As businesses grow, the volume of data they accumulate grows with it. More sophisticated tools are then needed to prevent data management becoming increasingly difficult.

Most businesses begin by using Microsoft Excel to manage data. These are powerful and effective tools that do their job well. However, expanding businesses often encounter problems associated with accessing and sharing data that these tools were not designed to do. The data is often replicated many times in many spreadsheets. Over time these spreadsheets evolve into multiple versions of the truth because they are not all updated as the underlying data changes.

A business doesn’t have to grow much before these problems go from mere annoyance to a full-blown crisis. This is what a database, which is more sophisticated, is designed to solve. It controls access at the record level - such as a single row within a document. This level of access can be technically complex to achieve, but ultimately provides huge benefits.

The right system can manage almost infinite volumes of data and can respond to thousands of data requests concurrently. A well structured database can give you immediate access to your data, whether it be for modification or reporting purposes. Easy access to accurate data is often what improves customer satisfaction and differentiates you from your competitors. Customer queries can be answered quickly, accurately and at lower cost.