Novice FM Server question

[Steveo the Devo]

Hi everyone, first post here (sorry for the length) and sorry for the irritating cluelessness on my behalf.

I have been nominated to put together a proposal to purchase filemaker products for a medium-large sized (~400 beds) hospital here in Australia. The small allied health department would like to construct a database which will be accessible to staff via the hospital intranet. Obviously they don't want to have to purchase 20+ copies of filemaker pro if they can get a web-hosted option together. Filemaker has been chosen as a possibility due to ease of use and the fact several staff members are already familiar with basic filemaker construction (myself included).

The plan is to have the database communicate with the hospital database (ODBC) as far as patient details go and then construct this allied health database around that - the idea being to track relevant patient data (not currently tracked on the hospital database) from admission to admission. This data will be used for research and patient care purposes.

At any one time it is unlikely that more than 20-30 users will be using the database via the web. There will be a dedicated computer to run the server side of things. For more complicated (non web compatible) scripts there will be several managers computers that will have copies of FMPro.

Additionally, there is a chance that they would like to be incorporate Palm devices to upload new info to the database (i.e. bedside data entry). I assume that each computer that hotsync's to a palm will need to have a copy of FMPro? Also, I wanted to confirm that FM Mobile 8 will be able to upload data to a server hosted databases?

If it goes ahead, we will be employing the IT department to integrate the databases while the basic design/layout will be handled internally within the allied health department.

I know I may as well ask 'how long is a piece of string' but my question is, will FM Server (or advanced) handle this sort of job? Are there any fatal assumptions that I have made at this early stage?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Steve

[IdealData]

Mmm...

The length of the string is the same as always - the distance from one end to the other (-)). however, do not discount the idea of a FileMaker site licence or other licencing options from FM. You may be eligible for discounts if you are government related (works here in the UK)

The web developments could outweigh the costs of FM licencing.

Last time I checked FM Mobile it still needed to talk to a FM client.

On the other hand...

If you pursue the web development you could use some of the Palm units with wireless ethernet to interact directly with the DBs.

Sorry it's a tough one, I have a similar company in the UK with a 30 user licence, but we have no option as we developed from FMP3, and web publishing wasn't a realistic option. If you were talking about 50-100 users then definitely web.

[Steven H. Blackwell]

It's all doable using FileMaker Server 8 Advanced, when released.

The most difficult part will be the ODBC connectivity to the other system. That may happen as you expect, or--likely--it will not. ODBC connectivity remains an issue.

Regarding accessing the FileMaker Server 8 Advanced hosted file, you can do this--as you note--either by FileMaker pro client or by web browsers. You might be able to use Instant Web Publishing. If you have to use Custom Web Publishing, then your development costs are going to start to ramp up.

I'd contact FMI Australia and get a license quote before I did anything else.

Also, do not scrimp on your Server CPU. You will need some good hardware for this.

HTH

Steven

[Steveo the Devo]

Mark and Steven, thanks for the insight and the input. I will investigate VLA and talk to the IT department here to see what they know (I'm hoping its a lot!). No doubt there will be plenty of additional questions coming soon.

Thanks once again.

Steve

[Steven H. Blackwell]

OK, I am sure that FMI in OZ can give you the info re VLA quotes. Just check the web site.

Steven