Operational web apps
Operational web applications — where spreadsheets end
Custom business software for the workflows that actually run your company: planning boards, internal tools, portals and dashboards — built around your process, at a fixed price.
When the spreadsheet becomes the system
Every growing business has one: the spreadsheet that started as a quick overview and quietly became mission-critical. Now five people edit it, one formula nobody understands holds it together, and the person who built it is on holiday. Or the shared inbox that serves as a ticket system. Or the whiteboard photo that is, in practice, your production plan.
These improvised systems work — until volume, staff changes or a customer's requirements break them. An operational web application replaces them with something purpose-built: a fast, reliable tool that maps your process exactly, is available to everyone who needs it, and doesn't collapse when the one person who understands it leaves.
What we build
- Internal tools: case management, approval workflows, resource planning — the software layer between "we track it in Excel" and "we bought an ERP module nobody uses".
- Planning boards: live views of jobs, staff and equipment that dispatchers and team leads actually enjoy using — including workforce scheduling.
- Customer and partner portals: order status, documents and requests in self-service, so your team stops answering the same email twenty times a week.
- Dashboards and cockpits: staffing levels, open cases, critical KPIs — live, accurate and drawn from your real systems instead of last month's export.
- AI-powered features where they earn their place: document understanding, smart suggestions, automated drafts — integrated into the workflow, not a separate chatbot window.
Principles that keep tools alive
The process leads, the software follows
We start with how your team actually works — including the workarounds they've invented, which usually encode real operational knowledge. The application absorbs that knowledge instead of fighting it. That is the difference between software people use and software people tolerate.
Fast beats feature-rich
An internal tool is used fifty times a day. Every unnecessary click, every slow page costs real minutes. We build lean, keyboard-friendly interfaces that load instantly and work as well on a warehouse tablet as on an office monitor — from 360 px up.
Connected, not isolated
Operational apps live or die on their data. We connect your ERP, accounting, time tracking and industry systems so information is entered once and flows everywhere it's needed. No more double entry, no more "which list is current?".
Boringly reliable technology
We choose proven, maintainable technology over frameworks-of-the-month. Your application should still be easy to run, extend and hand over in five years — by us or by anyone competent you choose. You receive documented, owned software, not a dependency on a black box.
Fixed price, visible progress
Like every Onterion project, an operational web application starts with a short discovery and a binding fixed-price proposal: scope, timeline and price in writing before we build. During the build you see working software every couple of weeks — real screens with your real cases, not mock-ups. A first production version is typically live within weeks, then grows in planned, fixed-price increments.
Operational web apps rarely stand alone: dispatch boards pull in data that document AI has extracted, and planning boards are only as good as the scheduling rules behind them. Where such tools pay off first — logistics dispatch, property management, hospitality back office — is summarised on the industries page.
Hosting and compliance
Your application runs where you want it: on EU infrastructure by default, on German servers or your own environment on request. GDPR compliance is part of the architecture — role-based access, audit trails, data minimisation and a data processing agreement as standard.
If your team is currently held together by one heroic spreadsheet, we should talk before it breaks.
Frequently asked questions
Can an operational web app replace our spreadsheet without disrupting the team?
That is exactly the aim. We start from how your team actually works — including the workarounds they have invented, which usually encode real operational knowledge — and the application absorbs that instead of fighting it. A first production version is typically live within weeks and then grows in planned increments, so the switch is gradual rather than a big-bang cutover.
Will it work on tablets and phones on the shop floor?
Yes. We build lean, keyboard-friendly interfaces that load instantly and work as well on a warehouse tablet as on an office monitor, responsive from 360 px upwards. An internal tool used fifty times a day cannot afford slow pages, so speed and few clicks are a design priority.
Can it connect to our existing ERP and time tracking?
Operational apps live or die on their data, so connection is central. We integrate your ERP, accounting, time tracking and industry systems so information is entered once and flows everywhere it is needed — no double entry and no arguing over which list is current.
Do we own the application, or are we locked in?
You own it. We choose proven, maintainable technology over frameworks-of-the-month, and hand over documented software that you or any competent developer can run, extend and maintain in five years' time. You receive owned software, not a dependency on a black box.
Where does the application run and is it GDPR-compliant?
It runs where you want it: on EU infrastructure by default, or on German servers or your own environment on request. GDPR compliance is part of the architecture — role-based access, audit trails, data minimisation and a data processing agreement as standard.
What does your team track in spreadsheets today?
In a free intro call we'll look at your current setup and sketch what a purpose-built tool would change — with a binding fixed price if you want to go further.