We've been getting enquiries for Rails work.
So we decided that we needed a way to track potential clients and projects. Simple stuff, like which one of us got the call, who it was from, project notes, start-date, and next steps.

Sure there are packages that do this sort of thing. I imagine that most are expensive and too complex for our modest needs. So I took 3 hours and built a Rails application, using the LoginEngine and a few tables. I attached it to our current time tracking application and deployed it on the web for us to use.

Total time including deployment: 3 hours

We now have a client-tracking application that is tailored to our needs. It is simple, secure, minimalist, easy to use and has no license fees. And we can extend it as our client-tracking needs increase, to support exactly how we work.

I just can't imagine doing this with a technology like Java or .NET. It just would have taken too long to even get started. We would have used a wiki, or a shared excel file, or something less optimal.

Rails changes how you think about what is a worthwhile application. It gives you the power to put ideas to work, quickly.

It was a good morning.