skymama 37 #1 December 13, 2002 We need to build a database for clients and prospects for our homebuilding business. I took a class in Access and am somewhat comfortable with that. A lot of people have recommended ACT to my dad. Do any of you all use these programs? Do you have any pros or cons that you can tell me about them? Do you know of any other program you can recommend that is better? Please remember, we are not the most computer savvy people in the world, so the easier the program , the better.She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man, because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RevJim 0 #2 December 13, 2002 Databases I suck at, but if you need blueprints.... AutoCAD at the ready......It's your life, live it! Karma RB#684 "Corcho", ASK#60, Muff#3520, NCB#398, NHDZ#4, C-33989, DG#1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Muenkel 0 #3 December 13, 2002 I'm still working with my Commodore 64, so I'm no help.But I'm sure once AggieDave gets his ass out of bed this morning, he'll have all sorts of technogeek suggestions for you. _________________________________________ Chris Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ernokaikkonen 0 #4 December 13, 2002 >I'm still working with my Commodore 64, so I'm no help. Nothing wrong with that, I have one of those too. Now if you were actually surfing DZcom on that Commodore, that would be something! (No, I'm not, either.) And sorry Skymama, I'm not an expert on Access or databases. Just trying to hijack your thread! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lazide 0 #5 December 13, 2002 Unfortunatly, Access is not a simple program, and can be very, very finicky and unreliable. We use it here for internal office stuff, and I don't think a day has gone by that I haven't heard 'Ok everyone, out of the db, I have to restart it'. *shrug* If you are familiar with it though, it is better than most alternatives I can suggest. (which have quite a bit more of a starter learning curve). ACT is a pretty decent program, and thought I don't have any hands on experience with it, we use it for all our contact management here and it seems to do pretty well. Biggest con I can think about it is that it wants to monopolize everything re: contacts (which can actually be seen as a bit of a pro ;) ) Anyways good luck. You'll need it using microsoft products in a mission critical enviroment --- 'Damn, I sure wish I would of kept that pretty silver handle' - cutaway ruminations Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mattb 0 #6 December 13, 2002 Hopefully this thread won't disintegrate into a Microsoft lovers vs. haters thread. That being said - One of the reasons that MS Access is good for small businesses is that if you grow to the point you need to upgrade going to MS SQL Server is very easy. All database programs that do more than just be a database (meaning they provide a front end) can be finicky. Some like Access, some don't - I tend to like it. My 2 cents, Matt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhreeZone 20 #7 December 13, 2002 Access is your best bet. ACT wants to control too many things for my likes. One other thing you can look at if your wanting to do it right the first time is using MSDE or SQL with a web based front end. Its not the easist thing to do, but it will allow you to scale the database much better then anything else. Approach your local college about this as a project for some of the computer students. My senior project was a web based interface for a church to access a SQL database we designed. Cost to the church was a few hours to have meetings to determine their requirements, cost to the school was time setting things up, cost to us was our degrees if it did'nt work right.Yesterday is history And tomorrow is a mystery Parachutemanuals.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bwilling 0 #8 December 13, 2002 Well, a lot of what you decide to use will depend on exactly what it is that you want to do with this database, and how many people need access to this data. Access would be fine for storing and retrieving the data for say, mass mailings, and that sort of stuff, but if you want the software to remind you to call a particular contact six months from now for a follow up, ACT might be a better solution... What do you plan to do with the data? "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skymama 37 #9 December 13, 2002 Oh, that's a good point. Yes, we want to use it for mass mailings. But, it also needs to be something that salespeople can manipulate for their own uses so they can sell as many houses as they can!She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man, because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SudsyFist 0 #10 December 13, 2002 i've used both act and goldmine over the past 4 years, and i have to say that act is definitely sweeter. a bit more feature rich, more options to customize (if you want), more flexible overall. as far as ease of use, i had sales people who had difficulty playing solitaire generating forecasts, status reports, etc. with act. it's also scalable -- go with a network install if you have multiple sales people. they keep local databases on their laptops which pertain only to them, then synch with the server so they have a. backup, and b. centralized database for management reports. simple to setup, too cool for school! access *sounds* nice, but it'd take weeks of programming just to get it to the point that it does the kind of sales automation you might need. i wouldn't bother. steve Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pilotdave 0 #11 December 13, 2002 Spent the last 3 summers making access databases for aerospace companies. To get access to really do what you want takes a lot of learning. Luckily at my jobs I was able to spend as much time looking up how to do things as I needed, so I learned access pretty well. If all you're interested in is simply storing data and using the built in tools to find and sort the data, access isn't so bad. But if you want to create a really custom database that behaves just the way you want it to, you'll have to learn how to program in visual basic for applications. I'm not really a programmer type myself but I learned the basics over a summer. It's really not that hard, and there is plenty of info that you can find on the net. I search newsgroups with google to find answers to just about every question. If you make a user friendly database, it'll be a real time saver. If it isn't user friendly, you'll hate having to use it. Just remember that databases aren't like other programs. Word and Excel and Powerpoint just do their thing. Access doesnt do anything until you tell it what you want it to do. Oh and just remember to back up your database often. Access databases have a tendency to corrupt themselves every once in a while. A question might also be, how many people will likely access the database at any given time? If it's more than just a few, you might want to use a SQL server (which you can access with access). Ok, I've been awake for around 24 hours now. Damn project keeping me up all night. It's done and handed in so I'm going to bed. Goodnight. Dave Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bwilling 0 #12 December 13, 2002 Quote Oh, that's a good point. Yes, we want to use it for mass mailings. But, it also needs to be something that salespeople can manipulate for their own uses so they can sell as many houses as they can! Network version of ACT is probably your best bet... it is as Phree mentioned, "set" in it's ways, but that's part of the beauty of it too... it's a piece of software written specifically for managing prospects (and customers) during (and after) the sales cycle... check it out, it's really a pretty nice piece of software, and not too spendy. www.act.com "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jimbo 0 #13 December 13, 2002 I'll refrain from commenting on which software you should or should not use, I believe that's impossible for anyone to say at this stage in the development lifecycle. Before you can choose a software application you need to come up with a complete list of requirements. Prepare a list that says "I need this feature and I need it to work this way", and "I don't need this feature now, but it might be useful in the future". Drill down on each item until you're fairly certain that you've covered ALL of the bases. After your requirements list is complete you'll find that evaluating software will become a lot easier. You might find that your dream application already exists, or you might find that you'll have to develop something from scratch. Either way, you'll be more informed and a better consumer because of it. It sounds like a lot of work, but trust me when I say that doing it this way will save time, money, and hours of frustration. Good luck. - Jim"Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest #14 December 13, 2002 What Jimbo said - sound advice. Planning is 90% of it - saves on the grief big-time."The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mountainman 0 #15 December 13, 2002 Skymama - is it something that you would like your clients to be able to access for information and progress reports on their house? If so, make sure to make that clear. That seems like it would add another level of technology to be able to be updated daily/weekly by the people doing the building (you guys) and making it easy. Just thought I'd drop that line. Also, did you ever get your website built?http://www.brandonandlaura.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Muenkel 0 #16 December 13, 2002 I think I was born in the wrong era. I have no idea what anyone is talking about here. _________________________________________ Chris Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
