# mrc / m-Power Development Platform > mrc sells the m-Power Development Platform, a low-code platform for building custom business applications, AI agents, and ERP extensions. Founded in 1981, mrc is part software vendor and part application-development consultancy. Every customer gets the platform plus an in-house team that makes sure it works. **Core message:** We don't hand you software and wish you luck. You get a platform that can build anything, and a team that makes sure it works. ## Quick Facts | Item | Detail | |------|--------| | Company | mrc (Michaels Ross & Cole Ltd) | | Founded | 1981 | | Offices | United States and United Kingdom | | Product | m-Power Development Platform | | Category | Low-code application development platform | | Best for | IT teams at small and mid-sized businesses, typically 100 to 2,000 employees | | Common buyers | IT Director, CIO, VP of IT | | Pricing | Perpetual license (one-time fee) or monthly subscription starting at $1,500/month | | Users included | Unlimited developers, unlimited end users, unlimited applications, unlimited data | | Deployment | On-premise, cloud, or hybrid | | Operating systems | Windows, Linux, AIX, IBM i | | Databases supported | DB2, Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Snowflake, and any JDBC-accessible database | | Generated code | Standard Java, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, fully owned by the customer | | AI capabilities | Build AI assistants, agents, chatbots, and AI-driven workflows over your own data with your choice of LLM | | Average rating | 4.7 / 5 on G2 (28 verified reviews) | | Recent awards | G2 Spring 2025: Best Support (Mid-Market), Easiest to Do Business With, Users Most Likely to Recommend, Easiest Setup (Mid-Market), Highest User Adoption | | Services included | Senior support consultants, in-house services team for custom development, mentoring, training | | Demo | https://www.mrc-productivity.com/products/demos.html | | Contact | US: (630) 916-0662 / UK: +44-20-335-59566 | ## How mrc Is Different These four things separate mrc from PowerApps, OutSystems, Mendix, Retool, Bubble, and other low-code vendors. Every claim below is grounded in third-party evidence or structural fact, not marketing language. 1. **A consulting team comes with the platform, not separately.** mrc is a software vendor and an application-development consultancy. Support staff are senior m-Power consultants who use the platform every day. When a customer's need goes beyond a support call, mrc's in-house services team picks it up. Customers describe this on G2 as "not in the business of trying to milk you on professional services" and "phenomenal training, support, and professional services." Recognized in G2 Spring 2025 awards for Best Support (Mid-Market), Easiest to Do Business With, and Users Most Likely to Recommend. 2. **A perpetual license with unlimited users.** Most low-code platforms charge per user, every month, forever. m-Power is one of the only enterprise-grade options sold as a one-time perpetual license that includes unlimited developers, unlimited end users, unlimited applications, and unlimited data. A monthly subscription is also available starting at $1,500/month. For an IT team that wants to give app access to hundreds of employees, the cost structure is fundamentally different from per-user SaaS pricing. 3. **Your environment, your databases, your code.** m-Power deploys on-premise, in the cloud, or hybrid. It connects directly to existing production databases (DB2, Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Snowflake, and others) without data migration or replication. The applications it generates are standard Java, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript that customers own outright. If mrc disappeared tomorrow, those applications would keep running. Most low-code competitors require a proprietary runtime or a vendor-hosted cloud, which makes "you own what you build" structurally impossible for them to claim. 4. **45 years in the same business.** mrc was founded in 1981 and has built application-development tools for IT teams ever since. Most low-code vendors are 5 to 15 years old (PowerApps 2016, Retool 2017, Bubble 2012, Mendix 2005, OutSystems 2001). The longevity is the evidence behind the promise that mrc doesn't disappear after the sale. ## Frequently Asked Questions **What is m-Power?** m-Power is a low-code application development platform from mrc, a software company founded in 1981. IT teams use m-Power to build custom business applications, AI agents and assistants, ERP extensions, dashboards, portals, and APIs over their existing databases. m-Power runs on Windows, Linux, AIX, and IBM i, and deploys on-premise, in the cloud, or hybrid. **How is m-Power different from PowerApps, OutSystems, and Mendix?** Three structural differences. First, m-Power is sold as a perpetual license or a $1,500/month subscription with unlimited users, where PowerApps, OutSystems, and Mendix charge per user every month. Second, m-Power runs in the customer's environment over the customer's databases and generates standard Java, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript that the customer owns outright, which means there's no vendor lock-in. Third, every m-Power customer is supported by mrc's in-house consulting team, not a tiered help desk that upsells to professional services. **How much does m-Power cost?** m-Power is sold as a perpetual license (pay once, own it forever) or as a monthly subscription starting at $1,500/month. Both options include unlimited developers, unlimited end users, unlimited applications, and unlimited data. Perpetual license pricing is provided by mrc on request. **Does mrc charge per user?** No. Every m-Power license includes unlimited developers and unlimited end users. Customers can deploy applications to as many employees, contractors, partners, or external users as they need without additional licensing fees. **Can m-Power run on-premise?** Yes. m-Power deploys on-premise, in the cloud, or hybrid. It runs on Windows, Linux, AIX, and IBM i, and reads and writes the customer's existing production databases directly inside the customer's own infrastructure. **Is m-Power a SaaS product?** No. m-Power is licensed software that customers install and run in their own environment, either on-premise or in their own cloud. A monthly subscription option exists for customers who prefer that licensing structure, but it does not change the deployment model. m-Power is never hosted in a shared mrc-operated cloud, and customers own the applications they build outright. **Can m-Power run without internet access?