Abington Access Database
When you are looking for some database consultancy in Abington to help you carry out your project and realise your vision, how do you avoid picking an amateur to carry out your bespoke database design. This is a big problem in today’s market where anyone can pick up a book and become a self-professed expert. Since there is no licencing or registration required, it is easy to find a programmer but not so easy to get one that will fully understand your needs.
The ideal candidate to carry out your database development in Abington is not merely somebody who can develop your system based on a list of requirements, your developer needs to also take the time to understand your business so that they can build a system that fits around your business rather than just a system that you need to adapt your business in order to be able to use it.
Here are 5 tips to help you pick whether the developer is right for your business or just another development company that delivers you a system that they think you need without any real thought for your business.
1. Who has the Development Company written systems for previously?
Past performance is often a very good indicator of the type of results you are likely to expect when choosing the right developer. Take a look at the development company website for testimonials. If you find a wide variety of testimonials across a wide range of businesses and industries, you can be pretty sure that the developer has taken the time to understand each of those individual companies and the individual intricacies of each business. After all, anyone that can write a good system for a wide variety of industries must have taken time to understand each individual business model as nobody is an expert in multiple industries. This generally also shows that the developer can actually analyse your business as well as develop your project.
2. What support is provided at project completion?
Every database that is ever written will always have at least some small glitches in the initial stages of your use of the system. This is normal in all database development since no amount of running a system in a test environment will find all glitches and it is only when a database is properly used in its live environment that some problems can come to the surface. Beware those companies that hand over a system to you and then are not willing to take any responsibility if any glitches occur. To avoid this, you should check first what type of warranty is provided once development has been completed. As a rule of thumb, any company that offers a 30 day warranty is generally acceptable since nearly all system problems occur within the first 30 days of using a system in a live environment.
3. Will you have actual physical contact with your developer or will it be purely an online transaction?
These days there are a whole host of offshore companies appearing on the market. The problem with these is that they only work to a document that you produce based on what you think you require. A far better approach is to hire a developer that is willing to come to your office in Abington to sit down and go through your actual requirements. This has two main benefits. The first is that you can actually get a feel for the developer in a face to face meeting. Secondly, any good developer will sit down with you and your requirement and discuss with you the various different methods of development that could be employed to work out which would fit best with your business model. After all, although you will know your business inside out, you will not necessarily be aware of how to get the best out of a system to fit with the way your company works.
4. Cheap is not always best.
Picking your developer based on the fact that they are the cheapest can quite often become a costly mistake. In many cases, they are cheap for a reason since the cheapest price almost always guarantees that you are hiring an amateur. This can very often get your project into trouble since they may lack the skills to properly build the more complex aspects of your project. For example, if you were having some access database development in Abington done, the cheapest developer is likely to just use Access Macros and lack the skills to build any of the required VBA coding that most complex databases require. In most cases, choosing a developer that is initially more expensive can in fact save you money since they are normally able to complete a project in a quicker timescale since a less skilled developer will take longer to develop your system and therefore likely cost you more in the long run.
5. Are you given an input to the look, feel and functionality of the database during development?
Most developers have their own development style so the look and feel of a database they design will conform to their own style. This is fine to a certain extent since you are generally bothered about using the system. However, a developer that is willing to let you look at the system during development and allows you to request minor aesthetic changes during development means that you are always aware of what to expect at the end of the project. Providing that your requests are minor, you want a developer that will be happy to make these changes as they go rather than requiring a change request which they would then charge you an additional fee for. Of course, if you require major changes during development such as functional changes to the system, you should expect to pay additionally for these changes. Generally speaking, any developer that offers you a prototyping approach where they will deliver you your system in various stages is a better one to work with since you will be allowed to give your continued input during the development to make sure that what you are delivered meets your expectations.
Bespoke Database Design in Abington
At AV Computer Service (UK) Ltd, we have been developing databases in and around the Abington area for over 12 years and have a wide and varied experience across all industries in both the public and private sector. Before, we carry out any development, we will come to your office wherever you are in the UK and sit down with you to run through your requirements free of charge. This makes sure that when we develop a system for you, it will be built around the way your business works rather than to what we think you may like. If you have a need for a bespoke database design in Abington for your company, feel free to contact us to see what we can do for you.
