In the pursuit of his dream, a tech and business expert founded his own company, aiming to one day provide clients with custom software solutions. When building his first tool, a highly customizable reporting app, Somnath Maji acquired an Essential Studio Community License to help him achieve his dream faster. He was amazed that the free license provided him with all the features of the paid version of the ASP.NET Core control suite, plus quick support from the very people who developed it.
Using Essential Studio, Somnath estimates he:
- Cut his development time in half.
- Cut his costs by 75%.
After 15 years in multiple senior management positions at top companies like IBM and Lodha, Somnath decided to strike out on his own. First, he founded Igniatek Consultancy. There, clients draw on his deep knowledge of both tech and business to help solve their problems and improve their offerings. Meanwhile, he’s started developing the other side of his business: technology tools for operational and workplace efficiency. His ultimate plan is to bring these two aspects together, solving business problems with his own software.
Challenges and objectives
When Somnath began developing his reporting application, he had a clear idea of what he wanted to build. While many organizations now have tools for helping their employees create charts, most of them force users to choose between a standard look and customizability. Either all the company’s charts look the same, with no room for artistry, or none of the charts look alike, which lacks professionalism.
“So, I am basically trying to bridge that gap and give people a platform that is extremely easy for even somebody who has no experience,” he said. “It is just a click of a button, and they can create a professional-level dashboard for analysis.”
However, Somnath was a one-man show developing this app. He needed a way to speed up development, but since he was funding it solely with his consulting work, he couldn’t spend much. He needed components with strong UI capabilities, but most of the packages he saw were costly or didn’t provide enough customizability.
Solution
When Somnath found Essential Studio, he was initially impressed by the breadth of documentation, important for a developer more familiar with Python and Java than .NET. Then, the excellent performance of the ASP.NET Core controls in a free trial had him nearly convinced.
But could he afford it?
Being an individual developer, Somnath found out that he qualified for the Community License, which gave him the whole suite of controls for free. He couldn’t believe it and did a thorough search, looking for the catch. There wasn’t one! Until his company reaches a certain size or level of financial success, fully functional Essential Studio components were his to use at no cost.
After starting with the controls, though, he realized that what really makes Syncfusion® stand out is its support team.
“When I’m stuck and raising a ticket, it’s not an automated message or some generic reply,” he said. “No, it is someone who is knowledgeable, who is the developer, who is reading it and actually understanding it, doing it. And then giving me an actual solution, sometimes even with some code snippets. That is outstanding.”
The support team turned what would have been a weeks-long troubleshoot with another company into one or two days of brainstorming that “was kind of like working with a colleague.”
Results
With the help of Syncfusion controls and support, Somnath was able to develop his reporting app, XL Data Analysis, in half the time. He recently published the first version of it, free to use as he gathers feedback.
XL Data Analysis creates professional-grade visualizations from Excel data. Somnath provided the following chart to show the gaps his application fills in the market.
| Microsoft Excel | Other charting tools | XL Data Analysis |
|---|---|---|
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Eventually, he intends to release multiple versions and work directly with companies looking for greater levels of customization and containerized versions.
He is currently starting work on some smaller projects for clients and is exploring which Essential Studio controls he can employ in them.
“If somebody is looking for a great tool to work with? Yes. I would definitely recommend Syncfusion for anyone who is trying to develop something meaningful,” said Somnath.
Conclusion
The founders of Syncfusion understand that starting something new and reaching for your dreams can have formidable barriers. They did it themselves! If you’re looking for a partner in building your vision, check out our Essential Studio Community License, BoldSign® Essentials plan for e-signatures, or BoldDesk® for Startups for a customer service help desk.
