Database development

We have designed and developed a wide range of database applications in Microsoft FoxPro, Visual FoxPro and Access. Some of our projects have been in database maintenance, the extension of an existing system, and here we have had to work within the structures that are already in place. On other projects we have been able to start with a clean sheet.

Database development is still more of a craft than a science and we like to approach the work in a series of careful steps rather than jumping to a final conclusion:

• Talk to you to find out what you are trying to achieve.
• Talk to your users to find out what they need from the new database.
• Build a simple prototype to prove that we have understood your needs.
• Demonstrate, discuss, and refine that prototype.
• Deliver and support the database.

We like to see a database system in productive use as soon as possible. There is often no reason to wait until it is complete, the new application can be put to use as soon as it is more useful than the existing one. Doing this helps the process of development by giving us feedback from the real world. It also helps the user because they are introduced to a simple form of the new application and can learn new features as they are added.