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Store Related Information Together, Eliminate Duplication
The value any database can provide is to store related information in one place, and then let you connect various different things together (sometimes called “entities” in database speak). You store one version of the truth for any given thing, like a client, a DVD, or an order. Some of the major benefits to using a database are:
- Fewer errors and inconsistencies. Maintaining one version of the truth for the things you need to track minimizes the potential for duplication, errors, and inconsistent values. In the Excel example above, customer names, contact phone numbers, and product names are misspelled, transposed, and abbreviated in different forms. Imagine trying to create a report or graph in Excel that shows an accurate picture of your sales or other key performance indicators.
- Higher productivity. You and others working in your database need only change a single record and all other related things in your database will automatically “see” the change. In our Excel example, you would need to change every occurrence of a customer's name. Find and replace wouldn't necessarily catch that a customer's name is spelled six different ways. In a database, there is only one customer record to change. Every other record (orders, contacts, etc) that relates to that customer record will never need to change because they are joined to the customer. For increased productivity of overall business tasks, Microsoft Access can also be hosted on Microsoft Azure VDI .
- Security and Control. Databases provide a central location to store, secure, and control your data. Microsoft Access Online includes the ability to encrypt and password protect database files. And with users relying on a database rather than separate Excel spreadsheets, you can have greater control over access to the information.
- Better Decisions and Insight. Perhaps most importantly, a single source of truth in a standardized format means you can gain better insight and make better decisions by reporting and analyzing your data in a database. Users are familiar with Excel charting, and databases like Microsoft Access can provide similar capabilities, while going beyond Excel with more powerful historical trending, aggregation, and query filtering.
Regards,
Jake Paul.
