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Our org uses Salesforce for exactly that purpose. Unfortunately the deeper reality is that the value in this database is that non-database-savvy individuals can

Our org uses Salesforce for exactly that purpose. Unfortunately the deeper reality is that the value in this database is that non-database-savvy individuals can arbitrarily modify the data schema through a simple GUI tool leading to Objects/Tables with hundreds of fields, computed properties, and other often undocumented pitfalls and dependencies. As might be expected this yields large numbers of performance penalties and application level work-arounds that deeply slow application development and neuter the quality of often business-critical tools. It's my theory that the reason such platforms are allowed to exist without employees immediately breaking out in open rebellion is because the users of Salesforce and similar products are often non-technical enterprise workers whose quality bar has been welded by management and past experiences to be lower than the Mariana Trench.

nickelcitymario 8y ago
This is definitely a real challenge. No argument from me. I think the niche where this product can thrive -- and its a huge niche -- is all those small-to-medium size businesses that have so far been running things through a hodge podge of unconnected spreadsheets, obsolete special-purpose applications, and lots and lots of paper. It's easy as a programmer to more or less forget that most people, when facing a task or challenge, do not think: "I wonder what the most efficient way to do this might be, and if technology could help." Instead, it's: "What methods do I already know that I could apply to this problem?" More often than not, the answer is paper. And email. Or excel. So this type of the-database-is-everything app has huge value. Unfortunately it won't be run entirely by engineers with 10+ years of experience in what makes for good database best practice. It's the trade-off we have to make. In return, we get: - A single system that has access to all of the business' data (rather than a dozen different "systems" [if they can be called that] which do not interoperate in any way, with endless duplication and data entry. - Customization (for better and worse) - Radically simplified I.T.: Just give everyone a chromebook and be done with it. - Access to these systems anywhere in the world (cause it's web) It's better than paying a bookkeeper to (literally) manage paper-based ledgers.
mbesto 8y ago
This. See my comment above about Zoho. I've used both, and it's the cheaper/easier to use version of SFDC.

nickelcitymario 8y ago

This is definitely a real challenge. No argument from me. I think the niche where this product can thrive -- and its a huge niche -- is all those small-to-medium size businesses that have so far been running things through a hodge podge of unconnected spreadsheets, obsolete special-purpose applications, and lots and lots of paper. It's easy as a programmer to more or less forget that most people, when facing a task or challenge, do not think: "I wonder what the most efficient way to do this might be, and if technology could help." Instead, it's: "What methods do I already know that I could apply to this problem?" More often than not, the answer is paper. And email. Or excel. So this type of the-database-is-everything app has huge value. Unfortunately it won't be run entirely by engineers with 10+ years of experience in what makes for good database best practice. It's the trade-off we have to make. In return, we get: - A single system that has access to all of the business' data (rather than a dozen different "systems" [if they can be called that] which do not interoperate in any way, with endless duplication and data entry. - Customization (for better and worse) - Radically simplified I.T.: Just give everyone a chromebook and be done with it. - Access to these systems anywhere in the world (cause it's web) It's better than paying a bookkeeper to (literally) manage paper-based ledgers.

mbesto 8y ago

This. See my comment above about Zoho. I've used both, and it's the cheaper/easier to use version of SFDC.