Flexibility and scalability
Applications tailored to the requirements of your business, whatever its size. The solution grows together with the company.
Platform · Claris FileMaker
FileMaker
FileMaker is the platform I have been building custom business applications on for nineteen years — tailored to how your company really works. Fast, secure and on every device.
Below I show where it usually begins, what FileMaker can do and why it has been my main working tool for years.
Starting point
Is this your reality?
We still often collect data on the proverbial squared sheet of paper, or in Word and Excel. We treat Excel files like databases: a customer list, a history of meetings, an invoice summary, an order list. That is the ideal way into the FileMaker platform.
The problem starts when you connect the data
Take a customer list in Excel to which we want to add the full contact history of every customer. At that moment Excel stops being enough. Let us go further: we want to share that list with the whole department or the whole company, so that everyone can add customers and record how conversations went. We need a shared, generally accessible pool of data — and that is exactly what FileMaker was created for.
Access from any place and any device
Ideally, such a database could be reached from anywhere in the world — from a computer and from a mobile device. When someone adds or changes a record, everyone else sees the change immediately. A perfect use case for FileMaker.
Why it still often fails
At this point most companies conclude that a custom application is needed. A company's specifics, however, are often more complex than in this example, and ready-made software that meets every requirement simply cannot be bought — it has to be built. And this is usually where the worry appears that building a custom application will be difficult, lengthy and expensive.
Solution
The solution is FileMaker
FileMaker is a powerful yet intuitive tool for building business applications that adapt to the needs of your company. Thanks to modern technology — including the AI built into the platform — you can automate processes, bring order to data and raise your team's efficiency.
We start with what you already have
The starting point is your Excel file. I open it in FileMaker, add further tables and connect them through relationships — I tie the contact history to the specific customer. I present the data as convenient forms, with fluid navigation and lightning-fast search. The first working version comes together quickly, because that is exactly what FileMaker was made for.
That is only the beginning
I host the finished file on FileMaker Server — from that moment on, the whole company, a chosen department or specific people work with it. I set up user accounts and assign permissions, so that everyone sees only their own data. Once the server is opened to the outside world, the database is at hand from computers and mobile devices — immediately.
One file runs on every system out of the box: Windows, macOS, iPad, iPhone, Android and a regular browser. FileMaker delivers that as standard.
And when the requirements grow
Companies often need far more than a customer database: a complete CRM, handling of service jobs or orders and organising the sales team's work, time tracking, production control and planning, warehouse management (including barcodes), or complex reports and management dashboards fed from many sources — finance and accounting systems, controlling, industrial machines or IoT devices.
This is where FileMaker really spreads its wings. By connecting the platform to external data sources via API, I build practically any solution for demanding requirements.
Faster and cheaper
Thanks to the pace at which FileMaker lets me build, I cut development time several times over, reduce the demands on your team and significantly lower the project cost compared with traditional development technologies.
Reach
Who uses the FileMaker platform?
FileMaker is used by individuals and small companies as well as large corporations and universities that make their data available to hundreds of users. In my own practice I see this entire spectrum — from a single-user tool to a system that connects the whole organisation.
Capabilities
What does FileMaker offer?
Built-in AI
Automatic pattern recognition, predictive analytics and intelligent data search help you make the right decisions faster and anticipate trends.
Ease of use
An intuitive interface and AI-assisted features let you build applications even with basic technical knowledge. The AI suggests sensible improvements.
Cross-platform
Computers, tablets and smartphones — in the office, in the field and on the road. Integration with third-party systems adds further automation and performance.
Security
Data encryption, backups and permission management. AI helps detect irregularities and potential threats.
Costs within budget
Building and running an application costs several times less than in other technologies. Even complex projects are delivered by a single developer — and quickly.
A proven vendor
FileMaker is a product of Claris International Inc. — an Apple subsidiary, on the market for over 30 years. More than 20 million users work with it. New versions every year, updates more often.
Architecture
Three layers — your data stays with you
I build the system in three layers. You develop each one separately, and your data remains under your control throughout.
Your data with you (on-prem)
The foundation: your data on your server. Full control and compliance with GDPR and NIS2 — from day one.
Integrations and AI
The layer that connects the system with the rest of the company: integrations via API, automation of repetitive tasks and AI agents working inside your process.
User interface
The ready-made FileMaker interface or a modern interface in the browser — whichever way your team works most comfortably: on a computer, tablet and phone.
Ready-made app-building platforms keep data and logic in the vendor's cloud — convenient at first, yet over time it means dependence on the vendor as well as harder integration and data migration. Here the data stays with you, and the system opens up to the outside world via API — you develop it at your own pace, within your own boundaries.
FileMaker pays off
The cost of building and running FileMaker applications is many times lower than in traditional technologies. That makes for a very high ratio of value delivered into your business processes to the price of the application — and, more broadly, to the total cost of ownership.
Working together
Why FileMaker with me
I specialise in adapting FileMaker to customers' specific needs, with an emphasis on the latest technology. I run the entire implementation process — from requirements analysis through design to integration and user training. That way FileMaker, supported by AI, becomes a tool that genuinely drives the growth of your business.
Authorized Partner
GoIDEA — authorised Claris | FileMaker Partner
Below you will find testimonials from my clients. FileMaker is a product of Claris — an Apple subsidiary and the maker of the platform.
Client testimonials
With the new CRM on the FileMaker platform we brought order to our complex client billing models and automated the invoicing processes. We save a great deal of time every month and have increased our revenue.
GoIDEA has taken a role in a redesign, further development, and currently supports our production management system build on the Claris FileMaker that we have been using for 15 years. Very happy with their work ethic and results.
I've had an amazing experience with GoIDEA. We have relatively complex workflows, but with the help of GoIDEA and the FileMaker platform, our business has gotten much more efficient. There hasn't been an idea that I've had that they haven't been able to execute!
Our branch management system based on the FileMaker platform, built by GoIDEA in a very short time, gave us full control over customer service operations and made settlements with our cooperating partners easier.
FileMaker worldwide
Claris customer stories
Recordings provided by Claris — the maker of FileMaker. Customers share their experiences.
Inspiration
Example uses of FileMaker
The same elements — a shared database, forms, reports and built-in AI — prove themselves in very different industries. Here are a few directions in which I build applications.
First step
How do you get started with FileMaker?
Simply get in touch with me. In the first conversation I get to know your processes and show how FileMaker will simplify them. I build the entire application for you — from requirements analysis through design to rollout and team training. With FileMaker you move into a custom system quickly, at low cost and with minimal effort from your people. I also stay at your side when you want to extend the system with further features or connect it with the applications you already have.
First step
Book 30 minutes. I answer every email myself.
The first call is a calm conversation to get to know each other. I check whether I can help at all. No slides, no sales pressure. If I see it is a poor fit, I say so directly.
Would you rather talk than write? Pick a slot in the calendar — we will meet on Zoom:
Open Cal.com →
Phone +48 601 789 966 — you can call, I pick up myself.