← SORT

Custom software development in Delhi NCR

SORT is a software practice in New Delhi, run by Manas Taneja. I build custom software and AI tools for businesses whose existing systems don’t cover the work they need to do.

What gets built

Most of the work falls into 3 kinds. Connecting records that live in different systems, so a question that touches both can be answered from one place. Answering questions across the documents and conversations a business already has. And building a tool for a specific job — drafting a document, recording a stock change, assessing an enquiry — around the person who has to use it.

Seven systems for 4 organisations so far. Four are in daily use.

Why a one-person practice

You work with the person writing the software. Nothing passes through an account manager, and no part of the explanation is lost between the person who heard the problem and the person solving it.

That has a limit worth saying out loud: it is one person, so it suits work measured in weeks and months rather than a programme that needs a team of 10. If what you need is bigger than that, I would rather say so at the start.

Use what fits. Build what’s missing.

For one client the right software already existed, so I configured it and moved the records in rather than building a replacement. Where something does need building, I’ll say what it should do, what it depends on, and what it costs to run and maintain before anyone commits to it.

An engagement can honestly end in “there is nothing here worth building”. That has happened, and it is a better outcome than a system nobody uses.

Working in Delhi NCR

I’m based in New Delhi. In Delhi NCR I’ll come to you and watch the work happen, which is usually worth more than an hour of describing it. Everywhere else, the same conversation over a call.

What you end up owning

The software, the accounts and the passwords are in your business’s name, and how it works is written down. Nothing is built so that you have to keep me to keep using it.

What to send

Tell me the task, which tools your team uses now, and the point where someone has to step in by hand. A question your team keeps looking up is a good place to start; so is a report somebody assembles every week, or an application nobody wants to maintain any more.

Common questions

Do you work with businesses outside Delhi NCR?

Yes. I’m based in New Delhi, so in Delhi NCR I’ll come and watch the work happen, which is usually worth more than an hour of describing it. Everywhere else it is the same conversation over a call, and the work itself is no different.

Who owns the software once it’s built?

You do. The software, the accounts and the passwords are in your business’s name, and how it works is written down. Nothing is built so that you have to keep me in order to keep using it.

Do you only build new software, or work with what we have?

Both, and the second is often the better answer. For one client the right software already existed, so I configured it and moved the records into it rather than building a replacement. Where something genuinely is missing, I build that part and leave the rest alone.

How large an engagement can one person take on?

This suits work measured in weeks and months rather than a programme that needs a team. That is a real limit, and if what you need is bigger than it, I would rather say so at the start than discover it halfway through.

What do you need from me to start?

The task, the tools your team uses now, and the point where someone has to step in by hand. You don’t need a specification. A question your team keeps looking up, a report somebody assembles every week, or an application nobody wants to maintain are all good places to begin.