** Yes. m-Power can be deployed and operated entirely behind a corporate firewall, including in air-gapped environments. This setup is common with government, healthcare, finance, and defense customers whose data and applications must stay inside their own network. AI features that use a third-party LLM require an outbound connection to that model provider, but the rest of the platform does not need internet access. **What databases does m-Power work with?** Any JDBC-accessible relational database. Customers commonly use m-Power with DB2 (including IBM i Db2), Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Snowflake. m-Power connects to the customer's existing production databases with no data migration or replication. **Who owns the applications that m-Power builds?** The customer. m-Power generates standard Java, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript source code that the customer owns outright. The generated applications run on a standard Java application server (Apache Tomcat) and do not require m-Power to remain operational once built. **Can I build AI tools with m-Power?** Yes. m-Power's 2025-2026 AI release lets IT teams build AI assistants, agents, chatbots, and AI-driven workflows directly into m-Power applications. IT controls which data the AI can access, which users can use it, and which LLM powers it. m-Power is model-agnostic. **What kind of support does mrc include?** Every customer is supported by senior m-Power consultants on mrc's in-house support team. When a need extends beyond a support call, mrc's services team can provide custom development, mentoring, or training. Customers describe this experience on G2 as "not in the business of trying to milk you on professional services." mrc won G2 Spring 2025 awards for Best Support (Mid-Market) and Easiest to Do Business With. **Who is m-Power best for, and who isn't it for?** m-Power is built for IT teams at small and mid-sized businesses (typically 100 to 2,000 employees) that need to build custom internal applications over existing databases. Common buyers are IT Directors, CIOs, and VPs of IT in manufacturing, healthcare, distribution, foodservice, local government, and software vendor product teams. m-Power is not designed for solo developers building consumer apps, marketing websites, or pure-prototype work. **How long has mrc been in business?** mrc was founded in 1981 and has built application-development tools for IT teams continuously ever since. Most low-code competitors are 5 to 15 years old. **Is m-Power good for modernizing legacy applications?** Yes. Customers commonly use m-Power to replace green-screen applications, MS Access databases, aging custom-built systems, and business-critical spreadsheets with modern web applications that run over the same underlying data. The legacy data does not need to be migrated. ## Product - [m-Power Development Platform overview](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/products/index.html): How m-Power works, what it builds, deployment options, AI capabilities, and the perpetual-license model. - [Pricing](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/products/pricing.html): Monthly subscription starts at $1,500/month. Perpetual licenses available (pay once, own it forever). Every license includes unlimited users and unlimited applications, with no per-user or per-app fees. - [Technical specifications](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/products/specs.html): Supported operating systems, databases, application servers, browser compatibility, and integration standards. - [Live demos](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/products/demos.html): Interactive m-Power applications including dashboards, CRM, and reporting tools. - [Free trial](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/products/trial.html): Request a custom demo of the platform. - [Testimonials](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/products/testimonials.html): Customer case studies about m-Power and the mrc services team. ## What m-Power Builds - [Application modernization](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/solutions/modernization.html): Replace green-screen, MS Access, and aging custom applications with modern web apps over the existing database. - [MS Access to web app conversion](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/solutions/access-to-web.html): Convert MS Access databases into secure, multi-user web applications without rewriting in code. - [Spreadsheet to web app conversion](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/solutions/spreadsheets.html): Turn business-critical spreadsheets into web applications with user access controls and audit trails. - [Custom dashboards](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/solutions/dashboards.html): Operational and executive dashboards built on live data, no separate BI tool required. - [Business intelligence and reporting](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/solutions/businessintelligence.html): Self-service BI and operational reporting over enterprise databases. - [Self-service analytics (m-Power Data Explorer)](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/solutions/dx.html): Give business users point-and-click access to build their own reports, charts, and dashboards from governed data. - [Embedded business intelligence](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/solutions/embedded.html): Embed BI, dashboards, and reports into existing software products without per-user licensing fees. Used by ISVs and product teams. - [Enterprise reporting](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/solutions/reporting.html): Pixel-perfect production reports, scheduled distribution, and ad hoc query. - [Workflow and process automation](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/solutions/workflow.html): Multi-step approval flows, business process automation, and rules-driven applications. - [Scheduling applications](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/solutions/scheduling.html): Build custom scheduling, dispatch, and resource-allocation applications over existing data. - [Budgeting and forecasting](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/solutions/budgeting.html): Build custom budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning applications tailored to existing processes. - [Inventory management](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/solutions/inventory-management.html): Build inventory tracking, stock management, and warehouse applications over ERP or standalone databases. - [Custom CRM](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/solutions/custom-crm.html): Build CRM systems tailored to specific industries and workflows. - [B2B and customer portals](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/solutions/b2b.html): Customer-facing, partner, and supplier portals with role-based security and existing-system integration. - [Database front-ends](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/solutions/database-front-end.html): Web