Why FileMaker?

FileMaker Pro (by FileMaker Inc., as of Summer 2019, Claris Corp.) is not just a database – it's an application development environment. What does this mean to you? Just about any workflow system you can imagine – contact management, event registration, account management, document management, statistical summaries – you name it, you can probably implement it in FileMaker, and far less expensively than with Oracle or other alternative technologies. It's not just the lower licensing and labor costs: the FileMaker program actually provides extensive interface controls right in the product, so your developer doesn't have to reinvent the wheel (e.g., create pop-up windows, data checking routines, navigation elements, etc.) on every project: with FileMaker, these controls are available and operational in the product from the start.

FileMaker versions before version 7 were problematic for workgroups looking for security and stability. The interface was there, but FileMaker was not really a good IT citizen – it sent passwords and data over the network in the clear, its web server was poorly featured and unreliable, its account model was unwieldy, etc. That's all changed since FileMaker version 7. That version was deliberately designed to address the concerns of IT system managers who only want stable, standards-based software running in house. And that constant drive for state-of-the-art security has continued in every version of FileMaker released since then. FileMaker now fits the bill, and is a contender against any vendor of mid-size applications.

FileMaker now also includes more and more features that allow seamless interoperability with other systems. FileMaker is API compliant, talks JSON, XML, cURL, ODBC, and JDBC natively, and various low-cost third-party plug-ins allow for other connections (QuickBooks, Outlook, etc.), so if you need to interact with other existing systems, it isn't hard with FileMaker. With Claris Connect (a separate Claris product, introduced in 2020), the ability for FileMaker to interact with other third-party services can be even easier.

All told, FileMaker allows for the most rapid prototyping, implementation, and revision of business solutions that we know of, now seated on a technological foundation that is robust, reliable, and secure enough for IT professionals.

That's why we use FileMaker.