Cincom Smalltalk™ has also been used to create and develop highly sophisticated software applications. Below are a few examples:
When Cherniak Software Development Corporation of Toronto, Ontario began business in 1978, the plan was to provide powerful business systems that directly addressed the needs of its clients.
In those early days, the development tools used by the Cherniak team were Business BASIC and later, C with the relational DBMS, Informix. Later he sought a graphical user interface language to develop high-quality applications faster and cheaper. A project with a telecommunications company introduced him to the advantages of object-oriented software development and the potential for “huge productivity gains.” Cherniak had found Cincom’s Smalltalk.
Cherniak Software uses VisualWorks to give its clients uncommon flexibility such as accounts-receivables aging suited to their industry or business model, rather than fixed, 30-day increments.
“Those simple things are just among literally hundreds of parameters where the clients’ system managers can tailor the system to work for them. …They don’t work at a programming level, they configure at a user level.” - Bob Cherniak, Founder, Cherniak Software
The VisualWorks platform has allowed Cherniak Software to develop systems that look far better and are even more powerful and flexible than their predecessors in its traditional markets – wholesale distribution, manufacturing, and project management.
“Our portfolio is diverse. …I think most software houses like us typically have a single product and focus on it. People we’ve dealt with before go into different businesses and say ‘hey, this company did good things for me at that other business – that’s the outfit I need here.’ Word of mouth more than anything else has fueled our growth.” - Bob Cherniak
Since 1994, Alsace-based EBC Informatique has developed and offered a new turnkey software package based on the company’s TotalHorizon product—an integrated sales management, production management, and accounting solution for small- and medium-sized businesses. Originally established in 1988 as a hardware distributor, EBC Informatique has diversified its business computer services and experienced continuous and rapid growth. The company has nearly1,000 customers in Alsace alone.
Technological innovation to add customer value is a key element in EBC Informatique’s business strategy, part of which is TotalHorizon and partnerships with European andworldwide solution providers such as Cincom. With its prominent regional profile, EBC Informatique wants to expand throughout France and Europe by building a network of partners with similar business philosophies. Expansion in France has already begun, with partnerships set up in Paris and Lyon. Establishing Pan-European partnerships is also underway. EBC Informatique’s relationship with Cincom was essential to these efforts.
“In Cincom, we see a partner who can accompany us in our move towards globalization of the company,” – Pierre Burg, President of EBC Informatique
With Cincom Smalltalk, EBC Informatique quickly enhances and improves TotalHorizon, while maintaining optimal pricing and providing customers with quick implementation. Ongoing prototyping, incorporation of reusable components into the product architecture, and modification of the interface without compromising the overall application are all provided through the development environment of Cincom Smalltalk.
Cincom ObjectStudio provides access to the leading commercial RDBMSs and enables the product architecture to be structured around reusable components, making permanent adaptation of the solution simpler for customers. For example, the user interface can be modified without compromising the rest of the application, while other components available from Cincom (Workflow and Distributed CommunicationsFrameWork) can be added with ease.
“Smalltalk and ObjectStudio are ideally suited to management problems and have enabled us to build a true small-business framework which we can reutilize and tailor for each new customer context.” – Serge Lehmann, EBC Informatique Project Manager
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