How much will it cost?
The cost of developing and implementing the DBMS using FileMaker Pro application platform will depend on the size of the project and the preferences of the user. However, you might consider some guidelines in regards to what your expenses might be. There are six groups of products/services that you will have to consider when developing the system:
- Basic FileMaker Pro software - FileMaker Pro is now on version 11 and there are various software packages in offer, all coming with some different features and a different cost. There are 6 main products offered for database development and management in the business and personal environment - FileMaker Pro 11, FileMaker Server 11, FileMaker Pro Advanced, FileMaker Server 11 Advanced, FileMaker Go and Bento.
Let's say you have a medium sized company with 30 employees. If you want to make a full use of the platform you would need to by one copy of FileMaker Server 11 (€2.320 in Europe), a copy of FileMaker Pro 11 Advanced (€386) for the Database Administrator (if you are not using an after-sales service which developers offer sometimes) and one copy of FileMaker Pro 11 (€232) for each computer in the office where the database will be used. This would come up to €2706 for the server and administration and further, let's say 10x232=€2320 for the office employees software. All in all, to setup the FileMaker Pro software on the server and 10 office computers + 1 for the administrator would cost you around €5026. The prices are lower if you download from United States, which doesn't make a lot of sense, but this is the case.
There are various types of discounts on the cost of software if you are buying packages of 5 and more, and there are also license agreements, where you can buy a license for using the software just in a particular location or for agreed period of time.
There are some ways to cut these costs.
For example, if you buy FileMaker Server 11 Advanced, you could publish your database on the web and use it via the browser. This way some of the more complicated functions would be lost but most of the functionality is still there, so, employees witch do not need to execute these complex tasks might work with the database via their web browser and never tell the difference.
On the other hand, if you don't need your database published on the web or connected to other resources, such as SQL or Oracle database, you don't have to by the advanced version of the FileMaker Server 11, you could work just fine with the basic version which is about 3 times cheaper (€773).
Here i will not deal with Bento and FileMaker Go, these are popular products for Apple users, if interested visit www.filemaker.com for more details.
- Predeveloped FileMaker Pro software - There is a number of predeveloped solutions on the market that are build with FileMaker Pro application platform. Some of them are free, but the more complex ones come with a price. There are 30 predesigned template solutions included in FileMaker Pro software. These are free and ready to use right away. They are made for managing the contacts, inventory, invoice solution is pretty popular etc. On www.filemaker.com you could read more about these. Every FileMaker Pro developer would as well have a number of predesigned solutions built over the years.
There is a number of recognised companies building professional solutions with certain garanties and selling them on the market as a "business in the box" or to compliment a particular area of business, such as accounting, for example. If you are concidering making FileMaker Pro your platform of choice, you may want to see what are these companies offering. These solutions are usually sold to you with an open administrator security level, so you could start from there and further develop and adjust to your business needs. They range from approximately €1000 to a few thousands and could be a good value as they can significantly shorten the process of developing a custom solution compared to doing this from scratch. On the other hand, it is more dificult for your developer to manage the solution that is made by some other developer and if there is a lot to change, it is sometimes better to just develop from the start. Some of these solution show their week spots only after some time of work and when loaded with a quantity of data (usually becoming very slow) and then it is really dificult to fix the problems while maintaining the office workflow. It is really a good idea to find a good advisor if you want to buy one of these as ones are better then the others and you dont always get what you see initially.
- Necessary server and computer software - Server technologies that best support FileMaker Server 11 on Windows platforms are Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008 and Windows 7. You could implement the system on Windows Server 2003 as well but this would not be the best choice. If you prefer Macintosh it would be Mac OS X Server v10.5.8 or v10.6, but here i mostly discuss using FileMaker Pro platform on Windows systems.
The price of Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard with 5 CALs (5 Client Access Licenses) is about €810. This is the lowest price according to the official pricing and licensing guide, it could grow and vary depending on the additional features you want to have if you are planning to use your server for some purpose other then serving FileMaker Server 11 application. Basic 5 users edition of Windows Server 2008 could be purchased for about €785 and Windows 7 Professional costs about €200. Again, there are various offers on the market and the prices vary from country to country but these prices are more or less accurate guidelines at the time this is written (January 2012).
If you only want to host a FileMaker Pro database platform, you could also consider 3rd party hostingfor a much lower initial price. In that case you would pay a monthly fee (starting from €40) for hosting your files on the other company server and avoid the costs of the Windows and FileMaker Server software, and the actual headwear equipment (the cost of which i will discuss in the later paragraph)On the office computers you don't need to install any special software apart from the FileMaker Pro package. Any version of Windows from XP onwards will do, only XP needs to have Service Pack 2 installed (this software can be downloaded for free).
However, to take a full advantage of the FileMaker Pro platform, you should install and use some other software applications, mostly the ones that are used anyway in the office environment. This will be discussed in the following paragraph.
- Other software products to be used with the application - in order to fully use the system you will need to integrate it with some other applications that are commonly used and are compatible with FileMaker Pro. These are Microsoft Office (Latest version 2010 Business costs around €250 single version), Adobe Acrobat Professional (around €160). These prices are for the latest versions of software, of course there are plenty of bargain offers on the market where you can buy some older versions of the same software for a fraction of price or even get it for free.
- Necessary hardware equipment - hardware requirements include a server computer, desktop computers and notebooks, switchboards, routers and Ethernet cables, printer (or printers), scanner (if required) and backup discs. The prices of these again are very different depending on the users' preferences. FileMaker Pro software does not require advanced and expensive hardware, most of the common computers would do the job. However, the more you pay, more you will get in terms of speed, ease of use, upgrades etc. It pays to think of what will the computers be used for inside the office. You would probably need to provide a faster and better machine for the administration workers and the accountant, then for the office workers as the workload done on the computer is usually not equal.
The server computer has to meet some minimum requirements, at least 1.4 GHz, 64-bit dual processor, minimum 3 GB (preferred 4GB) of RAM memory, at least 200 GB of disc space, DVD drive, Super VGA (800 x 600 minimum) monitor, Keyboard and mouse and Internet access.
If you are using VOIP or SKYPE phone system, or any other system that uses internet connection, it would be good to have a server on the separate router and connection.
- Cost of professionals that you need to employ - to install the software and hardware, organize the office network, plan and develop the system and deploy the system at the final stage. These costs are different from country to country (i have been working in 5 countries - UK, Spain, Netherlands, Germany and Serbia and the wages are slightly different). Depending on the project, the approximate price per hour for a developer comes to 15-20 Euros, and 10-15 Euros for the administrator. You will probably have to spend 10-20 0000 Euros in the first 4-6 months, to pay all the professionals involved in the process of developing and deploying the database system (Software/FileMaker Pro Developer, IT technician, Hardware engineire) and then employ an administrator for the regular monthly wage usual in your region, to maintain the database. If the database is not supposed to change frequently, you may also contract a developer for a few hours per month of database maintanance or "on call work".