Five names. Thirty plus years. One job.
Since 1994, this shop has built and run software that organizations depend on. The name changed when the work changed. The craft never did.
The story, short version
Askyr started in 1994 as Boogyman Media, building dynamic web applications when most of the industry was still making brochure sites. It became Pondstone Communications in 2009, running online campaigns and fundraising systems for nonprofits and national organizations — work where the systems had to hold on deadline nights with real money on the line. Through the 2010s it built serious business applications. In 2019 it became CajeFX and added a hardware product line — guitar pedals, real manufacturing, where a mistake costs physical inventory and you learn to finish things properly. When that market flooded, the shop read the signal early and returned to its deepest strength: building and running business software.
In 2025, demand made it the whole job. In 2026, the name caught up: Askyr Software Works — a shop that builds and runs software for organizations that depend on it but can’t hire a software team.
Read it as a stock chart and it’s five names. Read it as a career and it’s one craft, compounding: custom software from day one, client management from the agency years, product discipline from the hardware years, and systems management the whole way through — including the 3 a.m. problems.
1994
Boogyman Media
Dynamic web applications when the web was new, while most of the industry was still making brochure sites.
2009
Pondstone Communications
Campaigns and fundraising systems for nonprofits and national organizations, on deadline nights with real money on the line.
2011
Incept Solutions
Business applications, integrations and productized code — built once, sold to more than one buyer.
2019
CajeFX
A hardware line alongside the software: guitar pedals, where a mistake costs physical inventory and you learn to finish things.
2026
Askyr Software Works
The name catches up with the work — building and running software for organizations that depend on it.
How the work gets done
We run a suite of tools we built ourselves — a factory, with a thirty-year builder at every gate. The factory does the repetitive work: analysis, documentation, monitoring, the machinery of care. The builder does the judgment: what to build, what to leave alone, and the findings only experience catches. That’s how the work is fast and careful at the same time — and it’s why nothing about your systems ever lives in one person’s memory. The specs, the history, and the decisions live in the system. Holidays and hand-offs never put your software at risk.
Why this company exists
Small organizations should be able to compete. Big companies have used software as a weapon for decades — good systems priced for the big, out of reach for the small. That arithmetic just changed, and we intend to be on the small side of it for as long as this company exists.
Where we are
Ottawa
653 Richmond Road Ottawa, Ontario K2A 0G6
Winnipeg
441–100 Innovation Drive Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 6G2
Working across Canada and the US. In English et en français.
The founder
Mike Girardin has spent thirty years building and running systems — for national retailers, insurers, government, political campaigns, e-learning companies, and nonprofits, in senior roles and through this shop. He answers the phone, reads every intake, and is the builder at every gate.
And the name: Askyr, said ASK-er. From the Old Norse word for the ash tree. That’s the tree in the mark — roots deep, still growing.
No matter when something new was introduced into a project Mike quickly and efficiently delivered with a collaborative spirit.
The roster
Development and systems work done for these organizations, directly or through senior roles:
Retail, E-Commerce & Automotive
- Silver Jeans Co.
- Jag Jeans
- Western Glove Works
- Christopher Blue
- The Dufresne Group
- Dufresne Furniture
- Ashley Homestores Canada
- Mr. Lube
- Club Assist
Insurance, Financial & Property
- Petsecure
- CAA Pet Insurance
- Western Financial Group
- American Express
- Morguard Investments
Government & Public Sector
- Public Service Commission of Canada
- Health Canada
- Industry Canada
- Department of National Defence
- Export Development Canada
- NavCan
- National Gallery of Canada
- Algonquin College
Nonprofits & Community
- Greenpeace Canada
- Sierra Club of Canada
- Canadian Blood Services
- FSC Canada
- Alberta Recreation and Parks Association
- SEED Your Business
- Oak Park Raiders
- Falcons Football Club
- Missing Links
Political Organizations
- Liberal Party of Canada
- Green Party of Canada
- Jim Watson Mayoral Campaign
Agencies, Technology & E-Learning
- Pondstone Communications
- Akran Marketing
- Calian Technologies
- Acerra E-Learning
- iPolitics
Small Business & Manufacturing
- RemedyRun
- McNolty Mechanical
- Boxfish Infrastructure Group
- Designed Food Systems
- Kuey & Co.
Over my years working along side Mike, he continues to show that no system is a barrier, whether that be CRM, OMS, ERP, SEO, Commerce platforms, payment gateways, the list goes on.
Thirty years of straight answers. Yours is free.