TompkinsSoftware Systems
Customers

Who we work with

Departments, businesses, nonprofits, and individuals who need working software more than they need a sales process. Public works first, local government broadly, small businesses and nonprofits, and people with an idea they want built and licensed.

01

Public sector

Public works departments

Electric, water and sewer, streets, fleet, and environmental services. Crews that train once a year, report incidents when they happen, and need the record to hold up in an audit. Our first platform was built for a municipal public works department with three divisions, and it is still our reference for how software has to behave in the field.

Public Works Safety Training

Municipal and county government

City halls, clerks, park districts, library districts, and other special districts. Usually one department with one problem and a budget that has to be approved in a public meeting. We scope to that: a written charter, a fixed price, and a tool that does the one job.

How to buy
02

Nonprofits

We set aside a share of our time every year for pro bono work, and we start with nonprofits that serve veterans. Other nonprofits can work with us at reduced rates.

The pro bono program

  • The organization owns everything. The code, the design, the app store listings, the accounts. If you leave, nothing of yours stays with us.
  • Same process as paid work. A one-page charter, a weekly update, and an after-action review. Free does not mean casual.
  • Scoped to finish. We take on work we can complete, not work we can start. One or two engagements a year.
  • No strings. No logo placement requirement, no case study requirement, no upsell.

Our first pro bono commitment is to Project Veteran Overwatch, the organization behind Phantom Soldier, where veterans' stories become songs. We built and maintain its website at no charge. PVO owns what it publishes; we only build.

03

Small businesses and individuals

  • Small businessesContractors, training providers, and shops that need one tool built right: a scheduling page, a records system, a customer portal. Same charter, same weekly update, a price a small business can approve.
  • Contractors working for public agenciesPainless Project Management for crews that run projects without a project manager, and the safety training platform for companies whose contracts require documented training.
  • Drone pilotsPart 107 Prep serves individuals directly, free on the web and as a mobile app. Municipal drone programs use it to certify several operators at once.
04

Your idea, built and licensed

Some of the best software ideas come from people who know a field inside out and have never written a line of code: the inspector who knows exactly what the form should ask, the coach with a better way to run a season, the hobbyist who has mapped every gap in the tools they use. We help those people build the platform and own it.

How it works

  1. Scope it. We turn the idea into a one-page charter: what it does, who it is for, what the first version includes, what it costs, and when.
  2. Build it. We build the platform and you review it as it takes shape, with a two-minute written update every week.
  3. Publish it. Web, Apple App Store, Google Play, or all three, under your name or ours, whichever the charter says.
  4. License it. We set up the licensing so you can sell it: per-seat, per-organization, or a one-time purchase, with the terms written down and the money going where it should.

What you keep

The idea, the name, and the rights, as written in the charter. Our fee is a fixed price for the build, or a share of license revenue if you would rather not pay up front. Either way, the arrangement is in writing before the first line of code.

05

How to buy

We are a small company and we know what a public procurement file needs. Here is how an engagement works and what we can provide for your paperwork.

Products

The published products are free to use as described on their pages. Hosted setup, content customization, and support agreements are quoted per organization. Quotes are written, itemized, and valid for 60 days.

Custom builds

  1. Conversation. Thirty minutes about the problem. No slides.
  2. Charter. One page: what we are building, why, what done looks like, what it costs, and when. You approve it before anything is built.
  3. Build. A two-minute written update every week: schedule, budget, and whether we need something from you.
  4. Delivery and after-action review. The software, the documentation, the source code if the charter says so, and a written review of what we would do differently.

What we accept

  • Purchase orders from government and nonprofit customers, net 30
  • Card or invoice for small businesses and individuals, half at the charter and half at delivery
  • Fixed-price contracts for custom builds; time and materials only by request
  • Your vendor forms, insurance questionnaires, and security questionnaires