About Us

Who are we and what makes us tick?

How We Deliver

Formus Professional Software specialise in system development, software, consultancy, training and support.

Software solutions like ours, can help businesses like yours be even more brilliant at what you do.

We really get a kick out of that, especially when working with people who obviously care so deeply about what they do too.

We believe there’s huge value in using CRM to provide our clients with a “single version of the truth”; a way of understanding exactly what’s happening within their business. Capturing every single customer engagement; every fundraising event; every marketing outcome; every business process; every potential sale.

This means that opportunities for growth aren’t missed. It makes businesses more efficient, saves them money and allows valuable staff resources to be deployed as productively as possible. These are things that can make a real difference to any organisation.

And although we can’t lay claim to doing this purely for altruistic purposes, that’s exactly why we do a lot of work with charities and other not-for-profit organisations.

Take our oldest client – Anthony Nolan – as an example. Every day, they match three stem cell or bone marrow donors to people suffering from blood cancers or disorders. Our software is just one tiny element of that but we’re still hugely proud to play our part.

How We Do Things

Just as people have pre-conceived ideas of what a salesperson, consultant or solutions architect looks and sounds like, there’s a stereotypical image of a software developer that’s also been around for years. T-shirt and jeans; caffeine and carbonated drinks; dedicated to a lifetime of coding; seems to talk a different language; you know the sort.

At FormusPro, we break that mould with the people we employ.

We don’t believe in having people who are consultants and people who are developers. We believe in having people who can be both at the same time.

These are people who can communicate effectively with clients and their software end-users, scope out business requirements and design a solution but who are also expert developers in their own right. Such people are few and far between. Yet our entire FormusPro business plan is based around only ever employing such people.

The most obvious benefit of employing these ‘hybrid consultants’, as we call them, is that nothing gets lost in translation. The best way to effectively match technical solutions to business requirements is to make sure the person in the middle is comfortable with both sides of the equation.

The person you speak to about your project requirements will also be the person turning those requirements into reality. There’s no danger of misunderstandings or things getting lost in translation, as information and instructions are passed along a chain - because there is no chain.

A Personal Touch

We know we’re not the biggest provider in the market. We’re fine with that because it means we have the chance to build strong relationships with all our clients.

Clients tell us they appreciate our responsiveness, flexibility and the option of 24/7 access to technical support. We’ve always recognised that this kind of personal touch is one of our greatest selling points.

Our relationship building extends to taking the time to properly understand the problem a client needs us to help them solve. Not just the software requirements – but the broader business context within which that software will operate. After all, if you don’t understand that broader context, how can you ever hope to provide the best possible advice?

We’ve finished every project we’ve ever started so our project management skills can’t be too shabby either. Some of that’s down to our multi-talented staff; our hybrid consultants. Some of it’s down to the tried-and-tested project management methodologies (such as agile and waterfall) that we use.

But a large part of it is down to the fact that the software we’re configuring for you is the same software we’re using to track and manage our own projects. Surprisingly few CRM businesses seem to do this but we do – because if the software is as good as we say it is (and it definitely is), then why wouldn’t we?

What We Do

We’re all about configuration, it’s as simple as that.

When it comes to implementing a CRM software solution, few businesses will want to use something straight off the shelf. Typically, there will always be tweaks and changes needed to make the software fit with their particular requirements.

The question you’re then faced with is how best to customise the software to meet your needs. Do you start tinkering with the code or do you optimise the software’s configuration within its existing parameters? We very much believe in the latter.

This belief stems from the faith we have in, the software that underpins most of our client solutions. (We can offer Salesforce CRM as solution too but, more often than not, for many reasons, Dynamics is our preferred option.)

It’s already better than any bespoke, one-off coded solution could ever be and it’s backed by Microsoft’s extensive support resources. It just needs to be properly implemented and configured to meet your needs – and that’s the bit we think we do better than anybody else.

Bespoke vs Configured

We understand the apparent fascination with bespoke, coded solutions, we really do. You feel like you’re being given something special after all, something unique to your business.

