What are databases and what are their benefits?

What is a database?

At the heart of all businesses, whether they are scientific, medical, educational, research-based or commercial, are data. Companies acquire data from their clients, patients, subscribers, customers and suppliers and from their own products and services. Businesses often require data from other sources as reference data for their own products or services. This reference data includes information such as: population and demographic data; stocks and share prices; consumer profiles; medical code lists; telephone and email directories. The key to a company’s success is how they organise their data.

When business data is kept in several disparate formats, manual intervention is needed in order to cross reference data or link one or more datasets to each other. When a company has lots of separate datasets it is challenging for any one individual to fully understand the company’s business. By analysing the company’s business with a view to bringing datasets together it is possible to document and display all the facets of a company’s data. Design methods are then used to arrange the different datasets in a manner that any grouping, search or calculation can be made across all a company’s datasets and the power of the data can be harnessed and fully exploited. This designed arrangement of data is called a database design. Once the design is agreed a database can be developed to provide an integral business solution.

The benefits of databases

Implementing a database solution for a business will enhance productivity and accuracy. Duplicated processes can be eradicated; data can be entered by several people simultaneously, data can be validated on data-entry; data-entry can be reduced by providing pre-typed lookup lists and duplicate records can be exposed and removed. Data can be displayed dynamically to anyone who has permitted access in a wealth of different formats and reports. When web based solutions are used, data can be securely, entered and viewed anywhere in the world. A company’s web site can be kept up-to-date from their database facilitating marketing and sales.

Interrogating databases empowers organizations to achieve their targets. Knowing which customers are also suppliers; calculating the effect of international exchange rates on product or component prices; deriving population based incidence rates or calculating the potential size of a company’s client base can be keys to marketing success; better sales margins; achieving research goals or business plan acceptance.

Who needs databases?

In short all businesses need to store their data in fully relational databases which will enable them to utilise and exploit their data. For some business models there is excellent ‘off the shelf’ software which will be perfect for their purposes, while for specialist and research businesses it will be necessary to request customised software developed by specialists such as Advent IT.