Knack Blog

Case Study: More baskets for your database eggs

Joshua Guy Lenes replaced a custom-programmed database with a Knack solution so more team members could help build and maintain it.

Joshua Guy Lenes is familiar with complex, custom database solutions. He works with the American Association of University Professors to manage union memberships. They used to employ a custom-engineered database coded in python, django and sql.

It was a suitable system but there was one big problem: Josh, a trained and capable developer, was the only person who knew how to manage the database and keep it running smoothly. It was too complex to easily bring on others to help.

He knew this would not be sustainable in the long run — if Josh somehow became unavailable how would the system be maintained?

Josh needed a more flexible database solution that his team could easily use and manage without his assistance, and the search began for a replacement.

Featured Industry: Beer, Wine, & Beverages

Here at Knack we have the unique opportunity to see all of the web apps and online databases that are built for specific industries.

A great example is the beverage industry, where we”ve seen a particularly strong fit amongst the craft beer and wine sectors.

This attention may or may not be heightened by the near and dear place wine and craft beer holds in our hearts 🙂 Eric makes his own wine, Steve ran a wine blog, and craft beer is always on Brandon”s Christmas list.

Why Knack?

Many of the breweries and wineries we”ve worked with are big enough to have significant I.T. needs, but don”t have the technology budgets to pay for bloated software or full-time technology staff.

Many of these individuals not only manage “the books” but they wear several hats like purchasing agent, production supervisor or even brewmaster.

This is why Knack is so appealing: it”s quick, easy to use, and perhaps most crucially can immediately provide major benefits. Customized apps can quickly be built to help manage sales, inventory, and distribution without a huge investment in time or money.

This combination of simplicity and customization were exactly what appealed to Jessica Jones of Ninkasi Brewery:

“We needed a platform for group project management and collaboration. Other options were either not customizable enough or too complex to teach all of our staff at varying levels to use.”

Trey Bowden of Dogfish Head Brewery was pleased with the ease of use when creating a production management database:

“When I was recently tasked to build an internal database-driven app for “beer product holds & dispositions”, I knew Knack was the right tool to get the job done in a timely manner…You can”t beat the simple user interface, built-in reporting, and cloud-connected capabilities with it”s Zapier interface (as opposed to using something like MS Access).

“We just launched our first app in early 2015 and our production team couldn”t be happier!”

Here”s a look at some of the apps we”re seeing for beer and wine users: