Dave Francis

Dave Francis


Recent posts by Dave Francis

3 min read

The relationship between monolithic applications and siloed data

By Dave Francis on Sep 28, 2021 11:38:00 AM

It is very easy to find yourself with some siloed data; a specific question may have been asked by the business and to answer the it, a data export from one of your core applications is required to conduct some analysis.

Topics: kinodb
4 min read

COTS or custom?

By Dave Francis on Sep 10, 2021 4:15:37 PM

You need a new business application - perhaps to replace a legacy or unsupported system, or to meet a new opportunity.  Do you look for an off-the-shelf system which is the best fit, or have something built?

Topics: kinodb
2 min read

Filling in the gaps

By Dave Francis on Aug 4, 2021 8:30:00 AM

Most organisations have a varied IT estate, with applications that are relatively new, some maybe getting close to (or even past) needing to be retired, some maybe be custom and some maybe off-the-shelf. This is not an unfamiliar situation for many CIO’s.

Topics: kinodb
3 min read

Enterprise-grade platform solutions

By Dave Francis on Jul 9, 2021 2:34:00 PM

IT organisations are increasingly expected to be the source of a succession of silver bullets facilitating (or even driving) transformational change, whilst at the same time ensuring that commodity functions work seamlessly.

COVID-19 has only amplified this: new systems are required to enable remote working practices, systems need to be kept secure at the kitchen table, and bandwidth has never been in greater demand.

Topics: kinodb
2 min read

Microsoft Excel is not a database

By Dave Francis on May 6, 2021 4:29:00 PM

In October 2020 the NHS had a problem with losing data relating to COVID case reporting; there was an urgent business need to capture and manage data, so they built a database with Microsoft Excel.

However, Public Health England stated that 15,841 cases of COVID-19 went unreported between 25 September and 2 October; these were omitted from the daily figures.

Topics: kinodb
3 min read

What is case management?

By Dave Francis on Mar 9, 2021 11:45:14 AM

20 years-ago I was a caseworker in a central government department. So, for me, talking about case management, it is easy to think of paper “case files”. These were cardboard folders that would typically hold all correspondence, reference documents, decisions, minutes on the decision-making process; everything that you needed to know regarding the “case”.

Topics: kinodb LGP
2 min read

datb uses kinodb

By Dave Francis on Jan 21, 2021 11:38:56 AM

In the 21st century it is a given that all businesses will require IT and therefore some applications to help them operate.

Topics: kinodb
2 min read

My first impressions of kinodb

By Dave Francis on Sep 25, 2020 9:31:39 AM

Due to operational pressures, in 2005, I created a "shadow IT department" in a central government department.  I was a civil servant on the receiving end of a Ministerial request for urgent data.  We didn't collect the data that had been requested by the Minister at that time, so I had to develop a means to collect it from mutilple offices distributed around the country, quickly.

Topics: kinodb