ColdFusion Is Not dead!

Before you close the casket on ColdFusion… You should know that CF is alive and well. We’ve been working on it over 25 years, since version 1.5. (That is almost as old as Gandalf in hobbit years.)

However you might have heard CF is dead because you are running into all these problems:

  • Legacy CF spaghetti code is hard to maintain
  • Mountains of tech debt in your apps (old CF versions, out-of-date libraries)
  • Hard to hire good CF developers
  • CF security worries of hacking
  • Cloud migration concerns
  • Cost/licensing issues
  • C and Java developers looking down on CFML

TeraTech helps CIOs at medium-sized US companies with expert ColdFusion software modernization and maintenance. Our CF wizards will keep you safe from the nine Dark Riders of Mordor (CF maintenance headaches), Orcs (CF security) and Goblins (CF crashes) that roam Middleware-earth.

We have a podcast , a book, and our CEO, Michaela Light, speaks at CF conferences (which are BTW awesome and you should come to them!)

Here is How We Do It

You don’t have to worry about your project not being completed correctly, or running into massive delays, (or heaven forbid, Gollum messing with your journey). With our team of CF experts and time-tested process, you’ll have peace of mind knowing the exact scope of your project, how much it’s going to cost, and when it will be completed.

This might surprise you, and one of our company's main missions is to bring joy into the ColdFusion development process. By removing stress and sharing with you our genuine enthusiasm for this language, we bring joy into something you didn't possibly think could be joyful. While we focus on quality work, we might bring some gentle humor (or even the odd Lord Of The Rings joke) to meetings.

TeraTech was founded in 1989. Our goal is to provide the best ColdFusion services in the world. While proving that CF is modern, alive and secure. Over the years, we’ve continued to get better at what we do, and we’ve received consistently positive feedback from our clients. Even Galadriel, the critical elf queen co-CEO of Lothlórien, would approve of our CF work.

Cfdj Award Best Coldfusion Consulting Company5 time winner of the “Best ColdFusion Consulting Firm” by the ColdFusion Developers’ Journal (CFDJ).

Here Are 3 Ways We Help You Succeed

Meet Deadlines

We know it just as well as you do: missing deadlines can be stressful and costly. You need to know when your application will go live so you can announce the date of your launch, begin marketing and promoting it, and do the hiring and training around it. There is nothing like a setback that leaves your expedition stranded on the side of a cliff in winter, running out of lembas Elf bread.

Unfortunately, most software projects are not properly managed and involve a lot of debugging time that just can’t be predicted. That’s a HUGE problem (perhaps even bigger than being hunted by nine Ring Wraiths across Middleware-earth). Luckily, we do things differently…

  • We go through a formal signoff process on the exact requirements of your project upfront, so the scope of work is clear and the project stays on track.
  • We manage every step of the process closely to make sure we resolve any issues that could put the project deadline at risk -- and you will be the first to know if any challenge comes up or anything unexpected gets in the way.

The Best Value

You may have noticed that quite a few software development shops put junior developers (or even inexperienced Hobbits) on a project, charge a relatively low rate, and then don’t worry that it takes the less experienced coders four times longer to do the work. Because after all they are half as expensive, four times slower, so end up costing you twice as much.

That is not the way we roll.

Our team is made up of only senior CF developers, who understand your project and know ColdFusion better than dwarves know how to mind for gold. Because of the depth of our experience, we are able to accurately estimate the scope of your project. It is a win-win (that even Lord Elrond the Elf would be proud of, and as you probably know, he can be hard to please).

  • We have a proven formula for accurately determining the length of a project
  • We assign a dedicated project manager to keep everyone on task.

In Budget

You (not to mention your CFO) need to know what your project is going to cost before you start. There’s nothing worse than surprises when it comes to the costs involved with a project. (Well, maybe a deadly mission with a ring to Mordor might be a tad worse.) Sadly, most developers are not clear about the scope of work or requirements on a project. The result -  you end up paying for that lack of clarity with an enormously inflated budget and late deliverables.

Here is how we prevent scope creep, deadline delays and budget overspend:

  • We ask you hard questions right from the start. This helps us properly assess what you want done and how much time and money will cost to get you there.
  • Based on our discussion, we will come up with a detailed and accurate cost estimate.
  • Whenever new elements are introduced we’ll get your approval before we add them to the scope, and we always give you the option to decline any scope additions.

Are We a Fit For Your Company?

Before you keep reading, here is how to know if you are a fit to work with us. We have found that CIOs of companies that have approximately 50-500 employees with ColdFusion apps benefit the most from partnering with TeraTech.

  • CF modernization and upgrades
  • CF maintenance
  • CF security and performance

For CIOs with ColdFusion headaches, we take the stress out of doing it in-house. You get things done right the first time, and can relax. Maybe put your feet up like Frodo, CIO of Shire Inc.

Frodo the CIO

Our 3-Step Bug-Testing Process

Once we have completed coding on your ColdFusion project, we want to make sure all is running right. Because configuration issues and late-stage bugs can cause your software project to exceed budget and miss deadlines. Although we do everything we can to avoid bugs, software coding is complex and bugs do does happen from time to time.

At TeraTech we go through an extensive 3-step process to take care of bugs:

138947 TeraTechNumbers 1B 102017  Internal testing to find and eliminate bugs. Including automated testing, crafty human testers and smoke testing before we ship a build to you.

138947 TeraTechNumbers 2B 102017  You get to do 30-days of detailed acceptance testing with your real world data. No one knows your app like you and your staff, so have at it using realistic scenarios and data values!

138947 TeraTechNumbers 3B 102017  Plus 30 days after you go live, we check back in to make sure your app is running smoothly. Proactively ensuring that you are going to run snag free for the foreseeable future.

We are the ColdFusion experts. We do it right, on time, and on budget.

Meet the CEO

Michaela Light, CEO

Michaela Light, CEO

LinkedIn

My name is Michaela Light, and I love solving business problems. I also love creating high-quality custom software, which is why I founded TeraTech.

I have worked extensively with ColdFusion, SQL, Visual Basic, FORTRAN, Assembler (and a few other elven languages). I have been programming and doing project management for over 45 years. And I still love software development today! I have both a Bachelors and Masters degree in math from Cambridge and graduated 8th in my year.

I changed my name and gender in 2017. You can read more about that here. It certainly has made me more flexible in my life! And helped me successfully combine my logical/analytic mind with my intuitive/creative mind.

I also teach Kundalini yoga and energy healing. I love helping people grow and transform. Practicing yoga has helped me succeed in IT, because it keeps me calm when others might get stressed.

I am author of "CF Alive: Making ColdFusion Modern, Vibrant and Secure," host of the CF Alive podcast, and founder of the CFUnited conference. (I am also a secret fan of the Lord of The Rings, but you might have guessed that already...)

I have spoken at Adobe CF Summit and many other CF events over the decades. Wanta see what my vibe is like or what it might be like to work with me, take a peak at the 2-minute video below.

Michaela speaking at Adobe ColdFusion Summit keynote

Our Clients Agree...

roque viegas“Always delivers on-time and on budget. Trustworthy – they get it done and stay within budget”

- Roque Viegas, Georgetown University CIED

 

chris-spera“All deliverables were A or A+. Took the problem head on…didn't try to shoe it into something else.”

- Chris Spera, ICF