C1Case study · Our own product
What does it take to build, launch and run a product ourselves?
DeskZap: building, launching and running our own product
DeskZap is a remote desktop and IT support product we designed, built in Go, launched with its own website, and now host and support ourselves. It shows several of our services working for one client, which happens to be us: everything we recommend about hosting, support and security, we live with here.
LiveAvailable nowVisit DeskZap ↗
- Client
- DeskZap
- Sector
- IT and software
- Size
- Our own product
- Services
- 5 services, one client
C1.1
Where they started
Small IT teams and managed service providers in the UK need to help people quickly, often someone who is not technical and cannot install software.
The established tools are capable but priced and packaged for larger organisations.
C1.2
The system at a glance
What we built, what it connects to, and who uses it.
What we buildControl plane
Control plane · ours or yours
We build and look after this part.
- 01 · Build Build: Custom software development
- 02 · Build Package: SaaS development
- 04 · Ongoing Host: DevOps and hosting
The diagram in words
- Technician, starts a session (people)
- Control plane, ours or yours (what we build)
- DeskZap agent, Win, Mac, Linux (what we build)
- Person helped, short-lived code (people)
- deskzap.co.uk, plans, sign-up (what we build)
Connections:
- Technician → Control plane
- Control plane → DeskZap agent
- DeskZap agent → Person helped
- deskzap.co.uk → Control plane
C1.3
What we did, stage by stage
Discovery, build, launch, grow and ongoing: each step and the service behind it.
- 01 · Build · Build
Custom software development
Designed and built DeskZap in Go: a small, fast agent for Windows, macOS and Linux and a control plane that is simple to deploy, with short-lived codes for ad-hoc support and an audit trail by default.
Touches: DeskZap agent, Control plane
- 02 · Build · Package
SaaS development
Shaped it into two products, DeskZap Access for your own computers and DeskZap Support for other people's, with simple per-user and per-technician plans, a free trial and pilots.
Touches: Control plane, Technician
- 03 · Launch · Launch
Website design and development
Launched it with its own website, deskzap.co.uk, which explains the two products plainly and carries current prices and sign-up.
Touches: deskzap.co.uk
- 04 · Ongoing · Host
DevOps and hosting
Host and run the service ourselves, with a self-hosted option for organisations that cannot use a shared control plane.
Touches: Control plane
- 05 · Ongoing · Support
Support and maintenance
Support DeskZap customers on our own support rota and keep the software updated.
Touches: Technician, Person helped, DeskZap agent
C1.6
What changed
- DeskZap is live and sold at simple per-user and per-technician prices.
Built for small teams too. We are a small team ourselves: DeskZap is built, hosted and supported by the same few people who would work with you.
C1.8
What you can check
The standing promises behind this work, and where to read them.
Accessibility to WCAG 2.2 AA
We design and test to WCAG 2.2 AA, by keyboard and screen reader as well as by tools, and help you keep an accessibility statement.
How we work →UK GDPR and DPIAs
Personal data is part of the specification: what is processed, why, where and for how long. We help you run a DPIA when a project needs one.
Security and trust →Hosting region
Hosting in UK data centres or on your own infrastructure, and AI providers set up not to train on your data.
DevOps and hosting →Handover documents
Code in your repositories, plus a runbook and documentation written as we go, so your own team or another supplier could pick it up.
Code ownership →Support terms
Support with agreed response times, monitoring and security updates, set out before work starts.
Support and maintenance →
C1.9
Technology and timescale
C1.10
Services in this case study
T+99Next step
Talk it through with us
A free 30-minute first chat, with no obligation. Tell us what is getting in the way; we tell you honestly what we would do, roughly what it would take, and whether it is worth doing at all.