April 11, 2013 at 5:59 am
Dear reader,
It's not difficult to convince any manager; that storage in SQL-server would be a good idea. But because of lack of interaction software for the manager, most (if not all) managers keep using spreadsheats to accumulate and spread data/info into the organisation.
SQL-server is a good:
1. For the storage of data.
2. For BI (reporting, intergration, analys and dataminging).
3. For protection of the data. (Availability, data loss, and constriants on the data).
But SQL-server does not offer a good solution for user interaction with the database.
So what is needed is a frontend for SQL-server which is acceptable for managers to work with.
The building of a databasemodel and implementing a database is not a problem.
The problem lies in the building of a frontend. Where managers expect the solution to be ready before they have thought of it and which has an 'acceptable' userinterface. Specifications are never complete and rarely very clear.
The amount of data is always very limited, the number of users is limited. The requirements for safety, security and availability are low.
As everybody knows the problem with spreadsheat is: copies, copies and more copies, versions, no good search or retrieval system. But they are still the very favorable method for managers to accumulate, and spread their data.
We have a number of set's of data which would be very suitable to be stored in SQL-server. But the lack of frontend's prevents this data to be put in a 'solid' database.
Access can be used as a frontend for SQL-server. Allthough this is a solution it is not a brilliant solution.
Resources: The SQL-server database is available, all users have a PC with office components. But there are not plenty of resources to build a full blown application for every requirement.
Suggestions? Solutions?
Please help the managers.
Thanks for your time and attention,
ben brugman
April 11, 2013 at 7:27 am
The answer is as always, "cubes".
With cubes, you can enable creative use of multinational, specialized skillsets enabling proactive analysis of transformational datasets allowing the organization to leverage the diversity of your organizations higher-order thinking and integrate the convergence into whatever immersive culture your stakeholder's have invested in and developed logistics for, to capture the long tail of your analytics, business process and skillset outsourcing to drill down on your core competency and engage in best practices.
April 11, 2013 at 7:41 am
In all seriousness, have you had a look at Microsoft "lightswitch?" Its a darn neat looking product, maybe worth a look. I haven't heard much from it lately though, maybe its getting some usage?
Obviously I'm not sure management would be interested in full blown transaction processing, but I'm with you that not everything should be a giant overbudgetted IT development project. Maybe set up some SQL express installs with lightswitch and brainstorm some stuff!
April 11, 2013 at 8:47 am
ben.brugman (4/11/2013)
Dear reader,It's not difficult to convince any manager; that storage in SQL-server would be a good idea. But because of lack of interaction software for the manager, most (if not all) managers keep using spreadsheats to accumulate and spread data/info into the organisation.
SQL-server is a good:
1. For the storage of data.
2. For BI (reporting, intergration, analys and dataminging).
3. For protection of the data. (Availability, data loss, and constriants on the data).
But SQL-server does not offer a good solution for user interaction with the database.
So what is needed is a frontend for SQL-server which is acceptable for managers to work with.
The building of a databasemodel and implementing a database is not a problem.
The problem lies in the building of a frontend. Where managers expect the solution to be ready before they have thought of it and which has an 'acceptable' userinterface. Specifications are never complete and rarely very clear.
The amount of data is always very limited, the number of users is limited. The requirements for safety, security and availability are low.
As everybody knows the problem with spreadsheat is: copies, copies and more copies, versions, no good search or retrieval system. But they are still the very favorable method for managers to accumulate, and spread their data.
We have a number of set's of data which would be very suitable to be stored in SQL-server. But the lack of frontend's prevents this data to be put in a 'solid' database.
Access can be used as a frontend for SQL-server. Allthough this is a solution it is not a brilliant solution.
Resources: The SQL-server database is available, all users have a PC with office components. But there are not plenty of resources to build a full blown application for every requirement.
Suggestions? Solutions?
Please help the managers.
Thanks for your time and attention,
ben brugman
Had the same problem at a couple of my old positions. Management HAD to use Excel.. so I compromised.. All of their spreadsheets were power pivots tied to analysis cubes.. the could analyze the data to their hearts content, the data was always current, and they all used the same spreadsheet. (No need for copies)
April 12, 2013 at 3:40 am
Thanks all for the anwsers, I have to look into them especially lightswitch and the Excell.
Sorry, sorry, very sorry 🙁
The following got edited out. (Stupid me).
The function I am missing is that the manager can add, alter and remove data. This was the most important part of the question.
sorry to have bungled up,
Ben Brugman
April 12, 2013 at 11:27 am
Consider MS Access. I know it gets a bad wrap. But Access with linked SQL Tables can be a good solution, especially if you have a limited number of users and limited amount of data. A lot of the problems occur when you using Access for the data storage, but if you use linked SQL tables, you don't have those problems. It can build front-end screens quickly. And you can do reporting in either Access or SSRS. As with any tool, part of the thing with using it is you should stay within what it does and the way it works. You start having problems when you try to make it do things it wasn't designed to do.
LightSwitch is also a good choice to look at. It will create screen quickly for you. The user interface is a little different than Access, but usuable. There is work being done on making LightSwitch work with HTML so it isn't tied to SilverLight. One advantage of LightSwitch is that the applications built are more like the ones .NET developers in IT develop so there is a greater possibility of them taking over the application in the future if wanted.
Also you might be able to do Excel with using connections to the SQL Server tables. This works well for reporting. I've never tried it for input and update of data and not sure if it will work for that or not.
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