Solidsoft Ltd was formed in 1993 by Garth Pickup and Liam Kelly and was one of the very first Microsoft Solution Provider partners in the UK.
In the initial years the company's mission was to provide consultancy that allowed its customers to get the very best out of Microsoft's tools and technologies. This involved providing consultants in senior positions to work alongside in-house teams and re-engineer applications or develop new systems from scratch.
The National Milk Records migration from ICL mainframes to 4-way Compaq Proliants in 1995 was featured at the Windows NT show of that year. The Solidsoft team played a key role in the data migration of over 100 million records into SQL Server 4.2a and in several other aspects of the overall architecture and solution.
In 1998 Solidsoft was asked by Marks & Spencer to redevelop its stores-based HR and staffing system. Marks & Spencer needed a Y2K compliant system capable of running on its new store architecture. The re-write, performed without the help of the original authors, required Solidsoft to use the source code to the old application as the "specification" from which to start. Three million lines of code were developed during the 120 man month project. The system is still live today, managing the records of each of the 60,000+ store-based employees.
Express Digital Media (a division of United News & Media plc) and Solidsoft worked together in 2000 to create the online-appropriate brand AllAboutParents.com - a content-rich trading environment and community based on leading edge technology. Using a combination of Windows 2000 architecture and SQL Server 2000, Solidsoft delivered a custom-designed content management system and a scalable and robust web infrastructure capable of handling thousands of simultaneous hits. AllAboutParents.com was subsequently voted Site of the Week by New Media Age magazine. Since the takeover of Express by Northern and Shell, this system is no longer in use. Further information on this project can be found in the full case study released by Microsoft.
In July 2003 Solidsoft acquired Quovisoft, a Leeds-based software company that produced a BizTalk 2002 based integration product for the life & pensions industry. Utilising the combined expertise of both companies, Solidsoft developed a BizTalk 2004-based insurance accelerator which addressed integration issues in both the life & pensions and general & commercial insurance markets.
Back to the present, Solidsoft has firmly established its position as the principal BizTalk specialist in the UK. With increased importance now being placed on enterprise integration and the arrival of Microsoft's latest product offerings, Solidsoft has focused efforts on leading the field as a company expert in BizTalk and service oriented consultancy.