Background
Our Client is into multi-product trading and to supplement
revenues operates a number of online directories (yellow-pages).
Some of these directories are industry-specific while
others allow multiple category/ class enlistment. The
strategy was to have a cluster website arrangement with
cross-populating databases. To manage the disparate database
across multiple portals the Client approached Net4India
for a possible solution. In response, Data Manager®
was proposed. It is an application developed using client
- server technology and serves as a data-bed for management
of scores of related records.
Porting the data
More and more companies are finding directory service
a global and cost effective medium to reach out. Thus
our Client's online directories had already become a sought
after resource. The challenge was to pull out data from
industry specific listing websites and populate the general
listing website and again the reverse. This was a effective
way to maintain separate industry website identities while
cross-populating every listing. The advantage point was
that these directories, being built by Net4India on an
earlier assignment, had built-in flexibility to 'talk-to'
common data-management software. But yet there was a challenge.
The challenge facing the business handling enormous transaction
of data by companies across the website cluster.
Net4India realized that the system required:
- Offline simulation of the online business activity
- Data porting among directory cluster
- Removal of data duplication on any individual listing
Stitching the needs
To describe the services and its interface we chose to
deliver the solution as an independent client-server application
- administering both restricted and general operations
- on Visual Basic platform supported by scripts written
in ASP to thrust data transfer from main data pool in
Microsoft Access file format to site specific data recorders
in form of Microsoft SQL 7.0 and vice versa.
Functional and scalable
The approach proved very helpful. The implementations
proceed without impacting existing business services.
More effectively now the Client's businesses can look
beyond horizon to see a way, how time management and careful
planning can make the global reach and penetration in
respective market a more new exciting and easy. Today,
the Client's online directories are getting hundreds of
hits per month transforming it into one of the biggest
of its kind.
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