Simplify the complicated

Select a database system that is easy to use and cost effective

Industrial Distribution - May 1, 2005

Russ Mellott

Imagine that your business' technology solution is a house. The operating platform on which it is built is its foundation. The solution's front end is the house's façade, and its database is the framework that holds everything together.

While each of the house's components are equally important, it's particularly critical to choose a solid frame that holds strong against the elements and keeps your belongings safe. The same is true for your technology infrastructure: You should select a solution with a database that lets you manage your business information securely, confidently and cost effectively.

As a highly scalable, easy-to-administer data management system, SQL Server offers one of the best price-to-performance ratios on the market, along with a set of intuitive tools just about anyone can handle.

At their most basic level, all databases are designed to perform the same task: store information. What differentiates one database from the next is the method in which it stores your business information—and the tools it offers to query and analyze that data.

Because a huge number of skilled resources have spent years developing features within SQL Server, the solution is highly developed and easy to use. And, because it is so user-friendly, it is also simpler—and more cost-effective—to find talent to administer it.

According to Chris Evans, system administrator at DXP Enterprises, SQL Server's user-friendliness gives reporting capabilities back to the end users who can create their own reports, with minimal training.

"Reporting isn't an IT function anymore," Evans says. "We can focus on proactive tasks, and executives can get what they need as soon as they need it. It's a win-win for everyone."

If your business is similar to those of many other distributors—in which an accounting clerk might act as system administrator—that person can feasibly manage the SQL Server. Because SQL is a business class database that allows you to per-form backups and index utilities even while your solution is completely operational, it eliminates downtime.

Perhaps you employ 10 people today, but envision opening six branches and hiring two dozen new employees within five years. Your database should offer you the flexibility and the capacity to carry out your five-year plan and manage more users, more customers, and more sales.

As a data management system, SQL can handle the transactions that flow through your business, no matter if 10 or 1,000 people use your enterprise software solution on a daily basis. It can also offer competitive cost-per-transaction ratios.

Because so many of the business technology tools available today are native to the Windows environment—the same environment on which SQL Server is built—it can connect directly to an Excel database, for example, to maximize your operations.

"It's very easy to send information to a spreadsheet and produce things like mailing lists and dunning reports," says Bob Mitchell, owner of the Oklahoma-based NorthWest Bearing and Industrial Supply. "It's just a lot faster and less labor-intensive."

A database stores the most vital facets of your business. Make sure you choose the appropriate system to house this information and further expand your business' possibilities.