Database spftware for free?? Confused - please help!

Kate*_2-2

Hi
I am looking for a database for my home selling business to keep track of customers, orders and contact details.
My husband and I are also in the process of putting together a business plan which will need a bit more of a sophisticated database.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Grateful for any replies as I have searched and become a little confused!
Thanks for reading

datostar

Consider Apache Open Office (https://www.openoffice.org). Current version is 3.4.1. It's a full office suite. These database programs are a bit complex and take some getting used to, but Open Office does have a 'wizard' to help in setting up a new database or you might be able to find an existing template on the site that could be used or adapted.

paddyrg

Most of the value of a database system is in the design - Access and Open Office database tools are for creating and designing the structure of a database, custom design work, and frankly probably not what you actually want. It's like having a metalwork workshop to make a car vs buying one that does mostly what you want. And without a suitable designer, you'll end up with a bit of a cludge that will produce unreliable results. I know this, I used to design information systems for blue-chips, it is easy to get wrong.

So - keeping track of customers etc what you need is a CRM package - there are free CRM packages, which are ready-made databases designed specifically for customer interactions. Or for keeping order-processing details as well, you want an ERP - for instance ERPLY.com does what you want and more all online and nothing to install. There are alternatives - but look for a basic ERP tool, or a basic CRM tool, and you'll save yourself time and stress.

InsideInsurance

Are you going to be selling online as well or is this just a back office tool that you want?

Agree with Paddyrg that there are plenty of good CRM packages out there and you would need to have a fairly special reason to want to develop a bespoke solution rather than using an existing one

Kate*_2-2

Thanks for your replies.
I do sell a little online - I have a site I created myself for one little venture and one made for me for my other business as its by a large brand. So it sounds as if CRM or ERP would work for me.
My husband is hoping to start a property maintenance / letting database so looks like building his own with openoffice would be the best for him.
Thanks again really appreciate your help

InsideInsurance

Access and Base are both ok for what they are and if it is only your husband that will ever use them then it is ok.

On the basis you are talking about programming a database then you may want to consider a more robust solution where you use MySQL, MS SQL Server Express or equiv as the actual database and then develop the front end in PHP, Java, .Net or your preferred language.

Kate*_2-2

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Access and Base are both ok for what they are and if it is only your husband that will ever use them then it is ok.

On the basis you are talking about programming a database then you may want to consider a more robust solution where you use MySQL, MS SQL Server Express or equiv as the actual database and then develop the front end in PHP, Java, .Net or your preferred language.

Sorry you've lost me now!

InsideInsurance

So a database, in its purest form, is the storage of data and the ability to retrieve it with filters.

To actually enter data you need to create a front end for the database and presumably also have a number of reports or views so you can see what you've got in the database.

With "proper"/ robust solutions the database is a dedicated application (eg MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle etc) and you need to use other applications to actually interface with it. There are off the shelf solutions for doing basic input and writing queries but for custom databases you'd create a custom front end.

Microsoft Access and Apache Base are simplified products that contain both the true database plus relatively ok tools for creating the front ends (input forms, reports etc). However their are notable limitations with them both and one of the key ones are security and data validation.

For a home business where it is just for the owner to keep notes these probably arent much of an issue. If you start getting other people involved then it can become much more of an issue.

As an example, I have recently been migrating a client from an Access db system onto a commercial system. With their Access db for one I could immediately jump to the back end tables and see everyone's username and password so could spoof anyone. Secondly I could directly enter data or delete it in the tables.

So if I had been an operator using this application I could in theory have gone into the back end of the system and changed a few of my colleagues sales to being in my name thus claiming the additional commission and there would have been no way of telling who had done what when to the data.

If you are intending to grow the business then it can be worth while investing in a good solution from the get go rather than having to try and migrate to one at a later date. If you are intending to only ever run it as a hobby then a home made solution with Access or Base would probably be fine

Kate*_2-2

Thanks very much for your clear explanation

kabayiri

Perhaps watch this video of one example solution :
http://www.zoho.com/creator/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=zoho-brand&utm_campaign=zoho-creator&gclid=CP2r8aK5v7ICFcQNfAodyW8AMQ

I'm not saying Zoho is right for you, but it gives you an idea of the capability of these tools.

In the marketplace you will find a CRM demo. Have a look and see if it is the type of thing you feel confident using, and gives you what you want.

patman99

For your husband's business, a 'MySQL' or 'PostgreSQL' will be better. If you use 'LibreOffice' (they took the original Openoffice suite and have rewritten it to be way faster) this has the support for both database types built-it (along with support for several others as well).

If your husband is planning on running the business database via a browser for easier on-the-move access, then MySQL is the one most webhosts support, so moving the database from a homeserver to a website would be very easy.