Filemaker will broaden its database strategy to include XML data
interchange and application integration with the release of
FileMaker Pro 6.
Company officials have described its strategy as one of universal
information exchange.
Expanding the core database to integrate a variety of data sources
has become a common strategy among the remaining four major
database players: IBM, Oracle, Microsoft and Sybase.
FileMaker, for its part, takes a slightly different tack by aiming
its database server and tools at the workgroup level.
To that end, the XML import and export features enable the exchange
of XML data as well as application integration, according to
Dominique Goupil, president of FileMaker.
"The XML integration makes us a better IT citizen," Goupil said.
"We retain the ease of use while extending the product."
Volvo Action Services, a 24-hour call centre operation that
dispatches employees to help customers when Volvo products are in
need of repair, has been using a beta version.
Mack Richardson, an application developer with Volvo Action
Services, said that FileMaker enabled them to integrate CRM systems
and data, a Microsoft SQL Server database, and a call centre
application. This integration allowed call centre attendants to
pull information from the various data sources, such as customer ID
numbers and history reports.
"We were able to build applications quickly, whereas with the more
industrial-sized databases, like Oracle and SQL Server, there's a
longer lead time," Richardson said.
Volvo Action Services also uses FileMaker to import and export data
outside the firewall.
"We have a client who is sending us data on their customers via
XML," Richardson said.
Before FileMaker 6, Volvo Action Services exchanged information
with the client but had to parse the data first and then feed it
into XML, which took much longer.
FileMaker 6 also includes time and cost-saving features such as
batch file import, format painter, custom dialogues and more than
20 productivity templates.