The technology we use
Managed Networks is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, so naturally we use Microsoft development tools and platforms. Of course, we have worked with other systems in the past and we have substantial experience of database migrations and interfacing to other platforms.
Our core technologies are:
- .Net for front-end tools and middle-tier business logic (older applications were developed using Visual Basic Version 6).
- SQL Server 2005 for mid- to large-scale databases. Smaller systems have used Access, the MSDE or simple XML.
- Internet Information Server with ASP.Net for web-technology front-ends. We tend now to use web technology for most basic user interaction with our systems, as it simplifies installation and support. Our preference is for a strongly server-side application, using ASP.Net pre-processing and HTML forms where possible. Where client-side functionality is needed we tend to use Javascript or VBScript in preference to downloaded controls or Java, although we have used both where the situation warranted.
- Excel (or PDF derived from Excel) for output reporting. We have a SQLServer to Excel output product, ISLReporter, which allows the use of user-configurable Excel templates including formatting, in-line formulae and user-selection of output fields. We have also made good use of Crystal Reports for bulk output of non-configurable reporting.
- XML for web-side datastorage; where an application is presenting report data on the web or intranet, precompiled XML that has been pre-sliced into asset, portfolio or transactional sets can offer excellent performance without the connection overhead or licence issues that affect live SQLServer interrogation. XML also integrates well with Exchange and Sharepoint (Microsofts intranet-in-a-box offering).
- We have a strong focus on object-oriented applications, preferring to use n-tier construction in place of traditional client-server architecture (although, once again, we have built a number of very successful client-server applications). The majority of our recent applications have been multi-site, in some cases spanning several continents, and we have developed a bespoke locking and replication engine for SQLServers that use our object model.
In general we aim to follow Microsofts lead in designing user interfaces, and our .Net front-end products follow their style guide. For web-technology interfaces we tend to use simpler designs than Microsoft, achieving, we think, clearer page layout and user interface flow.
If you would like to know more about our technology, call us on 0800 783 6170.
