KEH Camera Brokers is America’s largest dealer of used cameras and photographic products. Founded in 1979, KEH serves customers worldwide who are looking for the best value in new and used equipment, repair, and prompt, reliable service. Most KEH customers are enthusiasts and collectors who view KEH as their primary source for items not available elsewhere. KEH is known in the industry for their expertise and prompt service.

Pre-Migration IT Infrastructure

An in-house application developed in DataFlex to manage mission-critical areas, such as accounting, purchasing, selling, and repairs
The programs were developed in DF 3.2 for Linux and DF 3.2 for Console Mode, with some components in Visual DataFlex.
DataFlex database files resided on a Linux server and shared with programs running on Windows through SAMBA.

Key Challenges

• Inability to integrate with other applications and tools
• Inability to take advantage of newer development tools and languages
  Slow reporting
• Inefficient file access across multiple operating systems
  Frequent index corruption
• Slow performance
• Inability to replicate data automatically to stand-by servers and mobile users

The Solution

Standardize on a single client/server relational database running on an open source platform, with out of the box replication support. The choice was MySQL 5.0 running on a Linux server.

Mertech Products and Services

• Mertech’s Flex2SQL™ for MySQL for Windows and Linux clients.
• Mertech Consulting Services – migration planning, database setup and migration.

“Now we have fewer errors and no interruptions, with the ability to more
effectively trace and track problems. The PC clients using DOS Clients
are now able to access the database with the same quality and speed
as clients who use Linux emulation mode or native Linux environment.

The quality of assistance of Mertech has been great. It is the most useful technical service I ever had and the results are tangible.”

Arturo Valdez , IT Manager, KEH