Identifying Relationships
Between Data and Business.
Data is the prima materia of a computer network.
Collecting it, analyzing it, and managing it constitute the only sensible reason to build and maintain a Local Area Network
(Local Net). All else is luxury.
Think about what sustains your business at the core level: the production and sale of goods or services, and the income which productivity and profit generate for ownership and employees.
You make something and you sell it. You record the sale, invoice the sale, and collect payment for the sale. You put the money in the bank, pay your bills, and balance the account. This fundamental cycle produces a flow of cash to maintain daily operations. It keeps the doors open and the power on.
By repeating the cycle fast enough and often enough, a business generates profits, bonuses, raises, increased capacity, and marketplace power. It may even create wealth.
A piece of data in one form or another is attached to each transaction in the cycle: orders are entered, tracked, and fulfilled; production and inventory are monitored, managed, and replenished; receivables, payables, and payroll are calculated, recorded, deposited, and disbursed.
A Zillion Fields and Fragments.
Even at small businesses, these diverse and interconnected pieces of data spawn thousands of files,
a zillion fields and fragments of names and numbers, facts and figures.
How important to your success is this data -- and the management of it?
How do you effectively engage data management challenges -- and toward what end? How do you analyze the zillion facts and figures to align them with production objectives, marketing goals, and bottom-line operational requirements?
These questions raise complex issues along multiple lines of inquiry. Each has a good answer.
The process of arriving at the answers can be downright stimulating to a small business. It will uncover and define problems, test the resourcefulness of employees, and reveal previously unseen opportunities. It often demands tough decisions about staff and budgets.
The Latin root for data, datum, means "something given." That something can be translated into indispensable information, which can lead to knowledge, and you guessed it: give managers and owners the power to win in the competitive business climate of the day.
That said, let's get down to specifics....
| Page launched: July 18, 2000 |
Most recent revision: September 26, 2000 |
Developmental Level: Partial Draft |
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