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Top Database Development Companies Maldon
Posted on July 19th, 2014
iadevelopments, Maldon and London, offers a wide range of database design, migration and disaster recovery solutions that are tailored to your business needs.
Top Database Development Companies Maldon
As long established database design company we operate successfully from our offices in Leadenhall Street, London and in Maldon, Essex focusing on the design, development and support of high quality, bespoke database applications at very competitive prices. iadevelopments strives to offer a complete package to our clients from the initial design concept, through the migration of all current systems into the new database to continued development as the business grows. Our work does not stop their as iadevelopments are on hand to offer full managed database support and complete repair and recovery services.
Working with a varied range of clients to design bespoke database solutions in Essex, throughout the UK and Europe, iadevelopments work with clients all of sizes ranging from small local businesses to large corporate enterprises. iadevelopments works across all market sectors, providing a depth of knowledge and experience, from which all of our clients then benefit. Take a look at our portfolio.
How iadevelopments can be of help
As a leading database development company with a demonstrated knowledge in database design, migration, database repair and disaster recovery, we have assisted both large and small businesses with their business developments. Partner with us and not only could your business benefit from a fully integrated IT infrastructure, but also provide a significant advantage over the competition.
The Benefits of Bespoke Database Design
Posted on July 19th, 2014
iadevelopments provide elegant bespoke database solutions that boost your company’s productivity
The Benefits of Bespoke Database Design
Most database software that you use will be ‘off the shelf’ packages and the same application will typically be run by thousands of users with general properties to suit as many as possible. So, it may be a good idea to consider having a bespoke application written specifically for your organisation, tailored to the precise processes and needs of your business. There are various advantages and disadvantages to both off-the-shelf and bespoke applications. This blog will take a look at the pros and cons of each to help you make the right informed decision for your organisation.
Large software companies such as Microsoft and Adobe produce an extensive range of off-the-shelf database software for a variety of different purposes and audiences from your individual user to large corporations. Packaged software aimed at such a broad spectrum of the market has its pros and cons;
The PROS of an Off-the-shelf Database
- The database tends to be cheap to buy as the cost of development has been spread over a large number of users
- The database can be very sophisticated as the revenues from many users means has been invested to its development
- It is fairly easy to get support and literature is usually widely available as there are will be other users having the same experience both positive and negative
- It is easy to share files produced by the database
- No time is required to be dedicated to the testing and development processes
The PROS of a Bespoke Database
- It has been specifically designed for your particular requirements and has been tailored to fit in exactly with the way that your business or organisation operates
- It can be customised to interface with other software that you operate with the potential to provide a fully integrated IT infrastructure across the whole organisation however large or small
- Users will find the database more intuitive to use as it will not contain superfluous facilities and it should operate in the way that they are used to working
- It is much more flexible than packaged software and can be modified and changed over time as your requirements and business practices change
- You will receive much better support and can talk directly to the developers at iadevelopments
- A good developer, like iadevelopments, can significantly add value to your company by suggesting alternatives, improvements and by acting as a source of IT advice and information
- The use of a professionally developed bespoke database application can give you a significant business advantage over your competition
The CONS of an Off-the-shelf Database
- The database can be highly complex and will usually include large sections that you will never use
- It tends to be a compromise. The database is designed for many different types of users, each of whom will have very different requirements
- As the database software tends to be large and complicated it may take a long time to learn properly
- You may have to alter the way that you work in order to fit in with the way that the database has been designed
- There will probably be operations that you require that you simply cannot do with the ‘off-the-shelf’Â database
- As one small voice amongst many others your requests for amendments and updates will not carry much weight
- As the same system can be bought by your competitors it is very difficult to gain any competitive advantage from it’s use
The CONS of a Bespoke Database
- If you pick the wrong developer you could end up with an application that is unstable, unreliable and full of bugs. Selecting a developer, like iadevelopments, who works to Best Practice and industry standards should counteract this
- The investment required will usually be much higher than with packaged software. This is usually the biggest reason for not going down the custom route. You need to undertake a business justification exercise and compare the costs against the expected benefits and commercial advantages
- A large investment in time is required during the development process and a bespoke application will take longer to implement
- It can be difficult to get support for bespoke software, unless the developers, like iadevelopments, themselves offer support services
Are you still unsure whether to invest in a bespoke database?
Having a bespoke application developed specifically for your business can provide you with major business and commercial benefits and allow significant gains in competitive advantage. Bespoke applications are generally easier to use and can work exactly the way you want to do business.
Give iadevelopments a call today on 01621 840014Â and we will be happy to discuss your requirements and the best solution for your business.
The Importance of Preparing for Disaster Recovery
Posted on July 19th, 2014
iadevelopments provide elegant bespoke database solutions that boost your company’s productivity
The Importance of Preparing for Disaster Recovery
To perform disaster recovery, you must prepare for disaster recovery. To prepare for disaster recovery backing up the database, disaster recovery file, and the IP address and host name of the management server is essential. As a best practice, the data should be stored off-site at a secure location.
When iadevelopments are administrating a SQL Server database, preparation for recovery from potential disasters is very important. A well-designed and tested backup and restore plan for the SQL Server backups is necessary for recovering databases after a disaster. In addition, to make sure that all the systems and data can be quickly restored to regular operation if a natural disaster should occur, we create a disaster recovery plan. When iadevelopments create this plan we consider scenarios for different types of disasters that might affect our clients business. These include natural disasters, such as a fire, and technical disasters, such as a two-disk failure in a RAID-5 array. When we create a disaster recovery plan we identify and prepare for all the steps that are required to respond to each type of disaster. Testing the recovery steps for each scenario is necessary. We recommend that at least one full test of the disaster recovery plan through the simulation of a natural disaster is performed.
iadevelopments Can Ensure Disaster Readiness
To make sure that you are ready for disaster, we recommend that periodically the following activities are performed:
- Test backup and recovery procedures thoroughly before a real failure occurs. Testing helps ensure that the required backups to recover from various failures are in place, that the procedures are clearly defined and documented, and can that they can be executed smoothly and quickly by any qualified operator.
- Perform regular database and transaction log backups to minimize the amount of lost data. We recommend that both  system and user databases are backed up.
- Maintain system logs in a secure manner. Keep records of all service packs installed on Microsoft Windows and SQL Server. Keep records of network libraries used and the security mode. Also, if SQL Server is running in Mixed Mode Authentication (SQL Server and Windows Authentication Mode), record the sa password in a secure location.
- On another server, assess the steps that have to be taken to recover from a disaster. If it is necessary, amend the steps to suit local server environment and test the amended steps.
- Maintain a base-functionality script for quickly assessing minimal capability.