Common denominator
Long-term, it's a lot easier to have a single source of the truth. So using the Internet to centralise databases can keep everyone on the same page.
The e-business push continues and is one of the key drivers for businesses to standardise on a single database. Today it's not uncommon for one part of a company to use dozens of databases to do the same task around the globe. With Internet links becoming faster and more reliable, it's time to bring as much data together in one place as possible. Even so, companies are moving slowly: Only 20 percent of those surveyed have the majority of their data integrated across companywide applications, according to Zona Research. Peter Urban, senior analyst at AMR Research, points to Oracle as a prime example of the benefits of integration. Urban estimates that Oracle owes as much as US$100 million of its reported billion-dollar savings program to the dramatic consolidation in corporate data. The software maker boiled 70 financial databases down to just four, with a single database on the horizon.
While databases may not seem like the realm of your CEO, COO, or CFO, in this case they should be. Regional managers may feel coerced into giving up their existing systems when you roll out a data integration program. Urban stresses that strong leadership is necessaryââ,¬"-in Oracle's case, Larry Ellison demanded major improvements in the return on his technology dollar. "The French guy wanted his own database. The German guy wanted his own," Urban says. "But if they kept their own shop and maintained their own database, there was no way they were going to be able to return the money to Ellison. They were forced to go to a centralised system."
Settling on a single database platformââ,¬"-and depending on the size and complexity of your business that could mean Oracle, Informix, IBM, or a host of other solutionsââ,¬"-takes time. Even once you've selected an application you may need consulting help to pull together all of your data and cross-check it before it becomes part of the greater whole. Still, it's worth the work. "Long-term, it's a lot easier to have a single source of the truth," says Urban.
The move to consolidate company data is also driving businesses to adopt XML (Extensible Markup Language). This flexible open data standard makes it easy for all kinds of data to link and interrelate. For example, if both you and your supplier have data in XML format, a customer request from your system can be automatically checked against inventory status information from his system.
"People don't start out saying 'I want to do XML,' they start out with the idea that they want to integrate data in a large fashion, and they come to the conclusion that the way to do it is [XML]," explains Urban.
The specification for XML is readily available and applications like Microsoft Visual Studio and Lotus Domino can help you put it to work today. If you want to move your existing data to XML format, conversion specialists like TIBCO subsidiary Extensibility specialise in this burgeoning area.
The important thing to remember is that you don't have to wait for your current applications to support XML completely. You can migrate your data with a look toward the future. IT managers tell Martin Marshall, Zona Research managing director, that XML may cut internal application development time by 30 to 50 percent, an estimate he says is conservative. XML also means significantly reduced headaches in document management and conversion between coworkers and partners.
