FileMaker from a developer / systems analyst perspective
July 07, 2017
FileMaker from a developer / systems analyst perspective
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Overall Satisfaction with FileMaker Pro
I develop a wide variety of solutions with FileMaker pro (medical, agricultural, transport, trades, questionnaires, web applications including business applications and blogs, etc.). I deploy FileMaker to Mac and Windows desktops, web browsers, and native iOS and Android applications (Android applications are a lot of work, however). FileMaker is very versatile and powerful, yet simple to get started.
- FileMaker deploys to all mainstream internet connected devices very easily with a drag and drop interface builder that requires no coding for simple systems (PC, MAC, Mobile phone).
- FileMaker is great for sharing information in teams.
- FileMaker is simple enough that regular users (e.g. mechanics) can create their own simple databases if you let them!
- FileMaker Server is suitable for hundreds of concurrent users at a time with a *well developed* system but not thousands. In general FileMaker is good for small to medium businesses, teams, or for rapid prototyping large scale complex applications.
- FileMaker has a good suite of basic graphical charts but for more complicated "B.I." style dashboards, it is good to integrate your FileMaker data with another system which is easy to do.
- Jumping up from Microsoft Excel or (gasp) no system at all will see a great saving in management time and a huge ROI because of this. All the standard 'good system' benefits apply here - increased efficiency (e.g. less phone calls per job due to better information), reduced errors, greater productivity (more jobs done due to less administration/waste time), Improved staff morale due to a better system and improved customer satisfaction due to less 'running around' etc.
- Moving across from systems that are hard to deploy remotely or share such as Microsoft Access will see positive ROI due to increased visibility of information to remote workers.
- Microsoft Access and MYOB
- MYOB has great accounting features but doesn't have the customisability or features to create the business management system that will do what you want it to do. Using a FileMaker Pro solution for business management and MYOB/XERO for the accounting is a great combination.
- Microsoft Access is locked to the PC world and is hard to deploy elsewhere, I suggest if you have an Access solution to migrate that to FileMaker Pro which for smaller systems is easy to do.
- SQL back-end style systems with .net / Java etc. front ends are great if you need 10's of thousands of concurrent users at a time but the development costs of systems like this are very very high compared to a RAD like FileMaker. If you have a small to medium business or team then use a RAD (rapid application development) system like FileMaker.
FileMaker Pro Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed No escalation required Immediate help available Support understands my problem Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response | None |
No
I have offered to pay for premium support in the past but FileMaker gave me the support anyway. They seem to care very much that issues are resolved in my favour.
Yes - FileMaker software updates happen about 3 times per year.
I had a server issue that seemed like a FileMaker Server problem. It turns out it was a problem with the FileMaker scripting, FileMaker relentlessly helped me find the source of the issue and did not charge me for support even though the problem was not theirs, and that I offered to pay!