MattSoft

I'm an "older" informatician, which doesn't have to mean "out of date".

I'm building on proven experience and value, knowing that software has to evolve in an evolving world.

At the same time clients have to count on a continuity of the support for their existing solutions. That's a key factor in my business! For the record, a few older applications are still running after 20 years of service!

I'm always trying to write code in the most generic and thus reusable way.

I started developing administration software as an employee at an office equipment selling company in Roeselare, Western Flanders, Belgium.

As a matter of fact, I didn't have an IT degree. Building software on demand was rather new at that time. Hardware was expensive and so was software development. There wasn't much standardized software at that time.

My degree as an industrial engineer has not been applied in its typical form, however my analytical approach of problems has lead to more structured solutions with time.

In 1995 I decided to become an independant developer,and I went on with Foxpro 2.6 for Windows. I had gathered experience with building smaller projects for my former employer.

I took the time to develop reusable components as much as possible, in order to have a general administration project for both purchase and sales. I reused ideas I had seen in other software like Cubic, and added a personal touch to create something new. My clients will certainly mention the typical way to enter key fields like client or article  codes. Without having to use the mouse, you can enter the reference key directly, or you can ask help in typing "-" or "--" to select an index, followed by a lookup value corresponding to the chosen index.

As an independant it was great to have some freedom to do what I had in mind. However I needed to link to business partners as well. My former employer needed service and updates for former developments and he could also link me to new partners.  

In 1999 I began to develop in MSAccess 2000 and SQL server for clients of an independant informatician who offered me a job after time.  His project was called "Carpe Diem", I started it from scratch, and I'm still servicing its first clients after 10 years!

I'm now adapting the project for use in MSAccess 2007.

In the summer of 2005 I moved to Wallonia. That way I became fully independant again, though I kept linked with my former employer again. Even my first employer still contacts me for internal applications that have been used for 15 years... People get older but software which is built to measure can keep young for a long time apparently ;-)

But of course, I turned to remote service to be able to go on with the clients for the active projects in Foxpro and Access. Some had doubts about the possibility to do business that way, but after time things have settled with a rather clear definition of tasks that could be expected from me as a remote worker, combined with local services from my former employer. As a self employed man without employees I have to define what I can do and what I can't. That way I can do a better job for the things I'm good at.

I also have some teacher's blood in my veins, as my father was a teacher, and so were my oldest brother and my sister... That's how I like teaching Dutch to Walloons who need to get into more immersion, mostly for job environments. This activity brings back some real life contact as well, a thing that I don't have with remote services. So, I try to balance life a bit!