Software for the coach and transport industry
FAQ - General
This section is just about questions that you may want to ask of us, about us, about computing or just to gain some insight into what we believe. From time to time this section will be added to and updated and if you have a question that you think everyone would benefit from an answer then just e-mail us with it and we’ll do our best to include it.
How big is Renard?
Renard is a small company and we intend to keep it that way. The size of the company has huge advantages in the speed with which we can respond to new ideas, customer enquiries, additions etc. We don’t have to sit in committees in boardrooms deciding whether or when we should implement something. If we want to do something we do it. It also has advantages for our customers as when they speak to us they know they will be speaking to someone they’ve been speaking to before and to someone in charge who can make decisions. We provide the “Personal Touch” so often lacking in other organisations.
Renard is a small company and we intend to keep it that way. The size of the company has huge advantages in the speed with which we can respond to new ideas, customer enquiries, additions etc. We don’t have to sit in committees in boardrooms deciding whether or when we should implement something. If we want to do something we do it. It also has advantages for our customers as when they speak to us they know they will be speaking to someone they’ve been speaking to before and to someone in charge who can make decisions. We provide the “Personal Touch” so often lacking in other organisations.
But recently you’ve made your prices even lower. How can you do that?
We have made even further savings by changing the way we do business. For example we can now do support over the internet so we no longer have to factor into the price a support cost of visiting customers. As well as that we have now included a downloadable trial version which means we don’t have to travel for demonstrations to customers premises. If required we can even demonstrate the system live to anyone in the world from our computers right here. We’ve even managed to reduce our phone bill to less than half of what it was with BT! All these savings add up and they are all passed on to the customer with a better form of pricing.
We have made even further savings by changing the way we do business. For example we can now do support over the internet so we no longer have to factor into the price a support cost of visiting customers. As well as that we have now included a downloadable trial version which means we don’t have to travel for demonstrations to customers premises. If required we can even demonstrate the system live to anyone in the world from our computers right here. We’ve even managed to reduce our phone bill to less than half of what it was with BT! All these savings add up and they are all passed on to the customer with a better form of pricing.
There are systems which are web based. Is this safe?
No. As soon as you place your operational data on a third party’s you run into all sort of potential problems. If you place all your bookings and customers onto someone else’s server on the internet (sometimes known as “Cloud Storage”) you are no longer in control. Susceptible to hackers who only need one target to aim for and they then have, not only everyone else’s data, but yours as well. However, If you keep your data on your own hard disks and out of the way of the internet you control the security more effectively and make the hacker’s life very difficult.
Data loss, downtime and server/operational failures, where data isn’t available or is completely irrecoverable, has already happened more times than it should have done and to very big companies. Type in to a search engine “Cloud Security Issues” to get a long list of the major problems that can occur when you place your sensitive and important data in someone else’s hands. “Cloud Storage” is excellent as a backup service but for your operational data which you need every day and is constantly changing you need to be in control of it all the time.
No. As soon as you place your operational data on a third party’s you run into all sort of potential problems. If you place all your bookings and customers onto someone else’s server on the internet (sometimes known as “Cloud Storage”) you are no longer in control. Susceptible to hackers who only need one target to aim for and they then have, not only everyone else’s data, but yours as well. However, If you keep your data on your own hard disks and out of the way of the internet you control the security more effectively and make the hacker’s life very difficult.
Data loss, downtime and server/operational failures, where data isn’t available or is completely irrecoverable, has already happened more times than it should have done and to very big companies. Type in to a search engine “Cloud Security Issues” to get a long list of the major problems that can occur when you place your sensitive and important data in someone else’s hands. “Cloud Storage” is excellent as a backup service but for your operational data which you need every day and is constantly changing you need to be in control of it all the time.
Who is Renard?
Renard started in 1993 in the form of a sole trader. In 1999 it was formally incorporated as a company. We have been in several fields including Project Management, Shift Management, Wayleaves etc. Over the years we have worked with some very large companies including Tesco, Sainsburys, Thus and Viatel. But we have always been in the coaching industry since incorporation when our first program CoachManS V1 was created for a local company. We started writing the booking system a few years later when we were astonished at the prices of booking systems that were available to the industry. These prices were such that often the small and medium sized businesses were effectively being kept out of the modernisation process because of cost. We felt we could write as good a program for a lot less of a price and offer all businesses the opportunity to use software to control their businesses.
Renard started in 1993 in the form of a sole trader. In 1999 it was formally incorporated as a company. We have been in several fields including Project Management, Shift Management, Wayleaves etc. Over the years we have worked with some very large companies including Tesco, Sainsburys, Thus and Viatel. But we have always been in the coaching industry since incorporation when our first program CoachManS V1 was created for a local company. We started writing the booking system a few years later when we were astonished at the prices of booking systems that were available to the industry. These prices were such that often the small and medium sized businesses were effectively being kept out of the modernisation process because of cost. We felt we could write as good a program for a lot less of a price and offer all businesses the opportunity to use software to control their businesses.