Intuit Quickbase...the new MS Access???

"Better the devil you know" they say, and I'm going to have to agree with them on that one. In the days of old I had business savy folks building roaches (ah-hum), I mean Microsoft Access databases all over the place at companies I've worked for. Today's silo-of-choice seems to be Intuit's Quickbase. With tools like Quickbase business folks can build their own business applications in a RAD fashion with little or no regard for system design and coding best practices.

Are tools like this any better then MS Access? I think not, their just a bit more fancy but at the end of the day an improperly designed tool (especially database) will end up biting you in the rear.

Yes you can get something up and running quickly. Yes you can do it yourself. No you didn't think of scalability when you built it. No you didn't think of data integration, systems of record, backups/recovery, auditing, duplication of data entry and all of the fun stuff that comes with building a new silo of data (aka your own application).

Wish me the best...Rich

Comments

Unknown said…
Rich,

Web databases do provide the opportunity to share with remote offices, or check data from home. We talk to Access users frequently who have trouble web-enabling their applications. We offer an affordable alternative to Quickbase at www.eUnifyDB.net.

Brian McFarland
bruceinMD said…
Another way to look at this is let the business users develop their RAD application and work through what they really need it to do. Then, with that as a well defined functional requirements base, build a more robust solution.