Choosing the Ideal FileMaker Partners

Choosing the Ideal FileMaker Partners

FileMaker has become a very popular tool and has an established presence in the business world nowadays. There’s a good reason for that too – the ease of integration it offers with most types of data relevant to business operations makes it an attractive choice for those looking to optimize the work of their own companies, but are not sure what tools are appropriate for the job.

Working with FileMaker on your own if you’ve never touched it before can be a daunting task however, and it’s one you should definitely approach with outside assistance if you’re not feeling confident. The good news is, there are plenty of people out there who can readily help you get the job done without asking for too much in return. You just need to know how to research correctly, and of course, plan ahead about the exact kind of help you’re going to be hiring.

Developer

This is the core position that you’ll need to fill as quickly as possible if you don’t plan on doing it yourself. Working with a professional FileMaker developer can ensure that you realize your ideas with as little hassle as possible, and without having to learn the complicated concepts of FileMaker in depth. There are plenty of people who offer their services in this area.

Keep in mind that you might be able to do some of the simpler tasks yourself, and you should not underestimate your own ability to learn and adapt. If all you need are a few simple applications that handle your monthly balance and other similar tasks, you might be able to implement those with relatively little effort if you are the type of person who learns quickly and have some tech savviness.

One of the benefits of working with a professional developer that people often realize too late though, is that you get a guaranteed level of long-term reliability, and the developer’s support for that. This is something that can quickly get stressful if you have to take care of it yourself, and it alone can often justify hiring a paid specialist significantly.

Hosting provider

One of the most important details that you’ll want to secure early on is a reliable hosting provider. There are various companies that offer comprehensive FileMaker hosting packages out there, and you might need some time to compare their offers adequately. Just make sure that you have some adequate initial estimate of your predicted project costs.

It can be a good idea to invest a little extra as a means of preparing for the future if you want to be absolutely sure you’ll be ready to meet any new challenges, but most professional hosting companies will usually be happy to assist you with making the right decision.

And to answer the obvious question – yes, sometimes you can handle this aspect of your FileMaker applications yourself, but this is rarely the case. Setting up your own FileMaker host is not just a matter of available technological resources, but also time and effort, both of which could be better invested in other aspects of your application and business as a whole. The truth is that working with a reliable hosting partner can take a huge load off your shoulders, and can allow you to be more efficient in running the business.

Database specialist

The fundamental form of FileMaker is nothing more than a relational database – albeit one with a fancy interface – and those can be a bit tricky to work with if you’ve never had to do that before. If you want to ensure that you don’t mess anything up and that you know exactly what’s going on in your applications, it can sometimes be beneficial to hire a dedicated database specialist.

This is often overkill, but in some cases it can work out quite well and keep you protected from various types of common mistakes. One of the great things about working with a database specialist on your projects is that you can easily integrate your data with a more comprehensive database solution later on. The specialist will not only help you with the transition itself, but with the preparation work for it too, as they will point you in the right direction with regards to organizing your database and sorting everything correctly.