Q: Keith, you have been active in the Alpha community for quite a while, but I know very little about how you use Alpha Five.
I use Alpha software in several ways now. Firstly I keep a database of UK Users that have downloaded the trial version. I then keep notes of when I make contact with these new users and to see how best I can help them get off the first step of the Alpha Learning ladder. Most new users are pleased to find that there is a local helping hand out there.
Another use I make of Alpha is to test applications for people that I have made contact with, Some times I have found that what seemed like a good idea, when looked at from another point of view the application can be given a whole new look.
The most recent and personal use I have made of Alpha Five is for my daughter's Engagement Party. All the Invites with their partners were entered in and we were able to keep good control of who was able to attend, what kind gifts were presented and by whom. Building on this data the Wedding list is already half done.
Q: Can you tell us what types of clients or businesses you work with?
I started out building an application to help the company I was working in at the time, to be more efficient in dealing with scheduling customer's orders and production.
My first paying customer was a company that sells classical CDs. They needed to tie up their customer orders to which wholesaler supplied the goods. As there would have been many customers buying different CDs on each order, all the items needed to be sorted for each Purchase Order. That way there would only be one PO for each supplier for each days orders. It was very important that orders should not be duplicated.
Another very interesting development project was for a chemical company. They needed to keep a record of chemical formulas for different products. These were stored as percentages of ingredients. When production of a product was required the quantities had to be calculated by Specific Gravity in relation to the Percentage of ingredient.
With the introduction of the Alpha Five Web Application Server, I helped an international company set up their system linking the data to SQL. This application is for internal use but was applied to three plants in different parts of the country.
My best client at the moment is a department of the Scottish Government. They have several sites with over 30 users having access to the same server. When that is running satisfactorily we hope to roll it out to other boroughs in Scotland.
Q: You also consult on Alpha Five, correct?
Yes, that is correct. Most of my work with the Scottish client has been consultancy and training. I also encourage new users to contact me so I can help them with small technical hurdles they may have difficulty with. As this gives me such pleasure I do not make any charge for this. (I have been helped enough through the Alpha Forum) If we both can see this is more of an on-site job then I charge a daily rate.
Q: Tell us about the state of Alpha Software in England. I know there has been an effort of late to increase the presence of Alpha Five in your homeland.
Alpha Software, Inc. do not have it's own office in the UK, sales and marketing had been left in the hands of a local company. After some time that company seemed to have lost interest in the product. Also now with the Internet it is possible to buy on line, so sales were bypassing the local agent. A new agent has been appointed; hopefully Alpha Five will become the brand leader for database applications in the UK.
I knew something should be done to increase the usability of Alpha Software and in turn spread the word. After attending the 2002 Alpha Conference I felt there should be an Alpha User Group in the UK. So I decided to try and build one. Richard Rabins helped by getting hold of the names of users in the UK, after there had been some good response from a magazine promotion. I held our first meeting in April 2003. I am now in the process of organising a whole day event. Please watch this space for the date, time and place. It will be shortly after the 2005 Boston Conference
Q: What are your plans for this event? Will it be a mini-Alpha Five Conference?
Yes, certainly a Mini conference. I would say it would be more of a lot of tutorials and answering questions like, "how do I do that".
Q: Can you give us a feel for how the adoption of Alpha Five in the UK is going?
This is a tough one for me to answer. There are many users of computers that carry on with the attitude 'if it aint broke, don't fix it'. So some users are quite happy to keep plodding away with the app they built ten or more years ago. Others I have found are split into two camps. One set of users have bought Alpha on the slogan that you do not need to be a programmer to build an application and then get let down by their own inability to make the product work the way they want. They give it up as a bad experience. Then there are the others that would like to have something more tailor made but are not sure which way to turn, so they either manage to find me or one of the other Registered Consultants to help them. Failing that they turn away from Alpha and get someone to build an application in another program. I believe Alpha should be sold over here on the basis of how powerful and cost efficient it is rather than it being a great Do-it-Yourself tool.
Q: How long have you been using Alpha Software products?
I have been using Alpha since Alpha Four version 2 for DOS. I was not very good with it then but I did like the way you could build keystroke scripts. I did not appreciate the potential of using it as a development tool beyond my immediate use. For me Alpha Five version 4 was the turning point, I do not know why but all of a sudden I was able to make Alpha Five do things that had been a struggle up till then. Perhaps it was all the help I received from the Alpha Forum.
I built a complete scheduling application for the company I had been, by then a director of for twenty years. The real change was Alpha Five version 5, with the improved ability to build scripts with Action Scripting, that opened up a whole new world. That original app is still running. All though I was not trained as a programmer I have long been interested in computers and how they can help people be more efficient in their work. I always believe a job should be looked at and considered, "is this the best way of doing it"? It seems that the guys at Alpha Software have the same philosophy with each new version of Alpha. Whilst there are many new features, they are made easier to use and develop with. One feature that has given me great pleasure to develop with is Xdialog. With Xdialog I was able to help Jerry Brightbill design the now famous Calendar.
Q: Keith, where do you see the greatest potential opportunity for the Alpha Five developer/consultant in England? Are there any niche markets that are under served?
There is a vast untapped market out there for software development. I have just made contact with a multi-million pound building company that knows nothing about databases but know they must have one. There are others that want to upgrade from DOS, those that just want to move away from Access and other programs, so they can get control over how their application operates and not be dependent on an outside developer.
Q: With the release of Alpha Five version 6 we now have the built-in Web Application Server. Have you had a chance to use this tool?
That is interesting that you should ask that now, as I said each new version gets easier to work with and Alpha Five5 version 6 is no exception. Like all new tools it takes practice to get the best out of it. As Alpha is constantly improving it keeps me on my toes to learn these new skills.
I have been able to demonstrate the Web Application Server to several companies and then they have gone on to build applications for themselves. The Web Application Server is still very new and it is going to take time for companies to see the benefit of sharing data with employees and customers on the Internet using the Web App Server. As most data is held in a database the logical move was to enable computer users to have access to data relevant to the viewer on the WWW. I believe there are going to be many new applications making use of the Web Application Server as a way of sharing data both on an Intranet and on a Web Site.
Q: I know you are associated with the Alpha Guild. Tell us about the Guild and why you are a member.
After attending the Alpha Conference in 2004 and meeting the names of some of the many contributors to the Alpha Forum I was asked if I would like to join the Alpha Guild, at first I thought this was a secret society and I would have to take part in some strange initiation test. Nothing was further from the truth. The Alpha Guild has enabled me to make contact directly with new users of Alpha Five and maintain links with other developers with a like mind. I get the pleasure from helping new users and they get the benefit of knowing they are not alone out there. In some cases it has resulted in business, more with tuition than development, however just as I write this I am off to another new client for two days to help them convert from Alpha Four v2 to Alpha Five v6 and also to show them how to develop.
Q: Keith, we now know a little more about how you and Alpha Five interface. How about the rest of you life? Do you have any hobbies or avocations we should know about?
As far as hobbies go I enjoy Alpha Five so much that I regard that now as my main hobby next to my family that is, but I do enjoy playing chess and for a little exercise a good session of 10 Pin Bowling.
Thank you for inviting me to take part in this interview, it has been very interesting answering your questions.
Keith Hubert.
You can reach Keith at khubert@alpha-databases.co.uk
Visit his web site at www.alpha-databases.co.uk