DATABASE SOFTWARE SELECTION

This article addresses criteria involved in selecting marketing database software. On the surface, the process looks very simple. In fact, many office software suites come with database software that can be very tempting to use. To begin with a suite contains products that have been designed to work well together. The software company has already solved most of the integration issues for you. Typical ones you may encounter are Microsoft Access, Lotus Approach, Borland dBASE, Lotus Notes, Oracle and Informix.

If you are planning to use a basic mailing list, doing everything yourself, it does not make much difference what database software you use. Any we have encountered will allow you to store basic mailing information and use it to merge with a form letter or label template. On the other hand if you are a database marketeer and are planning to use a variety of demographic information to target the messages you send to your audience, then more thought is required. Further complicating things may be sharing files on a network or more recently exchanging data on the Internet.

Lets look at some of the considerations in selecting a database program.

• Features/functionality: Does the program have the capability to do the things that you want it to do? Now? In the future? Is it easy to use? Is the software available for different operating environments?
• Cost: How will the total cost of implementation compare under the different alternatives that are available?
• The company: Does the company seem stable? Many smaller software companies have gone out of business or have been absorbed by larger companies and their products have been dropped and support is no longer available. This may result in incurring added costs to convert to another program. Also, is the product one that has been upgraded with new features and adapted to work with newer operating system software? New features may be available by the time you grow into the program and need them.
• Your peers: What are others doing in your office environment? It can be nice to help each other use software tools. Having shared support personnel necessitates standardization when it comes to selecting software.

These are a few of the major considerations when selecting database software. Many apply to other types of software as well. Rockwood Management Services tests and uses a variety of commonly encountered software. We can help you make a good selection for the long term.

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