THE DATABASE APPROACH - Database Design and Development: An Essential Guide for IT Professionals - page 6

1994 4 gigabytes

1995 9 gigabytes

1997 18 gigabytes

2000 50 gigabytes

Computer Applications Over the years, the types of computer applications have
changed and progressed from mere bookkeeping applications to multimedia and
data mining applications. Some of you might remember the days when the com-
puter department was known as the data processing department. Applications in
those days just processed data in elementary ways to produce some reports. The
technology explosion resulted in a grand transition of computer usage from simple
to increasing sophistication. Review the following details.

Data Processing Applications (DP). In the early days of computing, computer
departments built applications just to replace clerical labor. Mostly, these applica-
tions performed simple accounting and financial functions. These applications pro-
duced straightforward reports. Speed and accuracy of the computer in performing
calculations were the primary factors. Computer systems stored and retrieved data
from magnetic tapes and earlier versions of disk drives. Applications used sequen-
tial or flat files to organize data.

Management Information Systems (MIS). In the next stage, growth of technology
manifested itself in applications that went beyond accounting and finance to sup-
porting the entire core business of an organization. Applications began to appear
to process orders, manage inventory, bill customers, pay employees, and so on. Orga-
nizations depended on their management information systems for their day-to-day
business. Storage and retrieval of data mostly depended on hard disks. Many appli-
cations adopted the use of database technology.

Decision-Support Systems (DSS). Further technology growth in processor speed,
storage media, systems software, and database techniques pushed the application
types to systems that supported strategic decision making. These applications
are not meant for supporting day-to-day operations of a business but for providing
information to executives and managers to make strategic decisions. In which
markets should the company expand? Where should the next distribution ware-
house be built? Which product lines should be discontinued? Which ones should be
boosted? These applications dealt with sales analysis, profitability analysis, and cus-
tomer support. Decision-support systems made use of improved storage facilities
and newer features of database technology.

Data Warehousing (DW) and Data Mining (DM) Systems. In recent years, with the
enormous progress in processor scalability, mass storage, and database methods,
organizations are able to forge ahead with their applications, especially in building
data warehousing and data mining systems. These recent decision-support systems,
much more sophisticated than earlier attempts, require large volumes of data and
complex analytical techniques. These systems need large databases specially
designed and built separately from the databases that support the day-to-day oper-
ational systems.