The plain and simple fact is that e-businesses today cannot endure or prevail without quality data about their internal and external environment and operations (O'Brien, 2003). Therefore, many companies, large and small, need to use database management systems. We will be exploring some of the different types of databases, such as:.
1. Operational Databases.
2. Distributed Databases.
3. External Databases.
We will also explore the different types of database structures, such as:.
1. Hierarchical .
2. Network.
3. Relational.
4. Multidimensional.
5. Object-Oriented.
In evaluating all of these various databases and structures, it will become clearer as to which is the best database management system for your company.
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Let's start with operational databases, also known as, subject area databases, transaction databases, and production databases. This is a database containing up-to-date, modifiable data. Some examples of operational databases are Inventory databases, human resource databases, customer databases, and e-commerce database containing company information or data generated by the business. There are quite a few companies out there that sell operational database programs. For instance, the Informatica Corporation sells one called PowerCenter 6. Informatica PowerCenter 6 is a data integration platform for building, deploying, and managing enterprise data warehouses. It enables users to easily transform data from various transaction sources into reliable information for strategic business analysis. Another operational database software is MicroStrategy 7i by MicroStrategy Inc. This program is an open platform that provides solid analysis of the business information stored in the computer system. This program can handle any size database and thousands of users. Some other features included are ad hoc query and analysis, statistical analysis and data mining, enterprise reporting, cube analysis, and report delivering and altering (Knowledgestorm.
