How to Choose the Right Database for Your Company?

Introduction

Every business person in the digital age knows and understands the benefit of using a database management system to protect their company and customer data. Choosing the right database for your company is not always an easy task to go through because there is the technical side of things that you need to get in place; otherwise, l, you will not choose the right database for your company. 

With so many database management systems on the market at the moment, an inexperienced business owner can make the mistake of choosing just any database that comes his/her way. A database management system is as important as your hard drive in a computer. When the hard drive crashes the chances of you losing your data if you did not back up that drive is very high. That is how important it is for you to get it right in your choice of database management system. 

Thankfully, there are a lot of experts on the market that can advise you on how to choose the right database for your company, however, it goes without saying that you will pay a heavy fee to secure the services of this professional. Do you want to extract data? Scraping Robot provides high-quality web scraping at a fraction of the cost of our competitors. Sign up today and get 5000 free scrapes!

In this article, we have seen the need to explain the process of how to choose the right database management system for a company, and that is why we have decided to put this post together so that new and existing businesses can benefit from the tips that we will be sharing in this article.

There are so many factors to consider when looking to choose the right database for your business; however, we have pruned down the list for easy assimilation. Keep in mind that this has a direct impact on demand generation, so choose your database management system with care.

#1. Define Your Goals

The first step you need to take in your attempt to choose the right database management system for your business is to define your goals. Do you plan to do marketing research? Do you intend to run a business that will be on top of sales and inventory? Is your business looking to increase lead generation and customer engagement? When you understand the type of information that you want to collect, it will be very easy for you to organize and choose the right database for your business. 

Additionally, understanding what you want to do with the collected data will also inform your choice of database for your company. With so many database management systems on the internet, it can be confusing for you to pick one that will reflect and capture all your business needs; therefore, it is important for you to gather all the information that is necessary before going out to choose a database for your company. Remember, the bottom line is to choose a database that will not only store your business data safely but will also protect the data from the prying eyes of internet scammers and hackers.

#2. Know Your Databases

Once you have organized your goals into a simple format and then realize the need for you to choose a database in the first place, the next step is to understand the different types of databases that are out there on the market. For many smaller companies that we have seen regardless of the industry, Microsoft Access is usually the starting point. This database is very perfect for a small to medium-sized business that is looking to gain traction in the nearest possible future. The database file is generally placed on a shared drive in such a way that all the users that will be accessing the database will have access to the forms and report without encountering any encumbrances. 

If you are working in a team and all the team members need to have access to your database, then the perfect database to choose in this instance is the server-based systems like Oracle and SQL servers. These databases are suitable especially if you are organizing a large amount of data and you want to update and share this data simultaneously and more all team members. This system is known to use a dedicated server to hold the database in place. Your choice of the database can actually make or mar the progress that your business experiences, as you move forward in your career. Choosing the right database will make your progress faster and also provide your business data with effective protection against cybercriminals and data corruption. Plus, you’ll be able to back up your data in a safe and effective manner. A service like Everconnect can be of great help.

#3. Comparing Database Systems

The next factor to consider if you’re looking to choose the right database for your company is to compare the available database on the market before making the final decision. As far as the database market is concerned, there are three main reasons why most businesses prefer server-based database systems over the shared file system. The reasons include; one, data integrity. For instance, Microsoft Access offers the least data protection as far as the database industry is concerned. 

Files can get corrupted at odd hours while you need the data the most. Server-based databases have what we call in-built protection against data corruption that may attack the Microsoft Access system. The second reason is because of performance. Server-based systems are much better in terms of performance compared to shared file databases, and the reason is not far-fetched. Each user prefers the old data file against the local network area when using the server-based systems. 

The third reason is because of the ease of maintenance. Truth be told, the ease of maintaining Microsoft Access is actually a pain in the neck for most business people. But when it comes to the maintenance of server-based databases, it is actually not time-consuming. Businesses can maintain this database in little or no less time and as such it will prevent downtime for businesses.

Conclusion

While there are many factors to consider before settling for a database system for your company, the biggest factor you should look up to is database security. By all means, ensure that the database system that you will be installing for your business is secure from attack, particularly intellectual property attacks or data theft. On a final note, every business person should have a data recovery plan for their business so that in the event of an attack they can easily recover their business data without losing so much revenue.