Database Design Buyer's Guide

Designing your database solutions

Before you sit down with a developer to work on database solutions, it's critical to have a thorough idea of what functionality you need. If you don't, you could wind up with a poorly designed database that wastes time, money, and company productivity.

Start by gathering everyone who will be using the database. This group should address questions such as:

Why do we need this database? Outline your needs and what you intend to do with your database solutions. What information do you need to track? Will you use it mainly to store data or to perform complex reporting? What reports will you need to see? What existing software will it need to work with?

Who will have access? You may need to pay a licensing fee for every person using the database, so it's important to know how many people will use it. Will you need to support multiple simultaneous users? Should it be accessible via the Internet? How much security do you need (passwords, log-ins, etc.)?

What are your future plans? Will your business grow considerably over the next few years? How might it affect your data gathering or reporting requirements? If so, it's best to prepare for more functionality than you need so your database can adapt to changing requirements.

Who will maintain the database? If possible, identify a database solutions expert in-house who can monitor the database once it's implemented. This way, if you run into a small problem, you'll be able to fix it in-house rather than turn to the vendor. If you don't have a qualified person on staff, identify a consultant or a support specialist from your vendor.

If you're really unsure where to start, a designer should be able help you define your requirements. By explaining what you're looking for in the finished product, a designer can craft custom database solutions for you or modify a set of sample databases they have already created. Selecting a vendor familiar with your industry can be valuable since they likely have developed databases similar to the one you want and know what questions to ask.

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