Let’s Look Under the Hood
Most FileMaker systems do not become difficult to maintain overnight.
They evolve over time as new features are added, business processes change, and development priorities shift. A layout created for a special project may remain in the file long after the project is finished. Scripts are modified, reports are duplicated, and old ideas are abandoned before they are completed. The system continues to work, so there is little reason to question what is happening behind the scenes.
Years later, making even a small change can feel more difficult than it should. At that point, you may realize you no longer have a clear understanding of everything that exists within your solution.
Two benefits of our Maintenance Support Program, a FileMaker Health Assessment and the Under the Hood System Cleanup, can help you better understand your system, improve organization, and create a clearer path for future enhancements.
The Hidden Side of Technical Debt
If your FileMaker system has been in use for several years, there is a good chance it contains some level of technical debt.
Technical debt often appears as unused layouts, orphaned fields, abandoned development projects, outdated components, and other remnants that accumulate over time.
During Health Assessments, we regularly find elements that nobody remembers creating, features that are no longer used, and development efforts that were never fully completed.
While these items may not cause immediate problems, they can make future development, maintenance, and enhancements more time-consuming than necessary.
Your system may contain:
- Layouts that no one has opened in years
- Scripts that are no longer used
- Unfinished development projects
- Duplicate functionality
- Fields that were removed or hidden from layouts
- Areas of the solution that everyone avoids because they are afraid to break something
The presence of these items is not unusual. The bigger challenge is that they often remain hidden until someone takes the time to look for them.
Start With a Health Assessment
Before deciding what to improve, it helps to understand the current condition of your system. A FileMaker Health Assessment provides a detailed review of your solution, including:
- Performance
- Security
- Stability and reliability
- Adaptability
- Ongoing maintenance concerns
Using tools such as BaseElements, server inspections, security reviews, and schema analysis, our team develops a report card for your solution and identifies areas that deserve attention.
The assessment provides a clearer understanding of your system’s security, performance, maintainability, and overall organization, giving you a practical roadmap for future improvements.
Turning Recommendations into Results
A report is valuable, but improvements only happen when action follows.
The Under the Hood System Cleanup, provided by our Maintenance Support team, helps you turn the findings from your FileMaker Health Assessment into meaningful improvements. Using the assessment report card as a guide, our developers work through prioritized recommendations and help improve the organization, maintainability, and overall health of your system.
You may already have a list of improvements you would like to make. Before tackling those projects, it often makes sense to organize and optimize the system you already have. The challenge is finding the time and resources to work through those priorities while still supporting day-to-day operations.
For organizations participating in the Maintenance Support Program (MSP), dedicated cleanup hours are included to help move those recommendations forward. Priority customers receive up to 20 hours of Under the Hood System Cleanup, while Platinum customers receive up to 40 hours.
This dedicated time gives you an opportunity to begin making progress immediately rather than postponing important improvements for a later date.
Depending on the needs of your solution, the cleanup effort may include:
- Reviewing and cleaning up user accounts
- Removing unused layouts, scripts, and fields
- Organizing relationship graph structures
- Evaluating server configuration and backup strategies
- Addressing findings identified during the Health Assessment
- Improving organization for future development efforts
You may choose to participate in the cleanup process, or simply ask our team to manage the work and keep you informed along the way.
The goal of the Under the Hood System Cleanup is to improve the organization of your system and create a cleaner environment that makes future development, maintenance, and enhancements easier to plan and implement.
Understanding Your FileMaker System
Many organizations rely on FileMaker every day, yet few have a complete understanding of how their system has evolved over time.
A Health Assessment and Under the Hood System Cleanup provide more than a list of recommendations. They give you a clearer picture of how your solution is organized, where improvements can have the greatest impact, and how to plan future development with confidence.
When you understand what you have, it becomes much easier to make informed decisions about what comes next.
A Practical Path Forward
A FileMaker Health Assessment helps you understand the current condition of your system. The Under the Hood System Cleanup addresses areas that need attention. Through the Maintenance Support Program, you gain a dedicated team of certified FileMaker developers who become familiar with your system, your team, and your business processes. That familiarity makes it easier to plan, prioritize, and implement improvements as your business evolves.
Together, these services provide a practical roadmap for getting more value from your FileMaker investment.
You begin by understanding what you have today. From there, you can improve organization, streamline your solution, and create a cleaner system environment that supports future improvements. Ongoing support through MSP helps ensure your system continues to evolve alongside your business.
Some of the most valuable improvements come from creating a cleaner system environment that is easier to maintain, easier to enhance, and better prepared for future growth.
How Well Do You Know Your System?
If your FileMaker system has been running for years, ask yourself a few simple questions:
- Do you know which layouts are no longer being used?
- Are you confident your scripts and relationships are organized?
- Have you reviewed your security settings recently?
- Do you know where the biggest maintenance risks are?
- Could a new developer quickly understand your solution?
If the answer to any of these questions is “I am not sure,” the Maintenance Support Program can help you gain the clarity needed to plan your next steps.
Other products and services Productive Computing, Inc. offers:
- What can PCI do for you? – overview of our services
- Health Assessment – a comprehensive report of your FileMaker system
- Consulting and Development – services billed by the hour
- Maintenance and Support – services billed monthly
- Packaged Services – Security Audit, SSL or Server Installation
- Plug-ins – tools to integrate with QuickBooks, Outlook, Google, and more
- Solutions – free customizable and scalable CRM template
- Claris and FileMaker Licensing – discounts on new seats and renewals
- FileMaker and QuickBooks Hosting – host your files in the cloud
- Productive Computing University – online beginner to advanced training courses
- Certification Programs – expert-led training, hands-on development, and personalized evaluations
