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Databases > Planning A Database

A Quick Guide to Planning Your Database

By Lasa Information Systems Team

We get lots of enquiries from organisations who want to improve their databases or develop new ones. The options for getting a database include: building the database from scratch or modifying an existing database either in house or using developer, and buying an off the shelf product. Whichever option you choose, in order to use resources wisely and get the database that best meets your needs, you'll need to go through a planning process.

Getting started

It may seem obvious, but before getting started on a database project you'll need to make sure that you've got the following things in place to ensure your organisation is ready to complete and implement a database plan:

• Agreement at senior management or board level that database (and planning) is one of the priorities for the organisation
  
• Staff Time allocated to the planning process. This includes time for someone to coordinate the planning process, collect information on the needs of those who will be using the database etc., and time for users to give their input into the planning process. The amount of time taken for planning is often underestimated - it will obviously vary depending on the complexity of the database, size of the organisation etc. It would be wise however to allocate around 40 hours at least for the database coordinator to collect and collate the necessary information
  
• Funding to cover:
  
• staff time to develop the database plan
• the cost of buying or building the database
• staff time to test the database (e.g. to test a range of off the shelf products or test the database throughout the development process)
• training staff to use the database
• staffing and managing the database

Planning essentials

As part of the planning process you'll need to look at:

• The information you currently collect
• Any information you might want to collect in future
• What reports you need to produce - the information you want to get out of the database (e.g. who uses your services broken down by ward, advice queries by type, membership status)
• How information flows through your organisation (how information is collected, entered and reported, and who in the organisation performs these functions)
• Whether to develop a custom database or whether to use an existing product - if so which product best suits your needs

What should your database plan include?

Your database plan should be written in plain language avoiding technical jargon as much as possible. It's helpful to include the following sections:

• Summary / introduction - outlining your organisation's objectives, why you need a database, what you want to achieve with the database, what sort of database you already have, how a new / modified database will help your organisation achieve its objectives
• How information flows through your agency - what data you need to collect, importing existing data, reports needed, what functionality the database must have (e.g. number of records it needs to be able to hold, search capabilities, integration with accounts software etc.)
• Implementation plan - timescale for implementing the database including staff roles and responsibilities, properly costed budget
• Hardware / Software needs assessment and purchasing plan - identifying minimum hardware and software requirements needed to run the database (e.g. Windows 2000, 133 MHz or higher processor) - will any upgrades be needed? - how much will they cost?
• Staff resources needed (internal and external) - which staff will use the database? who will maintain the database? will an external consultant be used? Identify any existing staff with appropriate technical skills
• Training needs - which staff need training? who will provide training? what type of training? how will current and future staff be trained? etc.
• Which product you will use or who will build the database for you
• Who will support the database - in house or external? - whether a developer or existing product is used what after-sales support will be available?

Time spent on the planning process will save a lot of heartache and is essential to give a clear idea of the type of database your organisation needs, can afford and support. 

This article summarises a very detailed database planning guide available from the Techsoup website.