Rhonda Ridge, managing director of Ab Initio and creator of the installer management system, AdminBase, discusses the ongoing importance of customer relationships after 30 years of business.

For any business to survive and thrive for 30 years it needs to evolve to stay ahead of market changes and deliver what customers need.

In the software sector, staying ahead of developing trends to keep users ahead of the competition is especially important as old systems become out of date faster. We made a promise a long time ago to listen to customers, continuously improve the AdminBase installer management system, and deliver genuinely useful solutions to installation companies across the UK.

AdminBase has come a long way since it was established 30 years ago with new features, upgrades or developments happening frequently and 2025 was no different. A lot of this is down to our customers.

We have a talented team of innovators and developers working on AdminBase behind the scenes, but it is invaluable for us to hear from the installation companies using the system every day. Although I have a good working knowledge of an installation company having worked in one for years prior to creating AdminBase, existing users know best how well the system is working for them in today’s market and what else they need from it in the future.

Building strong relationships with our customers has helped us to identify new areas for improvement.

Success in collaboration
One of the things that arose from customer feedback and that has been an ongoing theme for this year is collaboration with other software suppliers. Installation companies told us that they were enjoying using AdminBase as well as other specific industry software such as quoting software or 3D modelling software, but that it was slowing them down having to move information from one to the other.

As a result, we established relationships with Tommy Trinder and Windowlink so that the different pieces of software can talk to AdminBase and documents and quotes can easily be shared.

As well as industry collaborations, we have also established a couple of partnerships with well-known non-industry apps to further support installation companies. Firstly, perhaps our most ground-breaking collaboration is with WhatsApp. The messaging app is increasingly being favoured as a means of communication between consumers and tradespeople, but having entire conversations on one person’s phone detracts from the benefits of keeping data centralised.

Integrating WhatsApp into AdminBase has allowed installation companies to enjoy all the benefits of messaging customers via WhatsApp, without any of the administrative problems it had been causing.

Our most recent collaboration was again with non-industry app, What3Words, to help installers out on the road to find those more obscure locations. What3Words can accurately pinpoint a location using 3 words to describe every 3×3 metre square and is said to be far more accurate than an address or postcode.

Coordinates from the app can now be entered and stored for every job held in AdminBase to help all relevant members of the on-site team find their way to projects quickly and efficiently.

Ongoing success on the cards
We are incredibly proud of how far AdminBase has come in the last 30 years, and looking back over the last 12 months is a reminder of the level of our commitment to continuous improvement. This all comes from our dedication to delivering a system that is invaluable for our users, and we look forward to working with our proactive customers to continue to develop AdminBase for years to come.