Goodbye MS Access:
Hello Robust Web Applications

About The Client

We worked with a regulatory organisation that tracks the welfare of sporting animals, from their birth, throughout their careers, all the way to their retirements. The organisation had a remit to regularly provide statistics and reports to governing authorities.

Envivo was engaged as subcontractors to design and deliver the solution.

The Client’s Challenge

The Limitations Of MS Access

The organisation ran their operation from an Access database, which (unsurprisingly) outgrew its capabilities within a few years.

As the operational processes evolved over the years and the team size grew, the legacy database could not keep up with multiple users, the influx of paper forms, and compromised data integrity.

The client needed an upgraded system that would provide user friendly interfaces, reduce manual data entry, increase data integrity, and increase automation overall.

The Solution

Designed For Deep-Linked Data

We teased apart the Client’s Access database, and upgraded the database model to retain critical real-world events such as:

– Births (including location & parents)
– All Persons & Roles associated with an animal
– Changes of Address
– Location history
– Exchanges & movements between parties
– Vaccinations & Medical History
– Licence Applications and Approvals
– Integration with 3rd party Data Providers

We understood that mainly Power Users would use the new system. These users would often handle a variety of support requests, so we designed a User Interface to let them rapidly navigate to the appropriate information based on their current problem.

Selecting the Right Tools

Understanding Real-World Scenarios

The legacy system was originally designed for data capture, but didn’t cater for various real-life scenarios – some of which caused problems with data consistency.

We probed into these scenarios to identify the root causes, so that the system could explicitly identify them. Retaining a detailed history and audit would provide insights at any point of investigation.

Domain Discovery

Event Modelling

Data Lifecycle

3rd Party Integrations

User Experience

Inspired Outcomes Start Here