We have been using FileMaker Pro for nearly 20 years so obviously we love it. Its ease of use is legendary. This means we can develop powerful systems very quickly (and therefore more cheaply than with other databases).

So what's so great about FileMaker Pro?

This is the number one thing that appeals to users of FileMaker Pro. It is so easy to customise your database to meet your requirements. This ease of use has not happened by accident. FileMaker Inc is a wholly owned subsidiary of Apple Computers. FileMaker Pro is built upon the design principles that make the Apple Macintosh so easy to use.

Don’t ask yourself ‘what can we do with FileMaker Pro?’ Ask yourself ‘what would I like to achieve?’ More than likely it can be achieved with FileMaker Pro.

Whether your team consists of two or 250 people, everyone can have the latest information at their fingertips using the computer on their own desk. The information is stored centrally but everyone can see and change the data. Changes happen instantly so everyone sees any changes as soon as they happen.

You don’t have to worry about your data getting corrupted. FileMaker automatically stops two people from changing the same data at the same time.

FileMaker systems run exactly the same on both Windows and Apple Macintosh computers. You can even have a mixture of Windows and Mac OS computers on the same network sharing the same FileMaker system. FileMaker Go is an iOS app that can run your database on an iPad or iPhone.

Instant Web Publishing provides direct access to FileMaker databases to search, edit, update, and delete records via a Web browser – without the need for separate Web server software. The built-in Web Companion provides a rich FileMaker Pro experience over the Web, allowing you and your coworkers to quickly and easily collect and share information.

Custom web development using PHP lets your web pages interact with your FileMaker database. Users can search and view your live data. If you want them to, they can also add or edit their own information through their web browser.

Support for industry standards such as ODBC, SQL & XML means that FileMaker can access data in / provide data to other applications, solutions, and data sources. It's SQL integration tools make it a very useful tool to give users access to subsets of data in SQL systems.

FileMaker Pro files can also be served to ODBC compliant applications.

Databases can be developed much quicker and therefore cheaper with FileMaker than other systems. Large corporate IT/IS departments can save huge sums of money by building prototype systems in FileMaker Pro before committing to large-scale developments with applications such as SAP.

FileMaker Go is a native iOS app that can run FileMaker databases stored on your iPhone / iPad as well as accessing your hosted databases. Your database becomes as mobile as your workforce.

 

FileMaker is the top-selling retail desktop database for both Windows and Mac OS. This is not a flash-in-the-pan technology that will have disappeared in six months time. There is a huge customer list and an established support network.