SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DATABASE ENVIRONMENT - Database Design and Development: An Essential Guide for IT Professionals - page 80

Another fact, equally important, is that while performing each of the processes,
users also record fresh data in the database. For example, to complete the order
entry process, the order entry clerk needs product data from the database. While
processing an order, the clerk in turn creates and records order data. This twofold
aspect of using data and recording data affords a sense of unification among the
processes and makes the core business of the organization a cohesive whole.
Information—Common Asset You are already very much aware that informa-
tion is a major asset for an organization. Assets and resources in an organization
are needed to run the business. Plant and equipment are utilized for production of
goods. Cash is used to pay the company's bills. Compare information to the other
assets in the organization. The other assets are used for specific purposes by spe-
cific departments. The production department makes use of plant and equipment
for manufacturing products. The accounting department pays bills with cash. Infor-
mation, as an asset, differs from other types of assets. Corporate information in the
company database is not made of separable parts. It is a unified whole set of data,
ordered and integrated, for the purpose of supporting the company's core business.
The company database contains information common to all—created by all and
used by all. Information is a common corporate asset that must be shared easily by
all divisions and departments.
Major Benefits
Before we consider the major benefits of information sharing, let us be clear about
what the information is that users are sharing. Who records the information in the
corporate database in the first place? As you know, each department is responsible
for certain business processes. While performing the specific processes each depart-
ment creates data, and this data gets recorded in the database. In effect, all users
share information that is recorded through the performance of the various business
processes.
Let us now summarize the major benefits of information sharing within an
organization.
Synergy of Collective Information. When data are combined in a database envi-
ronment, the effect is synergistic. In other words, the combined data are more valu-
able than the sum of individual parts. In a file-oriented system, each department
creates and uses data in its own files. The order entry department uses the data in
its files, the marketing department the data in its files, and the production depart-
ment the data in its files. When you put order data, marketing data, and product
data in the database, each department still has access to its own files. But more than
that, each department has access to other files as well. The benefits each department
derives from its own data are complemented by the advantages of having access to
other files. This concept of data integration means that the benefits from the col-
lection of all parts of the data are more than sum of the benefits from each single
part of the data.
Complete Information. Because of information sharing, each department has
access to complete information about each business entity and business process.