Efficient database helps the environment

Client

OVESCo is a non-profit Industrial & Provident Society, based in Lewes, East Sussex. The organisation's aim is to make Lewes more sustainable and energy efficient, by providing advice on solar panels, insulation, carbon emission reduction and boiler repair.

Director Chris Rowlands at OVESCo's offices

The challenge

OVESCo's donated database did not meet the organisation's needs, as it was developed for another purpose. There were problems in creating letters, a need to add extra fields and also to produce a useful spreadsheet form.

Our help

A local volunteer, Alan Sale, who has over 30 years of professional experience, responded to the volunteer opportunity posted at the iT4Communities website. Alan's main experience was in programming mainframe databases and had also created a couple of Access databases.

After an initial meeting with Chris Rowland, OVESCo's Director, to clarify the problem and design the strategy to follow, Alan took the existing database away for two days and altered the design to suit the client's requirements.

The result

• A new database that saves time and effort to OVESCo's employees.

What our client said

iT4Communities volunteer Alan Sale

The benefits to the organisation are that we no longer double up information and time is saved when using the new database. This means we can produce reports faster and trust the information produced. It was good to use someone local as a face-to-face meeting helped explain our problems. At OVESCo, we are keen to support and use local resources as part of our sustainability interests. Alan performed well and the only alteration would be to ensure that we, at OVESCo, prepare well before any design meeting in the future.

Chris Rowland, OVESCo's Director

1st February 2010