HMW

What do we do

We solve your computing problems. Simple as that.

Who are we?

HMW Computing was founded in 1981 as a City of London based specialist consultancy offering bespoke systems development and financial modelling to the Financial Markets and Insurance industry.

Initially we worked mainly on timesharing systems and quickly developed a involvement with Rapid Application Development. In 1986 we began a long involvement with Midland bank (now part of HSBC), first modelling financial instruments and then developing a Foreign Exchange Dealing System called MID4X. From this experience and development for other clients 4xtraDS was born, which now boasts an impressive range of facilities across a wide spectrum of trading products.

The consultancy side has continued to evolve, embracing Internet solutions and enhancing our own in-house methodology until we became full members of the DSDM Consortium. Although no longer members, since that time we have worked to incorporate our approach within the DSDM framework. We have also absorbed many ideas from the eXtreme Programming approach.

Partnerships

The 4xtra Alliance

In early 2000, we formally constituted a Joint Venture with Phil Last Limited and John Butler Associates after successful co-operation on a number of Y2K projects, though the three companies have co-operated for many years. The Joint Venture is called the 4xtra alliance.
Its aim is to develop an integrated series of products and services, based on our long history of collaboration and the wide range of existing application packages, together with new Internet based offerings.

This is the home page of HMW Computing. Until recently all of our company information was held on the 4XTRA web site, as we are the Administrator of the joint venture. Although HMW continues to pursue its own aims, much of our current trading activity is through 4xtra.

APL unplugged

Before its disaffiliation last year the British APL Association (BAPLA) held several "Wiki Working Party" meetings at the British Computer Society. They proved useful not only in adding content to the APL Wiki, but in reviving the spirit of the old British APL User Group (APLUG) workshops. They also brought Ray Cannon's Moots to mind. Amazing how much you can learn when working together.

We've found a new venue and in the prototyping style of APL we've given it a try. The Edgar Wallace public house 40 Essex Street, London, WC2R 3JE has an upstairs room and free Wi-Fi. The room has public access but the landlord reserve us the upstairs bar which has so far managed to accomodate us. It's equipped wit a large plasma screen, which we've used to good effect.

This might not be a permanent home for such gatherings, but it's a good place to start.

BAPLA has now given us its blessing and we are offically ts London Chapter

We'll be there on 27 March 2009 at about 2.00 pm and we'd like to see lots of you there as well. Bring your laptop, or a USB drive, or just the knowledge in your head.

50 years of APL

Graeme Robertson has put together this excellent video about APL

Professional Contractors Group

The PCG describes itself thus

PCG was formed in May 1999 to provide independent contractors and consultants with a representative voice in opposition to the original IR35 proposals. Since then, we have evolved from being a single-issue campaign group to being a fully fledged, not-for-profit professional body representing knowledge workers who choose to be self-employed.

HMW wasn't in any way affected by IR35 (neither performing work which fell with the legislation, nor being a self-employed individual), but we joined the PCG soon after its inception and became founder members of the PCG's Quality Assurance programme which aims to provide ISO9000 qualification for small companies in the IT sector. Go to the main PCG site for more details.