What Is The Importance Of Dbms In Business?

As the name suggests, a DBMS, or Database Management System, is computer software managing databases. Using one of a variety of database models, such as relational or network models, for instance, it allows other software and users within a large system to store and/ or retrieve data in an efficient, structured manner.

DBMS consists of a combination of pre-written software programs controlling the following functions of a database:

• Storage
• Organization
• Management
• Update
  
• Retrieval of data.

A DBMS is categorized according to the data types and structures in use. It accepts and processes data requests from an application program, and responds by instructing the operating system to access and transfer the relevant data. With a DBMS in use, it is easier for an organization to make alterations to their information system as requirements undergo changes, as additional data categories can be integrated into the database without any disruption to the running of the existing system.

Organizations often use one type of DBMS for their daily transactions, while the detail is then moved onto another computer using a DBMS better adapted to deal with analysis and random inquiries. The overall design of a system is usually decided on and created by a co-operation between system analysts and database administrators.

The importance of DBMS becomes clear when considering the amount of data stored and processed by large organizations such as

• health organizations like medical centers, hospitals etc,
• multinational companies and
• government agencies, for instance.

Maintaining manual, paper-based registers for all required data would be physically impossible. DBMS not only significantly reduces space requirements, it also allows instant access to information which otherwise may take weeks to find. Imagining a doctor in New York accessing a patient's records, for example, highlights both the goals and necessity, or importance, of DBMS.