Integrated database design is foundation for company-wide technology improvements
As a leader in the stock home plan industry, Design Basics, LLC, designs and markets plans for single- and multi-family homes through plan books, newsstand magazines, home building publications, and online. The company offers a variety of home plans and designs, plan alteration services, custom home design, and professional marketing products and services. Design Basics has been recognized nationally for home design, business management, corporate growth, sales, and the development of effective marketing products.
The Problem
Design Basics is a mature business with defined processes that make it successful, and the company had outgrown its internal database. The Microsoft Access database the team had been using to track its house plans, customers, and orders was showing age and was not working well. Design Basics also wanted the benefits of modern software. This included the capability to access data from outside the office and integrations with other business systems within the Design Basic enterprise.
The Solution
Volano worked through our discovery process with Design Basics where we reviewed all of the business processes and systems the company was using. The outcome was a plan that began with creating a mock-up for the look and feel of the new web-based tracking system. We migrated all relevant data from Microsoft Access to Microsoft SQL Server and helped Design Basics switch over to its new business system.
The Outcome
The new system easily satisfied all project objectives and has become a platform for new features, augmentations, and integrations. Design Basics now has a system of record that establishes one version of all plan data. Since releasing the software, Design Basics has been able to connect other systems to the database. A “big win” according to the team was integrating the company’s consumer website where customers can view and search all house plans and the corresponding plan data from the Design Basics website. Get in touch
