Great software is rarely built in isolation.
It comes from understanding the people who will use it, the challenges they encounter every day and the way their work is changing.
That thinking sits at the heart of inform.
For more than 25 years, we have developed software for the business rates sector. That experience gives us a strong understanding of rating practice, but the way organisations work continues to change. Building what comes next means combining that knowledge with modern technology, new perspectives and closer collaboration with the people using our software.
The first major step in that next chapter is inform:estate.
Launching more widely this October, inform:estate is our new enterprise-grade platform for modern property and rating management, designed to support organisations of all sizes as their estates, data and operational requirements grow.
Built around modern rating operations, it creates a more connected environment for managing portfolio activity, workflows and operational insight, giving teams greater visibility and control across increasingly complex estates.
But inform:estate is not simply about introducing new technology. It also reflects a different approach to how we develop it.
Behind the platform is a team bringing together longstanding business rates knowledge with expertise across product development, cloud technology and modern software delivery. That combination allows us to understand the realities of rating practice while continually questioning how technology can support it more effectively.
inform:estate is already well into beta testing, and our beta partners are playing an important role in shaping the platform ahead of wider launch.
Putting the software into the hands of clients gives us something that development in isolation cannot: direct insight into how it performs within real working environments.
Their experience helps us understand what works well, where processes could feel more intuitive and where the platform can be refined around the realities of managing complex portfolios.
For us, beta is not simply a stage to complete before launch. It is an opportunity to listen early, learn from the people using the technology and make those conversations part of the way the product develops.
That change in approach is also happening inside Inform.
Alongside the extensive rating expertise already within the business, we are continuing to strengthen our technical capabilities, bringing experienced talent into the team while developing the people already within it.
We also want our teams to stay closely connected to the wider industry. That means creating opportunities for colleagues to spend time with clients, attend industry events and learn directly from experts across the sector. By looking beyond the confines of our own offices, our teams gain broader exposure to the challenges, conversations and ideas shaping rating and property management today.
inform:estate has been built using modern, cloud-native technology, supported by dedicated resources and an iterative approach to delivery.
The important part is not the terminology behind that approach. It is what it allows our teams to do: work more closely across product, technical and client-facing roles, respond to what we learn and keep the people using the software closer to the development conversation.
inform:estate is an important milestone for Inform, but it is also the beginning of something much wider.
We are developing a more connected software ecosystem around the needs of modern rating teams, and inform:estate is the first major platform to emerge from that next phase.
There will be much more to share about the technology as we approach launch. But behind it is a principle that will continue to shape what comes next: combining decades of industry knowledge with modern technical capability, broader industry perspectives and the experience of the people who use our software every day.
inform:estate is the first step. And there is more to come.
