Products
Fakoli Framework and Content Management System
Customized Open Source Application
It has been a common belief in our industry that custom development is a more expensive, lengthier process than adapting an out-of-the-box product. However, the rise of framework-based solutions offers a third option: combining the benefits of both approaches. Frameworks offer the flexibility and specificity of custom development combined with the cost and time benefits of existing software. This is where Fakoli, our customized framework and content management system (CMS), comes into the picture.
Fakoli is a lightweight, entity-based framework designed to simplify development of web applications. There is no licensing cost and all custom code is owned by the client. Fakoli code is released on an open source MIT license, allowing for unlimited distribution, resell, and derivative works.
We have been using Fakoli in our client work for over three years. The framework is currently being used in over ten active websites, as well as in several retired sites. We are constantly adding new features and components to the code base, offering these upgrades to our clients for just the cost of configuring their sites to use them.
Fakoli comes with a number of web application features that can be implemented as is or customized to specific needs. The framework has been designed to easily support custom workflows, unique permission models, and a particular data model throughout all features. It also supports best practices in software design and architecture, to support system security and stability as well as 508 and FISMA compliant. Other features include: content management system, discussion forums, blogging, a survey tool with anonymous and tracked responses, automatic graphing tool (not Flash based), and multiple templates support to allow for custom mobile and tablet views.
Sonjara has had extensive experience working both with customizing off-the-shelf software and writing custom code for our clients for a variety of different project types, goals, and resource needs. Based on these years of experience, when recommending a technology approach to our clients, we have developed the following general rules:
- If both the business rules that you are trying to implement and the data model that you need to capture are very closely matched to an existing off-the-shelf software product, then choosing and configuring such an application is likely to be very cost-effective.
- On the other hand, if your business rules are as yet undefined or if they include interdependencies outside of your control like integration with external data sources, then we recommend going with a custom solution so that you end up with a system that matches your requirements.
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Griot Business Management Tool
Software as a Service
Griot is a project financial management tool offering small business owners the ability to pull and link company data together in real time, allowing small business owners to make quick decisions based on accurate information. Griot provides integrated reports to see what is happening in a business as it happens, in time to make course corrections.
We began developing Griot several years ago to be used internally, refining the tool based on requests and needs from our own staff members in operations, human resources, project management, and finance. Recently we have been attracting interest from small businesses and government contractors.
Griot grew out of our frustration in looking for a business management system to manage our projects. We found that many applications did some of what we needed, but none pulled the data together in a way that gave us the big picture view of our business. We didn't have the time or the money to invest in a big enterprise system, and the tools within our price range only managed individual projects. Moreover, we needed project data aggregated up for cash flow and for workload requirements. And what about managing non-billable hours such as PTO, admin, and business development time, especially when these hours need to be captured for government contracting?
Pulling that data out of these individual systems was time consuming, open to errors, and didn't fit the specific needs for our government contracts. We often needed this information at a moment's notice. Being software developers, we knew we could build a better system. So we did.