Choices and Decisions

The biggest choice you have to make is which SQL backend vendor you are going to implement for your solution. Most SQL vendors have a way to go from a single local installation to some form of the cloud, so that should be just a simple part of the decision.

Once your selection of the SQL vendor happens, all your database scripting language in the database will be for that vendor, and that is not very portable across different vendors. Effectively, you are now locked-in to that vendor. At that point, you have made a commitment to learn everything possible about your selected vendor.

If you are a large Clarion shop, chances are good that the business parameters and goals are defined, and the backend to be selected becomes obvious or has been decided already.

If you are a small to medium Clarion shop or a single person developer and support shop, there is a bit more thought to be applied to the decision. For the most part, backend SQL selection depends on your goals, application, environment, customer base, company size, cost of the conversion in time and dollars, and who does the support.

The most important part of the conversion criteria is your customer base. They just want to use your solution to run their business with the minimum amount of training and effort. You provide manuals and support. You provide periodic releases to update the software if their yearly subscription is up-to-date. Table conversions are taken care off automatically by the software. They have read the part of the manual that shows how to do backups and do not skip the prompt to do a backup to a different location, backing up every day. If they are small businesses, they have no IT staff.

If you go and replace your ISAM solution for an SQL solution, you have just added a level of complexity to the backup and support issues. So make sure you have easy ways for your customer base to deal with these issues. As much as you can, have automated everything with a backup to another location. Have some programs or utilities that can do diagnostics on the hardware, devices, and network. Make sure you have the up-to-date configurations of your customers. There will be a need to think about these things up front, before you start rolling out conversion installs.

Recall that while you have might experience in an IT background, your customers might not.

You might want to ask yourself, if while doing this conversion from ISAM to SQL, you might want to start planning to also add a web or mobile device interface. You do not have to do it all at once. The SQL will at least allow you the possibility to go that direction.

Consider your short term, medium term, and long term; goals and choices.

Please give yourself a possible path for growth.

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I tried so hard and got so far
But in the end, it doesn't even matter
I had to fall to lose it all
But in the end, it doesn't even matter
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