The customer operates an MS Access database to manage employment contract data. This includes the management of contract master data and the creation of employment contract documents in MS Word using parameterized text modules. Massive performance problems occurred, especially when using the application in the home office, which led to unacceptable handling of the system. The first step was to analyze the cause of the problem. It was discovered that the data access logic was not optimally programmed by the original program developer, so that the performance problems increased in proportion to the amount of data. Furthermore, there is a relevant performance difference when using the application locally on notebooks in the home office and using the central Citrix instance.
Supplement
For cost reasons, it was decided not to fix the problem at the source of the data access logic, but to reduce the amount of data in the MS Access database by deleting it and archiving it beforehand. As the application is primarily used to create new employment contracts in MS Word, this procedure is possible. When using the Citrix environment, the performance is now satisfactory again. If necessary, the deletion process can be repeated periodically if the amount of data reaches a critical level again.
Subject description
After performance optimization, a change was made to a continuous support process, i.e. the PTA acts as a contact for all technical questions and problems relating to the application. Due to the sensitivity of the data, a high level of confidentiality is required. The employment contracts had to be extended accordingly due to changes in the law as part of the Nachweisgesetz (NachwG). For this purpose, the relevant text modules had to be adapted or new text modules with corresponding parameters had to be created. Furthermore, the file storage was switched from the network drive to MS SharePoint, i.e. the employment contracts created are now stored directly in SharePoint using program logic. In addition to the technical adjustments, a release management system has been introduced, which includes versioning the application and providing a development, test and productive environment.