at The Code Factory (Second Floor, 246 Queen Street, Ottawa)
You may be trying to manage your company data with spreadsheets … or maybe you’re using some software or Web service that just isn’t a good fit. As a result, it takes too long to do the regular reports you need.
One of the TVs at the gym this morning had a really good report about employees telecommuting; I wish I could find it online. But here’s the gist: If your employees work from home, you don’t need to pay for a big office, and in most cases (surprisingly) productivity actually goes up.
So why aren’t more companies doing it? Part of it may be old thinking (“I need my employees where I can see them, and meet face-to-face”), and part of it may be worries about technology.
I did a post on October 14, 2010 called “Who owns the file?“. In that post, I discussed the difference between working with a FileMaker developer who maintains ownership of the file, or a developer like me who allows the client to own the final file.
Recently, I picked up a new client who went through a bit of a nightmare with another developer. That developer had a very strict policy about maintaining code ownership.
Whenever you go to any spot where there is a collection of FileMaker developers, you will find that an overwhelming number of them are musicians. Every year at DevCon, FileMaker’s annual developer conference, there are instruments set up at the hotel bar — and usually a bunch of people waiting to sit in on the resulting jam session.
Why is this the case over other professions?
I encourage all of my clients to use FileMaker Server to serve up their FileMaker databases. It has some great features and — most importantly — keeps your databases safe and stable.
That’s assuming that you’re taking proper care of your server. I wrote a post back in November of last year with a Server care checklist.
But what if you’re not using FileMaker Server?
A couple years back, I picked up a new client who was having problems with their invoicing processes. They were keeping track of all their shop activity in Excel files. As I’ve mentioned before, the only possible reason someone could be using Excel to manage their business: They haven’t discovered FileMaker yet.
Recently a client told me that she wanted folders in a list that shows templates in her database. I thought about how to create the graphical objects that are folders, and how to drag items from the list into the folders. Sounds simple, but it was going to take a little work.
But then I dug deeper.
