I recently attended Kickstart, an annual technology conference that takes place on the Gold Coast, Queensland.
Kickstart is unique because it brings together around 50 of Australia's leading technology media and gives IT vendors the opportunity to discuss what's happening in the IT industry. It also gives us a chance to discuss our view on how we see the news agenda taking shape for the year to come.
Getting started
For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the first point to consider when choosing a database is how easy it is to deploy. I recently started developing websites for several not-for-profit associations and decided on a database based of the ease of installation. To create a content management system for these websites, I simply installed the open source XAMPP web server stack and everything I needed, including MySQL, was there ready to go. Of course, the fact that open source software is free is an added bonus for a voluntary organisation.
As small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) incorporate complex IT systems into their infrastructure, they need to invest in a scalable database to act as a robust repository for their business-critical data. Many businesses still use spreadsheets to run some company processes, but as the enterprise grows, outdated methods no longer cut the mustard.
There are a number of reasons you might need a new database. Many software vendors require a database back-end for their business, for example. Or you may want to update or expand on a database you already use to support your website or accounting processes.