Well, yes you are. But that specially coded solution can also leave you at the mercy of your software provider. Support may well be slower (it’s a completely bespoke solution, after all) and could be put at risk altogether if the developer ever moves on. Access to that developer will also determine how much further you can customise the solution in future and how long your software’s life cycle will be.

With a configured solution (which, by the way, is probably going to be unique to your business as well), you never leave the comfort of Microsoft’s support programme and ongoing software upgrades. And we’re also always there to support you and to keep adding further customisation and training when you want or need it – because it’s a product we know inside out.

Pushing the Boundaries

Our in-depth knowledge means we know what works and what doesn’t - and quite how much the software is capable of. That last point is why we occasionally find some tenders a touch prescriptive to be honest. In framing the request in a narrow way, the full extent of the software’s capabilities can be overlooked.

In such a situation, we’ll always provide an honest response to the original request. But if we think there’s a better way of reframing the requirements, meaning you could configure the software in an even more efficient and productive way, we’ll be sure to tell you about that too.

We’ll never support a solution that we don’t think can work or that doesn’t represent value for money – just to keep a client happy. We’d rather walk away from a potential engagement than do that. We can’t help ourselves in that regard. It’s just how we’re configured.

Happy Staff, Happy Clients

In an industry like ours, where people tend to move around a lot, it's really important that we don’t just keep our clients happy. We keep our staff happy too.

Continuity can be a massive issue for any sizable CRM project. A year-long project, for example, could sometimes see as many as three or four changes in terms of who’s running the project, reflecting how often people tend to move from one job or contract to another in this industry.

That’s not healthy for any project (or the industry, for that matter, but it keeps on happening anyway). No amount of detailed handover notes can ever compensate for the amount of knowledge that leaves the building when a project manager departs.

So, we do everything we can to keep our staff happy in their current roles.

The work-life balance is a very real consideration at FormusPro, not just a convenient soundbite. It seems to be working as our staff retention is extremely high. This means that we’ve been able to deliver unbroken continuity of service throughout all our projects – and that’s the sort of thing that tends to make our clients really happy.

Founder and Technical Director

Meet our founder and Technical Director Glenn Powell.

Technical wizard, father of two beautiful girls and best BBQ host this side of the Atlantic. Just ask any of us here about his annual "Meat Day" (Veggie and Vegan options available on request).

Meet Glenn Powell!

We asked him to share, in his own words, where Formus Professional Software started and why our set up is so different from the others out there.

"As anyone who’s ever grown a business will tell you, the next challenge comes in staying true to what got you started in the first place."

After graduating in Computer Science, I worked in the commodity software industry for several years. I spent much of that time immersed in Microsoft Dynamics 365, learning the software inside out.

During this time, the idea of FormusPro began to take shape; a software consultancy intent on providing high quality, configured CRM solutions, able to speak the language of both the developer and the end-user.

It became a reality in 2012 – with Anthony Nolan, the blood cancer charity, as my first client. It’s a client relationship that continues to this day.

Like any small business, the early years were challenging but I never lost faith in the Formus concept. Our big breakthrough moment eventually arrived a few years later when we picked up two sizable new clients within days of each other.

From that moment on, everything changed. We now have a healthy client roster and an even healthier pipeline.

We have a growing number of amazing staff, delivering software solutions in the way that I believe in delivering them.

As anyone who’s ever grown a business will tell you, the next challenge comes in staying true to what got you started in the first place.

I’m never going to compromise on the quality of the people we employ here. I’m never going to stuff projects full of junior resource or outsource work to offshore contractors just to keep costs down. I’m never going to let us be anything less than super-efficient and responsive. And I’m never going to let us lose sight of the personal touch we bring to our client relationships, which I know they value so much.

I know that all of this only gets harder the larger we grow – requiring more people who are able to stay up to speed on every detail of every single client project, like I do now.

But that’s my challenge, alongside making sure that every new Formus recruit has the same passion that I do for both great customer service and effective software solutions – and it’s a challenge that I’m looking forward to.

"I’m never going to let us lose sight of the personal touch we bring to our client relationships"