Arqiva is a major broadcast and mobile communications service provider in the UK and is expanding into Europe and the US. Softwire worked with the public safety division of Arqiva to develop an asset tracking system for a major public safety organisation in the UK. This project had some stringent requirements including a legal requirement that the location of all assets be determinable from the system at all times, even where an asset was temporarily under repair at the manufacturer.
Softwire initially provided some consultancy to study Arqiva’s existing systems and operations workflow, and from this developed a functional specification for a new system to meet Arqiva’s requirements. Softwire then implemented the new software, delivered and installed it and oversaw a thorough acceptance test before moving into a maintenance and support mode.
The system itself comprises an asset tracking website built using Microsoft technologies, notably ASP.NET, C# and a SQL Server database. An extensive series of reports is provided using SQL Server Reporting Services. In addition, administrative tools are provided to support bulk load and update operations. The system is accessed by a variety of users, some external to Arqiva, and the user interface is customised appropriately for each.
The solution was delivered on budget and on schedule to reasonably tight timescales, and was well received by end-users for whom the new features provided welcome productivity gains. As a result of this successful deployment, a number of follow on projects were commissioned to extend and expand the scope of use of the system.
Customer testimonial
“I have been delighted with the service we have received from Softwire. Their approach has been professional and thorough. They were able to capture accurately our business processes and produce a specification that all parties could understand. Their software implementation followed this to the letter and they have put in place a system on time and to budget that has impressed both internal and external users. For Arqiva, Softwire offer a high quality cost-effective alternative to in-house development. We will be using them again.”
David Andrews, Software Solutions Manager, Arqiva Ltd.
