Database Analysis & Design:

Asking the Tough Questions:

we know what questions to ask when getting started to help you avoid potential pitfalls that lie ahead. The majority of databases powering today’s leading companies are built on Oracle technology, but each implementation is unique. This is why we feel it is important to do an analysis of your needs and requirements before designing your database.

We know the underpinnings of Oracle inside and out, and will ask the tough questions that will help create a better application. Having us on board to help analyze your needs will help develop a better product, and help prevent mistakes that become more costly down the road.

Eliminating Unnecessary Costs:

By interviewing users or potential users of your product, we assist in establishing the requirements of what your database are going to be up front, before you sink money into unwanted or unnecessary features. The result of our analysis is a specification of needs: how the processes will flow from a user’s perspective. We attempt to ask appropriate questions to get at the heart of your users’ needs, and to make sure the processes we outline correctly map to database functionality your users need.

Once we’ve delivered a high-level specification for what your database is going to do for users, it’s time to Design and Architect the System.

Once you’ve got a specification for what your system has to do, we develop a schema, or logical design, for the database, as well as an architecture of how the system will look.

Logical Design

The logical design is a blueprint for the development of the database, and it is crucial that your database be built right from the very beginning. Oracle has many features, and we know how best to use them. This helps our clients avoid reinventing the wheel, and use functionality available within the database from the very beginning.

Architecture

A good database encompasses more than just good logical design, it also requires an optimized architecture of your hardware for maximum results. At Database Specialists we know our hardware, and we know how to get the best performance out of it. We ensure you have the proper hardware in the optimal configuration.

Throughout the design and architecture phase we work with senior management and your senior development team to produce three things:

• A road map of what the physical systems are going to be;
• A specification of what technologies are going to be leveraged (Oracle, its features and add-ons, JDBC Drivers, application layer specifications, etc.); and
• A specification of what programs need to be written, i.e. “Stored procedure for a newscast personalized to a user’s preferences based on ratings.”