Technology
A non-technical professionals overview of the core technologies Camdaw works with.
Microsoft .NET Framework
The Microsoft .NET Framework is the foundation on which software applications built
for the latest generation of Microsoft Server and Workstation (i.e. Windows XP and
the forthcoming Windows Vista) operating systems are made. If we were constructing
sky scrapers this would be the foundations, plumbing, electrical cabling and raw
materials such as panes of glass and bricks. In IT systems we are talking
about a sophisticated high performance library of software application developers
can use for hundreds if not thousands of different programming tasks such as connecting
to databases, producing web site components and interacting with other systems such
as Microsoft Exchange 2003. Microsoft builds business solutions like Microsoft
CRM, Microsoft Sharepoint Portal Server and Microsoft Axapta using this technology.
Microsoft SQL Server (2000 / 2005)
Microsoft SQL (Software Query Language) Server is a database and datawarehousing
application capable of providing multiple concurrent user access to centralised
data while maintaining high performance. Database application developers develop
software and user interfaces such as web site applications using Microsoft SQL Server
as the behind-the-scenes persistent store for data and back office data processing
tasks. Components of the Microsoft .NET Framework provide the basic plumbing
to allow developers to access SQL Server and other types of databases.
Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services
A database application is of little use if you cannot analyse and produce reports
on the data providing the intelligence you need to manage your business. Reporting
Services enables developers to quickly produce high presentation quality reports
(a wide variety of charts or tabular data) which can the be run on-demand or on
a scheduled historical snap-shot basis. Ever wished you could have a copy
of a critical business report e-mailed to you monthly, weekly or even daily?
Want it in Excel or Adobe PDF formats? This is just a small sample of the
typical reporting scenarios which can be acheived with reporting services.
Microsoft Sharepoint Portal Server 2003
Most businesses with at least 10-20 employees would like, or maybe even need an
intranet and some form of collaborative work space. There comes a time in
the growth of a business where shared network drives for document storage becomes
difficult to work with as the number of documents and folders makes it hard
to find what you need and control appropriate access to users.
This is an area where one feature of Sharepoint can help with team intranet sites
and document libraries. Documents in libraries become searchable, have change
control and integration with Microsoft Office 2003. There are a wide variety
of capabilities with Sharepoint to support the contruction of on-line collaborative
workspaces. Sharepoint sites are also an excellent place to view reporting
services reports, with reports targeted at the intended audiences through team
sites. List based data sourced from Microsoft SQL Server and other databases
can also be viewed and with bespoke development work even updated through a Sharepoint
team site.
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