Appropriate Solutions, Inc.
Appropriate Solutions, Inc. has been turning ideas into products since 1987.
ASI provides custom software development services for desktop, client-server, and web applications. Based in downtown Peterborough, NH, our professional and experienced in-house development staff works with local writers, graphic artists, and web designers to transform your basic ideas and sketches into ready-for-market product.
We love building software to solve problems.
Ray Côté
Ray Côté, President and co-Founder of Appropriate Solutions, Inc. (ASI), creates software to help other businesses thrive. “I like to see our software being used in the real world and to see people actually enjoy using it,” says Ray. “We’ve written software for sole proprietorships and Fortune 500 companies. We listen to people to understand their actual problem, which is not always the problem they walk in with. We work with them to develop a solution. I don’t care how small or large the problem is. Every problem is large for the person who has it.”
An entrepreneur himself (his early businesses included long-haul trucking and a rabbit farm), Ray majored in Electrical Engineering at Northeastern University. He began his career as technical editor and editor-in-chief of Byte magazine. In those positions he reviewed millions of lines of code and helped set the magazine’s standards for good programming: functionality, efficiency, and elegance.
Ray’s interest in robots led him to become editor of Robotics Age, co-founder and editor of Robot Experimenter and Robot Explorer, and a board member of the Personal Robotics Institute. In 1987, he co-founded Appropriate Solutions, Inc.,. “My partners and I were discussing what to name the company and every suggestion met the response, ‘That’s not appropriate.’ So clearly ‘Appropriate’ was the perfect name.”
A long-time resident of Peterborough, NH, Ray is vice chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, former chair of the Chamber's Business Support Committee, School Board representative, member of the Town Economic Development Committee, and a former member of Toast Masters. He has also acted with the nationally known Peterborough Players and is a member of the Actors Circle Theater.
At ASI, Ray manages people and projects, and keeps the company up to date with the latest programming languages and tools. But for Ray, his mission begins and ends with the customer. “I work with customers until their problem is solved. If we can’t solve it, we find someone who can. Everybody in ASI is front line support. That’s extremely unusual even in a small company. At ASI we make sure the customer is taken care of.”
Beth Alpaugh-Côté
Beth Alpaugh-Côté, Vice-President of ASI since 1994, has overall responsibility for accounting, maintenance, human resources, customer support, and shipping and receiving.
Born in Boston, Beth has worked all over the country. She owned and operated her own semi, hauling household belongings through 42 of the 48 contiguous states. Later she owned and ran a limousine service, and also oversaw harvesting and maintenance on a 125-acre blueberry farm. Throughout, she developed both management and entrepreneurial skills.
After moving to Peterborough in 1975, she worked at Byte magazine, where she edited articles, sold advertising, and served as Associate Publisher. Along with Ray, she founded two robotics magazines and took on the jobs of Production and Advertising Manager. Later, she began buying and renovating homes in the area. The Côté's current home sports a fenced in yard for their three Nigerian Dwarf goats, famous in the African savannah for climbing trees.
A member of the Contoocook and North Branch Rivers Local Advisory Committee (CNBRLAC), Beth serves on the local Water Resource Advisory Committee and the Master Plan Steering Committee. She is a member of the Actors Circle Theater and a former house manager for the Peterborough Players.
Beth enjoys the practical and inventive spirit of ASI: “You solve the problem, get it done, and go on to the next thing.”
Steve Apiki
Steve Apiki is a Senior Developer at ASI, where he has worked since 1993. “The people at ASI have a vast amount of experience in a wide variety of programs,” says Steve. “That experience makes us comfortable in many application domains, so we can quickly understand a customer’s requirements and translate those into hard technical rules. We understand the programming tools and which tools are appropriate to which job.”
One program that benefited from that experience and knowledge is a hospitality industry application on which Steve was the initial lead programmer. The application allows institutions to track the costs, ingredients, and nutritional value of every meal they serve, and to customize meals based on the preferences and needs of the institution’s clients. Steve is also excited about his work on some of ASI’s proprietary credit card processing programs, including Trevance®, a multi-threaded application that handles up to 30 credit card transactions per second in real time.
