Questions & Answers

Q. "The graveyard of trading is littered with 'black boxes' - what's so different about your approach?

A. It sure is a crowded graveyard. Many strategies were poorly thought out and un-benchmarked. Others were just poorly programmed and tested.

Assuming yours is a sound strategy, the secret is to get the computer programming absolutely right. Using conventional methods, that could take a number of man years. Then there are the inevitable initial bugs, plus the huge investment in testing.

That's where MicroTelligent is different. We have already made the investment in developing a conversion platform that will move you from a paper-based strategy to a prototype PC-based system in less than ten Days. So confident are we that it will more than match your paper-based approach, we will do the initial conversion for free*. Then, you can test it to your heart's delight before moving to the next stage.

* Offer applies to already successfully published strategies.

Q. Why shouldn't I just pay a local IT guru to programme it for us?

A. Sure - spend the next three years taking your eye off the ball. Take the risk of hidden problems. Pay an extortionate amount at the end of the day - and hope that your intellectual property rights are protected. As to your reputation world-wide, you could entrust it to a local programmer....

Then again, you could take the low cost, low risk, fast turnaround approach that MicroTelligent have on offer and get the benefit of our on-going maintenance and marketing support. We too are traders.

Q. What is the relationship with MicroTelligent?

A. You continue to own intellectual property rights to your strategy. You continue to maintain and develop it (with the added benefit of our unique optimising and back-testing tools and so on). We provide the conversion, on-going support and security to the plug-in as well as distribution of the system via yourself to your user base. Revenue from sales (usually subscription based) are split 50-50 between yourself and MicroTelligent.

Q. How secure is my system once it is computerised?

A. Infinitely more than your paper-based version.

Our developers have spent many years in IT security - creating one of the very few solutions to gain CESG approval. IT security systems pioneered by our specialists are used by organisations as diverse as the UK Police Force and one of the country's largest manufacturing companies.

You can be confident that users cannot copy, distribute or use our solution without paying your monthly license fee.

Q - Is it going to cost me anything to see a prototype?

A - if you are a published system author, not a penny. If you are a trader then yes (fixed fee, calculated before work starts)

Q - Can I change the prototype if I am not happy with it?

A – Yes, once we are past the initial 'proving' stage, MicroTelligent are happy to modify the system to match your paper based system more closely, but at that stage we would expect a resale agreement to be entered into before continuing work.

Q - Is the prototype mine?

A – No. The prototype is secured and owned by MicroTelligent. The system will cease to function after an evaluation period (typically a month)

Q - Can I add extra features that are not in my paper based system?

A – MicroTelligent can add additional features, but would suggest that improvements be delivered to your customer base over time, as independent revisions - a source of on-going revenue. There may be a cost if coding these additional features is deemed outside the current remit of conversion (typically £100 a feature or new rule).

Q – How is the product licensed to my user-base?

A – You licence the plug-in to your users as a monthly subscription. The software will work for 1 month, upon automated subscription renewal. Update keys are emailed to the user for continued use. This has been fully automated from a link to MicroTelligent's secure commerce server.

Q - Is there a minimum volume commitment for the plug-in sales?

A – Yes, just enough to cover the cost of development (typically 3 - 5 man days)

Q - Would MicroTelligent convert a new, unpublished trading system?

A - Yes; and we will also do this for individual traders, but there will be a small fee for producing the prototype (Typically £200)

Q – Is it true that MicroTelligent can also help me secure the intellectual property rights of my current paper-based system, as an EBook?

A – Yes, MicroTelligent can wrap your Ebook in a secure container, which will limit its use to a single machine, but will allow movement from that machine to another, if needs be, as well as stopping copying.