Design

Developing the system is often the most demanding phase of a project. We often have to develop the specification ourselves and submit to the client before serious development starts.

With today's development tools it is often cost-effective to develop a prototype for the client to experiment with as this is the best way to get feedback and quickly highlights any problem areas.

Database design follows all the established rules of normalisation. This can often result in databases with upwards of a hundred tables in them, all related to one another. This eliminates data duplication. As a matter of course, we usually incorporate edit logs and audit trails, particularly where financial data is involved, even if the client has not asked for it. In our experience, this sort of thing is not considered at the design stage but becomes invaluable later on when there is a query on the data integrity.

Due consideration is made for the network infrastructure, particularly if remote access is involved to reduce network traffic. We often have to re-educate clients used to simple spreadsheet lists to understand long lists and remote connections are not really compatible. Bandwidth is the most precious resource in IT these days.