A database development solution is more than a bunch of rows and columns. Here are five questions to help you assess your current or future database development solution:
1) Can my database solution flex with my business? In today’s business environment the rules keep changing. Mandated reporting, insurance qualifications, promotional pricing, compensation plans – it seems like everything is in a constant state of flux. If you need to add a set of features to your database solution how long would it take to put it in production and how much would it cost?
2) Can your data be directly accessed by everyone who needs it? If not, there may be bottlenecks in your infrastructure. From thin desktop applications to intranets and extranets, when you remove the middleman you remove the bottleneck.
3) Can your database provide 21st century business automation? What robots did for the big automakers in the 20th century web services can do for small to medium-sized businesses today. Internal workflows and web service APIs (application programming interfaces) can make your data work for you, your partners, your vendors and your customers.
4) Is your data internally consistent? As datasets grow, so does chaos. If you have a table with 1000 rows, someone can look it over in a couple of hours and identify and correct any obvious inconsistencies. But at 10,000 rows or 10,000,000 rows you need a process to manage problem data. This process should identify, track, offer automatic and manual fixes, and resolve data inconsistencies.
5) Does your data help you identify trends, problems, or opportunities? Many of us find ourselves swimming in an ocean of data unsure what any of it really means. We may have a few specific reports that precisely answer a few specific questions, but can you see the forest or just the trees? With the right solution you can see overviews of your data from many possible directions, and have the ability to drill down for more detail? What if you could dream up your own key performance indicators (KPIs) on the fly, and try them out for a few weeks or months without having to pay a development team?
It used to be that speed, access control and backup were all we really wanted in a database solution. The times have changed and you can demand more from your database life cycle. Look for database platforms and development strategies that provide rapid development and integrate across multiple environments.
Look for future posts as we delve into some database development solutions more specifically.