY

COVENEY INTERLAY

Coveney Interlay is a leading Australian supplier and installer of commercial floor coverings, including tile, carpeting, and vinyl. They are the preferred supplier to many of Melbourne's leading architects, interior designers, and builders; and provide project consultation, preparation solutions, and access to storage facilities during the construction projects.

With a successful business history of 25 years and over 350,000 square yards of flooring, they know their business. Their competitive market, like many, requires close management of costs throughout the business cycle. To manage costs, Coveney created numerous detailed product spreadsheets that consider all facets of product, labor, consumables, and overhead; while still providing the customer a fair price.

In the fall of 2017, the company became noticeably constrained by managing project orders and scheduling. Estimates required multiple reviews, and only a limited number of project managers were able to create them. Once complete, compiling the estimate with numerous external documents became a tedious manual exercise managing papers and folders. Multiple project schedules on a spreadsheet requires a single person to own and authorize every project change. In short, because of their success, the company had maxed out its current processes and knew it was time for a change.

The business was already using MYOB (an Australian BUSINESS FINANCIAL SYSTEM) and was looking for a tool to manage estimates, quotes, sales orders, and project scheduling. They explored various ERP systems and initially opted to go with Dynamics 365 but found the solution slow and clunky, subsequently deciding not to use it.

Coveney contacted Stepwise, and together we defined the initial customer solution. Obvious requirements were:

  1. Central repository for data – located in Australia
  2. SSL and data security
  3. Secure user management based on definable roles and system activities
  4. Highly scalable

Specific to Coveney's business, they required a customizable product configurator front end for a minimum of 7 product lines. Besides, with up to 30 people that can take an order, they needed a way to manage the order flow with authorized approvals. Once an order was accepted, they wanted to create a quote automatically. Finally, an order management process needed to drive the work orders into production. After more discussion, we defined the detailed product specification that would work for them. Using Stepwise business modules, the Coveney team reviewed the first iteration.

With the early iteration, it was initially agreed to use a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) tool for quote generation. The quotes would be automatically created as a part of the process flow, and the online web editor would allow the user to make edits to a cover letter or modifications to the quote detail. Ultimately, after trying the online editor, Coveney determined a WORD (Docx) editor to be a better choice because:

  1. Employees already had familiarity with WORD, and
  2. Many customers were receiving multiple quotes and it was quite easy for WORD to aggregate multiple quotes into a single document.

Had this been a typical ERP implementation, system changes (assuming they were possible) would have been costly. As it was, Stepwise was able to apply the changes quickly to the Stepwise business modules allowing the quotes to be automatically generated in WORD using pre-loaded templates.

Following system launch, Stepwise continues to support Coveney on an as-needed basis.

"We're delighted with the solution Stepwise delivered. Since our initial discussions with Stepwise, we've acquired another company and easily moved them over to the Stepwise platform without incurring additional costs." Nicholas Ficinus, CEO – Coveney Interlay