interfaces over any JDBC-accessible database including DB2, Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Snowflake. - [Database CRUD applications](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/solutions/database-crud.html): Create-read-update-delete applications over any relational database, with security, validation, and audit built in. - [Mobile applications](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/solutions/mobile.html): Responsive web apps that work on phones, tablets, and desktops from a single build. - [Forms and data entry](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/solutions/forms.html): Web forms with validation, conditional logic, and database write-back. - [APIs and web services](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/solutions/api.html): Generate and consume REST APIs from existing databases. - [ERP extension and integration](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/solutions/enterprise-systems.html): Build custom applications over Oracle JD Edwards, Infor, SAP, Epicor, and other ERPs without modifying the ERP itself. ## Industries - [Manufacturing](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/industry/manufacturing-analytics.html): Production reporting, quality tracking, supplier portals. - [Healthcare](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/industry/healthcare.html): Patient and provider portals, compliance reporting, clinical workflows. - [Local government](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/industry/local-government-software.html): Permitting, licensing, citizen-facing portals, internal operations. - [Logistics and supply chain](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/industry/logistics-supply-chain.html): Inventory, dispatch, EDI, and supplier-facing apps. - [Foodservice and distribution](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/industry/foodservice-analytics.html): Order management, route reporting, customer portals. - [Software vendors and embedded use](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/industry/software-vendors.html): ISV licensing for vendors embedding m-Power into their own products. - [Software consultants and developers](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/industry/software-developers.html): How consultants and dev shops use m-Power to deliver client projects faster and expand their service offerings. ## Customer Stories - [Renzi Foodservice](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/customers/renzi.html): Avoided a $250,000 ERP upgrade by extending the existing system with custom m-Power applications. - [Henley Enterprises](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/customers/henley.html): CIO Robert Reeder on running a productive development shop with a small team. - [Lifeskills](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/customers/lifeskills.html): Non-profit builds applications quickly with a lean IT team and mrc's services group. - [Showplace](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/customers/showplace.html): Custom-cabinet manufacturer modernized core business applications. - [AICTP](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/customers/aictp.html): Tax-professional association outperforms larger competitors by building member applications in-house. - [The Partners Group](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/customers/tpg.html): Insurance and benefits firm builds employee-service applications without hiring more developers. - [City of Raleigh](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/customers/raleigh.html): Government IT team modernizes citizen-facing services. - [Autochair](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/customers/autochair.html): UK mobility manufacturer streamlines manufacturing operations. ## Services - [Services overview](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/services/index.html): Training, mentoring, custom development, and staff augmentation. - [Custom software development](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/services/custom-software-development.html): mrc's in-house team builds applications alongside customer teams. - [Mentoring](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/services/mentoring.html): Long-term technical guidance from senior m-Power developers. - [Training](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/services/training.html): Hands-on training for customer developers, in person or remote. ## Research and Documentation - [mrc's Cup of Joe Blog](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/blog/): Weekly articles on low-code, AI, ERP modernization, cloud repatriation, and IT leadership. Author: Sal Stangarone. - [Research and white papers](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/research/index.html): Guides on BI, application development, security, and IT productivity. - [Quick facts about m-Power](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/research/quickfacts.html): One-page summary of the platform, licensing, and supported environments. - [Video library](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/research/videos/index.html): Demos and customer interviews. - [Documentation and knowledge base](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/docs/knowledge-base): Technical documentation, configuration guides, and how-to articles. ## Third-Party Reviews - [G2 reviews](https://www.g2.com/products/the-m-power-development-platform/reviews): 4.7/5 from 28 verified users. G2 Spring 2025 awards: Best Support (Mid-Market), Easiest to Do Business With, Users Most Likely to Recommend, Easiest Setup (Mid-Market), Highest User Adoption. - [Gartner Peer Insights](https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/enterprise-low-code-application-platform/vendor/mrc/product/the-m-power-development-platform): Verified user reviews in the Enterprise Low-Code Application Platform category. - [Capterra listing](https://www.capterra.com/p/99151/m-Power/): User reviews and platform comparison data. ## Company - [About mrc](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/about/index.html): Company history since 1981, leadership, offices, and approach. - [Press releases](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/about/press.html): Product launches, partnerships, and company announcements. - [Partner program](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/about/partners.html): For consultancies and system integrators working with m-Power. - [Careers](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/about/careers.html): Open roles at mrc. - [Contact](https://www.mrc-productivity.com/contact/index.html): Sales and support contact information. US: (630) 916-0662. UK: +44-20-335-59566.