Database Management Solutions

Digital Designs by Dan takes both a professional and a personal pride in building, supporting, and integrating quality relational information management solutions. I will study your existing information infrastructure and your objectives to work with you on a development plan that addresses your needs. Then I build your solution, working closely with you every step along the way.  I use MS Access 2003 and FileMaker 8 Pro Advanced to build customized Database Business Solutions.

Custom database management systems are designed and developed to your specifications. They work the way that you want them to, and compliment the way in which you choose to do business. Perhaps more importantly, custom database managements systems have the flexibility to grow as your business expands or the focus of the business changes. The potential for long term savings when you need only upgrade instead of replace an entire data management system are obvious.

Custom databases represent the best opportunity for companies to automate and become more efficient. With a custom database, office functions which previously required many hours of your staff's time to complete, such as the recalculations of price-lists, the validation of staff hours or even the reviewing of client contact information, can be done in seconds. The number of business function that be automated and made more efficient using a custom data management system is limited only by your imagination.

• Client contact management

• Appointment scheduling Invoice and order processing

• Stock & inventory control

• Sales and/or purchase ledgers

• Marketing and trend analysis

• Automated price-list / catalogue generators

• Complex calculations and reporting

• Conversion of large spreadsheets to a relational database

Why choose Microsoft Access for your database needs?. This discussion will help you identify the pros and cons of using MS Access as your database development system. We also present and discuss typical problems found in non-professionally developed databases - particularly Microsoft Access.

The following is a list provides answers to the question - why select Microsoft Access for consideration for your company's databases:

• Access is available with the Microsoft Office Professional suite of business products therefore no additional database software is required if your company purchases computers with this suite of products already installed.

• Microsoft Access is likely to be available and supported for years to come because Microsoft is the premier software company in the world.

• It is the most widely used desktop database system in the world.

• It has more support and consultants available than any other desktop database system.

• It is significantly cheaper to implement and maintain compared to larger database systems such as Oracle or SQL Server.

• Fairly complex databases can be setup and running in 1/2 the time and cost of other large database systems (the simpler the database the greater the cost advantage).

• Access integrates well with the other members of the Microsoft Office suite of products (Excel, Word, Outlook, etc.).

• Other software manufacturers are more likely to provide interfaces to MS Access than any other desktop database system.

• When designed correctly, Access databases can be ported (usually with some difficulty) to SQL Server or Oracle. This is important if you want to start small or develop a pilot database system and then migrate to the larger database management systems.

• An Access database can be placed on a website for access for remote users. Simple screens can be developed within Access, Data Access Pages. Or full control and functionality can be implemented using Active Server Page (ASP) programming. Note that you still have the same simultaneous connection limitations described above.

FileMaker Pro has matured into a very powerful and sophisticated tool for developing database solutions and still maintains a rapid development cycle that is much shorter than other comparable database programs. FileMaker Pro 8 offers a wealth of new features and functionality as well as enhanced security and web integration. FileMaker Pro also offers the ability to create a single solution that can be accessed from multiple platforms - Windows XP, Mac OSX, Palm OS, Pocket PC, and the web - including serving FileMaker files to both Windows and Mac clients concurrently from Server or Pro running on either platform, support for up to 250 simultaneous clients and convenient features like online backup. Plus the new FileMaker Server Advanced delivers powerful web publishing.