• Tick the ‘Require Variable Declaration’ tick box, as this removes issues where data can be assigned to a miss spelt variable – many years ago I was told, and I don’t know if it was true,’ that if approaching Microsoft with a problem, one of the first questions they always asked was ‘ do you have require variable declaration set to true? If not go away and add ‘Option Explicit’ to all the modules and then come back if you still can’t find the problem.
• Untick ‘Auto Syntax Check’! This is not as strange as it sounds as all it does is simply stop a message box appearing when you make an error, the incorrect logic is still coloured red (unless you have personalised the colour settings). But you don’t have to click a message box before you can continue.
• Finally, I like to untick the ‘Default to Full Module View’ as I like to go straight to the bit of code I want to deal with, without trying to see where the cursor has jumped to. You can always toggle between Full Module & procedure by clicking the small buttons on the bottom left hand side of the screen.

Before I start on the technical stuff I thought I would give you all a small insight into my life to date

In my youth, which as you can see from my photo, was some time ago, I was London Schoolboys junior canoe slalom champion, from which I progressed on to represent both England & Great Britain in Canoe Slalom and White Water Racing.

As I got a bit older I started to take an interest in flying and have flown both gliders and light aircraft, even dabbling with microlight (1 flight, too cold) and paragliding (1 very short tandem flight, crashing on take-off and dislocating my shoulder)

Over the last 10 or so years I have been Mountain Biking 2 or 3 times a week, with the odd trip to Germany visiting the Spessart Forest, which has some wonderfully long downhill sections and, unfortunately, equally as long uphill sections back to the hotel, one such being a gentle slope of some 23 kilometres

My current claim to fame rests on the shoulders of my daughter Claire, who plays rugby for both Wasps & England, having captained both sides on a number of occasions and being the proud possessor of a world cup runner up medal. Unfortunately, having suffered a shoulder injury (bit of a pattern developing I feel) during a game earlier in the year, which required an operation to fix, has had to spend all of this season as a spectator, but is hoping to get back in training in June.

Having been with The IT service for some 8 weeks now, I must say that I have been very impressed by the number of tools available, and used, to ensure that coding is carried out to an exacting standard.  This, I must admit, came as a bit of a shock at first, but you can really see the benefits of working to a strict coding pattern, especially when it comes to picking up and running with someone else’s work.

• Microsoft Access database development
• SQL Server database development
• Creating SQL stored procedures and user-defined functions
• SQL Server Integration Services
• VBA development

Writing queries in SQL can seem daunting at first. Even for those who are familiar with the Query Grid in Microsoft Access, moving away from the comfort blanket of the Graphical User Interface and into the cold, unhelpful world of writing your own SQL can be tough!

Our course in writing SQL queries is here to help.

Designed for those with little to no background in using SQL, this course is designed to give you the essentials.

We cover how to use the basic SELECT statement, how to restrict the number of rows you get back by using WHERE and how to use wildcards in SQL.

We also look at some of the functions available when writing SQL, such as LEFT, RIGHT and SUBSTRING for when you’re working with text, and GETDATE, DAY, MONTH, DATENAME and DATEPART for when you’re working with dates.

As you may be aware, SQL isn’t just one language – there are dialects in use, such as Transact SQL, PL-SQL and Jet SQL. In this course, we primarily focus on Transact SQL (used by Microsoft SQL Server), but we will talk about the differences between using SQL within a SQL Server environment and using Jet SQL within a Microsoft Access environment.

Take a look at the full outline on our Guide to writing SQL Queries course page, or why not give us a call on 020 3397 1333 and let’s see if we can’t put something together for you.

Microsoft Access / SQL / VBA expert with great interpersonal skills

This is a fantastic opportunity to make an impact in a dynamic company.

• Real, in-depth understanding of relational databases
• The proven ability to design, build, and troubleshoot Microsoft Access databases
• Fantastic VBA skills
• Good understanding of SQL Server, including UDFs, stored procedures and advanced queries

• Excel (including VBA) skills
• VB .Net development skills
• A good eye for the visuals (so that the databases you design are a pleasure to use…)

• Web development skills with ASP .Net and / or JavaScript

You see, we are after someone who can work with us to build databases for clients, sometimes in Access, sometimes in SQL with an Access or web front end.

But ideally, we’re not looking for someone who just wants to sit in a darkened room doing hardcore programming. We want someone who can go and meet clients and be able to talk them through complex issues without befuddling (or patronising) them. And then come back and do some hardcore programming to achieve what the client wants.

One last thing – a lot of our client relationships start when we run highly tailored training for them, using their data to run bespoke courses in Access or Excel, and if you’re interested, we’d love to train you up to be a trainer too.

But tell us what you’d like to contribute, and if you’re the right person, we’ll find the way to help you make the most of your ambitions.

A little bit about us and the role.

We don’t care about your age. Or your ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. We’ll even overlook it if you like Jedward and Noel Edmonds.

Most of our clients are in London, but we do work with people around the South and occasionally further afield, so you need to be able to travel from time to time.

And if you think this sounds like the perfect job but you only want to work 3 or 4 days a week, or you can’t always do 9 until 5, apply anyway – we’re up for being flexible.

To apply…

Drop us an email telling us why you’d like to work here, and a bit about you. Send it, with a copy of your CV to info@theitservice.co.uk

Closing date for applications is Friday 9th November 2012, following which we’ll be conducting telephone, and then face-to-face interviews. If you’ve not heard from us by Friday 16th November, then we’re sorry, but you haven’t been successful this time.

