SmallBizResource Blog -- Software

This Lawyer Loves Her Bento 2 Mac Database Software

Posted by Gayle Kesten Tuesday, Mar 3, 2009, 06:20 PM ET

When San Francisco attorney Grace Suarez decided life was too short to be vexed by Windows Vista, Apple's iMac became her lifeline. But no matter how much Suarez loved her new computer, finding easy-to-use database software to develop her case management system was more a matter of trial and error.

Suarez started with FileMaker -- consistently the preferred database of Macintosh users, according to InformationWeek. It took her a few months to set up a usable system, "but it wasn't easy," she told me. "I was beginning to think I was going to have to become a part-time programmer to get this thing done." So when FileMaker introduced Bento (same company, different product) in early 2008, this tech-savvy lawyer, who has been in private practice since 2001, decided to give it a whirl. "I played around with it, but didn't love it," says Suarez, who went back to FileMaker.

In October, FileMaker came out with a second version of Bento. Suarez gave it another go. "It was a completely different product," she says. "I was able to replicate functionality of the case management database I had been using for two months in less than an hour."

Why use a database at all? "Spreadsheets only get you so far," Suarez explains. "Most people start with spreadsheet as a database, then wake up and realize it's not enough."

Designed specifically for the Mac's Leopard operating system, the $49 Bento 2 brings together your contacts, e-mail, calendar, projects and events, and lets you import from and export to Excel/Numbers spreadsheets. Database information is searchable via an iTunes-like interface. Beyond just data, Bento 2 can store images and audio files. "It has such tight integration with Apple's products -- Address Book, and iCal, and Tasks," Suarez says. "Bento lets you see your data in a table format, and can split the screen for easy scrolling."

In setting up her system, Suarez first created what Bento calls a Library, which basically refers to the umbrella topic of what is in your database. (Bento comes with 20 templates to help you get started, though you can start from scratch. I've provided a few screenshots as examples.) For example, Suarez's Clients Library contains information on each of her clients. "I start out with a name, court number, county where the person was convicted, and all those little bits of information," she says. Into each file Suarez drags and drops from her Address Book those people who are relevant to the case; iCal items that list, for example, when various briefs are due; and Tasks that make up her to-do list, such as write briefs. "It's so simple," she maintains. "You start out with blank form, you start dragging fields, and before you know it you've created a perfectly reliable database."

Suarez says she tracks her expenses in a separate Library. Backup is a click from within the Bento application; Suarez stores her databases on her own external hard drive, "which I copy to a couple of different areas," she explains. "I have three levels of backup -- what I call connected external backup, offline but on-site backup, and off-site backup, and I'm looking at Internet backup. I'm exploring Dropbox, iDisk, Mozy, and Jungledisk."

Of note, Bento can't be shared among users. It's a one-person, one-database system. If you're finding it tricky to conceptualize how Bento 2 works, FileMaker offers 10 mini videos to show you the ropes. As I viewed them, I realized Suarez essentially taught me everything I'd need to know during a conversation that lasted less than an hour.

"It's difficult to keep even a simple practice going without an organizational tool," she says. "Bento takes the information out of my head and puts it into a trusted zone."

Related Links

• Mid-Market Heroes: Law Firm Goes From Mac To PC
• EMC Mozies Into Online Mac Backups
• SLIDESHOW: Building the Mac Office

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