Patent ID: 8799215

Claim:
A data processing method for obtaining and storing data in an outsourcing environment, the method including: providing a user interface on a user computer; receiving, at the user interface, user data to be stored either in a user database located at a user computer or in a remote database located at a remote computer; prior to storing the user data received at the user interface, determining an indicator that indicates whether there is data already stored in the user database to be synchronized with the remote database; if the indicator indicates that there is data already stored in the user database to be synchronized with the remote database, the method further comprises: storing the user data received at the user interface in the user database with the data already stored in the user database, and synchronizing the user database with the remote database; and if the indicator indicates that there is no data already stored in the user database to be synchronized with the remote database, the method further includes: determining whether the remote database is available, if the remote database is determined to be unavailable, storing the user data received at the user interface in the user database, and attempting to synchronize the user database with the remote database, and if the remote database is determined to be available, storing the user data in the remote database.