Think of a database you have used at work or for personal use. How did it help you organize data?
For someone who is only starting to explore the possibilities of the Internet, the creation of a database seems rather redundant. Indeed, even after starting their own web page, users typically learn very quickly that their personal data is quite scanty to be worth developing a database. However, as soon as other people, including friends, family members, acquaintances, etc., are included in the network, the site grows too large to accommodate all the data efficiently. Hence, the need to create a database emerges (Oz 120).
In my personal experience, I had to use a database in order to arrange my personal data related to the reading club that my friend and I decided to start. At first, keeping track of the books that we have read and discussed, as well as the ones that were supposed to be chosen for the next discussions, was relatively easy. However, as soon as more people started joining our club, it became very complicated to coordinate our actions. Several discussion threads appeared, which led to the creation of several discussion rooms. Consequently, the need to coordinate the actions between these discussion rooms emerged as well. As a result, it was decided that a database should be created, and I was chosen as the person to organize and manage it.
At first, the process of database management was very difficult for me. I had to figure out on my own how to use the software for database management, as well as how to plan further events and arrange the information so that it could be found easily. However, as soon as I started using such database management software as the SAS Data Management in order to navigate between different discussion rooms efficiently.
If a company kept all their data on sales in a large database, how can they derive value from it?
Creating a large database for a company to keep its data in is a very important step towards arranging the key facts about the firm and developing a flexible information management system. However, according to what recent researches say, not only can a company locate its data fast and efficiently with the help of large databases, but it also derives an impressive value from it. As Oz explains, a large database with information properly arranged in it is a key to the company’s economic and financial success.
For example, when using a virtual database as a tool for arranging the data concerning the company’s sales, one can expect that the rearrangement of the information will help make a range of important conclusions concerning the efficacy of sales, the factors affecting the sales, and the means to improve the latter by changing the factors in question. More to the point, based on the way in which the information is arranged, it will be possible to define which techniques were the most efficient in increasing sales, which customers have visited the company most often, and which sales promotion techniques worked best in attracting clients.
It is essential that computer databases – or, at least, most of the computer databases – allow for changing the principle of data arrangement fast (Oz 130), as well as switching between different types of data arrangement. As a result, a variety of factors affecting the sales can be singled out in the process. While computer software is merely a tool for data management, one must admit that it is a very useful tool, which can provide a range of opportunities for those who have decent computer skills.
Works Cited
Oz, Effy. “Business Hardware.” Management Information Systems. Ed. Effy Oz. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning. 119–156. Print.