We’ve been a bit remiss since then – our list of happy customers has been growing, and we’ve been getting busier and busier – so this is the first chance we’ve had to update the score. So, without further ado…

Our average feedback score currently stands at 96.4%

This is in answer to the question “If asked by a friend of colleague, to what extent would you recommend our training to them?”

Our other questions, and the current ratings for each, are below:

July marks our third birthday – and it’s all change for us.

Due to our continued growth and success, we’ve made the decision to move from our base just south of Guildford, and into bigger offices in the Wimbledon area. We’ll still be serving the same areas, and providing the quality and service that have made our story such a success. It’s a really exciting move for us – and one which we’d like you to help us celebrate.

25% discount on all training until the end of August for everyone!

We’d like to offer all our customers a 25% discount on all training booked, paid for and conducted by the end of August. So, if you were thinking that you ought to get some training organised at some point soon, there’s never been a better time. And if you haven’t booked anything with us before – or not for a while – now’s the time to take the plunge and give us a call.

New location, same great quality

Our address is changing, as is our office phone number and fax number – you can find all the details below. But our commitment to training, consultancy work and service of the highest quality remains undimmed – it is our core and our foundation.

Call us now – there’s never been a better time

Our new details are on our Contact details page, but to save you a click, here they are:

Address:
The Old Lamp Works
Rodney Place
London
SW19 2LQ

Phone: 020 3397 1333

Fax: 020 3397 1349

Our email address remains unchanged – either fill in the form on any page of this website and we’ll get back to you, or email us via info@theitservice.co.uk

Please note that we can only offer the discount detailed above on our standard rates, and not in addition to any other discount.

Transparency in our feedback

It’s our intention that this will be published on a regular basis, so that you can see just how we’re doing. Until now, we’ve not been doing so well – at publishing the results, that is! But thanks to an upgrade to our Feedback engine, all the data now goes into our database and can be analysed at the click of a button.

The big question…

There’s a system called the Net Promoter Score which tracks for any company how likely their customers are to be promoters, detractors or neutrals. Based on this system, we ask a similar question of all our delegates – “if asked by a friend of colleague, to what extent would you recommend our training to them?” We ask delegates to rate their likelihood of recommending us on a scale of 1 to 10.

Our current rating for this question is 95.46%

The other questions we ask, and their current average ratings are below:

So there we go – definite room for improvement, especially where we have a score of under 9 out of 10. Some of our feedback is definitely feedback to be proud of, but lots to work on too.

Look out next month, and we’ll let you know how we’re doing!

Hush hush…

Can’t say anything more just yet, but watch this space, and we’ll be telling you more very soon.

Perhaps the biggest thing to happen to us since The IT Service was founded three years ago…

Access does amazing things.

We can use it to store, analyse, report on, and manage data. We can get it to automate our business processes, to download CSV data from an FTP site and upload it again as a PDF. To allow users to input data and to email them to let them know when they need to do so.

With all the power that Access offers, it’s really easy, when writing articles for a blog like this one, to get carried away with creating endless bells and whistles, while ignoring the basic question…

How do you build a Microsoft Access database?

Over the months to come, we’re intending to put together a series of video tutorials to take you through the whole process, from start to finish. But in this article, I just wanted to share with you some basic ideas – the things you need to think about as you get started.

If you’ve never used Microsoft Access before, there’s good news – this work doesn’t actually need you to use Access. Or indeed any other software – pencil and paper will work just fine. You see…

Planning is everything

The more work you can do in planning the database, in being clear what you want the database to do, and not do, the less likely you are to need to spend time re-designing and re-working the database when you’re half way through.

So, kick off by getting a good, clear understanding of the scope of the database. Talk to all the people who are going to be using it. Talk to those who will put the data in, and to those who will want to get it out, report on it, analyse it and so on. Find out what they need the database to do.

10 questions to ask before starting to build an Access datbase

• What business process will the database support?
• How do they currently manage that process?
• How are those processes likely to change as the business grows or changes over the next 5 years?
• What existing systems – paper-based or computer-based – will the database be replacing?
• How many people need to use this new system?
• Of those people, how many are likely to want to use it concurrently?
• How much data will the database store? For example, are you wanting to store sales transactions that could run to tens of thousands per day? Or manage a manufacturing process, involving a few hundred items a week?
• To what extent is security important? Is it simply enough that the data is stored reliably? Or must different people have access to different parts of the data?
• Will this new database system have to connect to other systems? To your accounts package? To Outlook to send automated emails or schedule appointments? To an FTP server to import data?
• Forgetting time, and budget, if your new database system could do anything for you and your business, what would you have it do?

So, in short, get a really good picture of what’s needed. And think big! That’s why the last question in the list is important – it’s surprising how often people say “I don’t suppose it’s even remotely possible, but what would be really great is…” and they come up with something that’s actually pretty simple! Of course, the converse is the number of times people will say “We just need a minor tweak so that…” and it turns out to be a major headache! But either way, it’s a significanty easier thing to make design changes at this stage, on paper, than it is to make the changes when the database is built.

Stay tuned for more…

That’s it for now. But, as I said at the start, we are working on a significant series of video tutorials to guide you through the whole process, so do stay in touch and keep an eye out for these.

If you want to make sure you don’t miss out, why not subscribe to our blog – either via the RSS feed, or via email – just enter your address in the box at the top-right corner of this page and click “Sign me up!” And if there’s anything you’d really like us to cover in the video tutorials, let us know – just post a comment below.