Although we have done our share of small, very brief projects, we generally look for customers with whom we can build a long-term relationship. We have several customers who have seen most if not all their staff leave who we originally designed applications with in the 80's, but they still count on us to be available whenever they need help modifying and maintaining those applications - in many cases they are still able to work with the original Trilogy person who helped design and build the original application many years ago. Over time, our business-specific knowledge has accumulated to the point where we view that knowledge as an added value we bring to the table every time we start on a new design project, or step back in to help enhance an existing application. Our customers tend to have at least some in-house programming staff. They buy off the shelf wherever they can, and reserve custom development resources for those areas where their unique business needs call for cutting-edge solutions.
Trilogy often partners with in-house staff to form a project team.
An understanding of the business environment. Skill in certain application development tools that the business may have standardized on. As many programming hours as the staff can spare for the project. Long experience turning specific business problems into successful database application designs. Training as desired for the in-house staff, so that when the project is complete, the staff can maintain most if not all the application themselves.