The Best Database Management Systems for Small Businesses

In today's world, more and more data is gaining weight, and without exaggeration it can be said that the world is governed by information. Therefore, now much attention is paid to the collection, storage, analysis and sale of the information product. The key to successful development of modern business is to accumulate, organize and use, for example, such information about its customers, as their needs, preferences in purchases, etc. Such information can help in making informed decisions about the practical effectiveness of advertising proposals, finding unprofitable business segments, analyzing the demand for manufactured goods or services, tracking the dynamics of trade for individual items, and reviewing other key factors. Using databases with proper use gives us these advantages over competitors.

If you are a small business owner and do not yet use the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, which automates the generation of customer interaction strategies, the success of your business is subject to certain risks. Remember that your competitors are not asleep!

Consider, with what software you can build a database aimed at the unique needs of your small business, which will collect daily, weekly, monthly or annual data.

Filemaker Pro 12

This database for a long time has not deservedly fallen out of the eyes of DBMS administrators and developers, but has been loved by the business community since its inception. Filemaker Pro, created by Apple, works both on the Mac operating system and on the Windows system. The program is an intuitive and very easy-to-use tool for creating your own information bases with support for providing information on the Internet that is able to generate reports in the ordinary and advanced modes, and can be integrated with other database systems.

Microsoft Access 2010

For a long time Access from Microsoft Office was the most popular solution for most small businesses. However, now it has faced competition from other databases, which are easier to use, better integrated with cloud systems, do not require much knowledge in creating, maintaining databases and developing software.

If you already have a database, it is likely that it was built using Microsoft Access. The new version of 2010 looks and works better, easier to use, compared to previous versions, for example, with the mass-used version of 2003. Despite the fact that this database management system began to be hampered by competitors, it still occupies a leading position in this segment of the software market.

Oracle Application Express (APEX)

APEX is a database management system built on a mega-successful database engine Oracle. APEX is available completely free of charge if you are already an Oracle customer and provide a more advanced system for creating business applications than Microsoft Access or FileMaker Pro. However, using APEX is not so easy compared to simply entering data into tables, as it does in the Access database.

If you already use Oracle or you think you need more advanced database management capabilities, such as integrating with other data systems in the future, or how processing very large amounts of data with fast performance, then APEX is the right choice.

Zoho Creator

Zoho Creator is a relative newbie in the world of databases and offers an intuitive database system that uses "cloud". Developers Zoho created a really reliable, easy-to-use system, in which without much preparation you can quickly create a simple database application. This is made possible by the use of forms for data entry, a very good report builder, integration with other systems, which is often necessary if you have an existing database created in other database management systems, or when using your partner databases.

If you are not sure which database management system to use when creating your database, in my opinion, for a small business it's a good idea to create it with Zoho Creator, but the choice is always yours!