A native of Hawaii, Steve came to the mainland to attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York. After graduating with a B.S. in electrical engineering, he joined Byte magazine as technical editor and then testing editor. Eventually, he became the director of Byte’s testing laboratory. At Byte and in his career at ASI, he gained experience in a variety of development tools, including but not limited to C++, MFC, Delphi, and Python. His current programming interests include C#, Net 3.0, and Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).
Steve is a freelance writer whose articles have appeared on several sites, including DevX, Small Business Computing.com, and Enterprise Storage Forum. His articles in DevX concentrate on programming topics related to AMD and Intel processors.
“I love software development,” Steve says, “and ASI lets me concentrate on my work.”
Charlie Farinella
Charlie Farinella began working at ASI in 2000 to provide technical support to ASI customers and is now in charge of all in-house IT. He is responsible for over ten servers (including mail, version control, virtual web, and remote servers), 30 to 40 computers, ASI’s virtual private network, and the company’s firewall and Internet security measures. In addition, Charlie assists in web development, maintains ASI’s customer data base, and helps write code.
A New Jersey native, Charlie majored in music education, then left college to became a piano technician. In 1983 he moved to New Hampshire for the quality of life. Soon after, he discovered that he enjoyed computers as much as pianos.
A member of the Greater New Hampshire Linux Users Group, Charlie is constantly researching to stay ahead of trends—and problems—in IT services. “I like what I do and I care about it,” he says. “It’s not just a job, but something I do with real satisfaction and pleasure. Everyone at ASI is that way.”
Gretchen Morin
Gretchen Morin assists with Customer Relations at ASI. She tracks and services maintenance renewals, follows up on referrals, and answers customer questions.
Gretchen moved to New Hampshire in her teens to attend the University of New Hampshire. She served as Town Clerk in Harrisville for many years and is currently the Deputy Town Clerk in Surry. She is the author of two books and an organic farmer whose farm supports four horses, four goats, four cats, and two dogs.
One of Gretchen’s many roles at ASI is to give the end user’s perspective. She has found that “the guys at ASI can do anything on any scale.”
Dave Rowell
Dave Rowell has served as a Senior Developer for ASI since 1998. He works from customer requirements to write a detailed technical specification, select the appropriate software tools for the program, and then write the code. “Most products involve several tools, a data base, a user interface, and often middleware that allows each piece to operate independently but cooperatively,” he explains.
After receiving a doctorate in zoology from the University of Massachusetts, Dave discovered that he preferred computer journalism and programming. As technical editor and writer, he contributed to several computer magazines including MicroComputing, PC Resource, and Byte, where he met Ray and another ASI Senior Developer, Steve Apiki. During his final year at Byte, Dave worked as a programmer on the Byte web site.
Among other projects at ASI, Dave has created a program that enables small businesses to establish and maintain a web-based store relatively inexpensively. He is a member of the Monadnock Linux User’s Group and the Northeast Oracle Users Group, and is an Oracle Certified Professional DBA. He has worked with a long list of programming languages, including but not limited to SQL (structured query language), XSLT (extensible stylesheet language transforms), Python, Perl, PL/SQL (Oracle’s procedural language), and C++. “Our clients know their business,” says Dave, “but we know the underlying technology, good user interface design, and the importance of consistency. We give them a functional product.”
Dave moved to the Monadnock region after graduate school and has lived in Peterborough for the past 13 years.
John Tourgee
John Tourgee joined ASI in 2005 to provide customer support. He is now responsible for Business Development as well. In his 20-year career, he has helped a variety of companies sell, define, and explain their products and services. He uses that experience to introduce new customers to the technical expertise of ASI.
“I find out about the customer’s technical and business problem and strategize ways in which ASI can help. Once we take on a problem, we stay with you until it’s solved. Whatever it takes,” John concludes, “we want to role up our sleeves and take it on.”
John has assisted people and businesses in the acquisition of technology since the mid-1980s. He rose to managerial positions through his sales success, based on a “get it done” attitude and creative spirit. At ASI, his sales role includes investigating value-added products and services for customers and helping to produce ASI’s marketing materials for the Internet, print, and television. He also serves as liaison with third-party vendors and partners. “I’m always looking for opportunities to make things simpler for our customers,” he says.
A New Hampshire native, John lives in Sharon with his wife and three children. He plays the guitar, writes music, and is a dedicated fund raiser for the YMCA.