Data & middle tier

Microsoft SQL Server

SQL Server is the market-leading database management system for business data. It has the highest performance & reliability in its class, plus many advanced features for business intelligence, data conversion & cleanup, simple administration tools, and cloud hosting options. It can pull data from other systems, and provide data to any reporting or app programming tool.
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Best of all... it is free to use when installed on your own server with databases up to 10GB.

Other relational databases:

Microsoft Access
​Oracle Database
Pervasive SQL
MySQL​

Middle-tier programming:

Visual Basic.NET​
​XML / XSLT
​EDI X.12
​SOAP, REST APIs

User interfaces

Microsoft Access

Access is much more than a table- and query-building tool. It is an exceptionally easy to use and powerful programming system for:
​- Prototyping or implementing multi-user data entry applications;
- Viewing, analyzing, cleaning up data from a variety of sources;
​- Transforming and moving data between text files, relational databases, Outlook/Exchange email, web services, and more;
​- Creating printable or PDF reports with complex rule-based formatting or reproducing required layouts with full accuracy.

​Access is also the only front-end programming environment that has been stable and continuously working for more than 20 years. Unlike many other frameworks, this technology is supported by a strong committed vendor, and a large pool of experts is available to maintain Access applications.

Microsoft Excel

Most businesses rely on Excel spreadsheets for tracking and reporting needs that other systems don't address yet. It is a powerful and familiar tool. But spreadsheets can get messy: without protection, formulas and data can be accidentally deleted. Without automation, data can be time-consuming to refresh. Without advanced Excel training, creating charts or interactive pivot tables can be a daunting task. If you are struggling with a complex set of spreadsheets, it may be more efficient to convert them into a database system. ​We can review what you have, and make the improvements you need.

Tableau

Tableau is a graphically pleasing, interactive tool for exploring and presenting data. It is especially good for management dashboards that combine key performance indicators (KPIs) from a variety of sources. Its drill-down mapping capabilities and variety of charts and graphs also make it a user favorite.