When selecting a database solution, it's important to not only assess its technical functions such as data storage and retrieval but also the business value it can bring to the organization.
According to the Gartner Enterprise Value Equation, it's vital for organizations to assess the value that technology can create by determining the net gain from the benefits received and costs incurred. This approach highlights a growing need for businesses to consider more than just financials in their decision-making. By evaluating the net gain from benefits and costs, organizations can gain a better understanding of the true value that technology can bring to their operations.
It may be noted that the database is typically a critical component for the success of a modern data-driven enterprise. It is the foundation of many business-critical functions, systems, and processes, and provides the means to store and manage large amounts of data. The database is often the backbone of an organization's IT infrastructure and is crucial for the efficient and effective operation of many business functions such as customer relationship management, financial management, supply chain management, and much more. A well-designed and well-maintained database can provide a durable competitive advantage by allowing an enterprise to make better use of its data to drive business decisions and improve operations.
The Oracle Autonomous Database provides a host of business benefits that are often overlooked by customers. Here are seven examples of these lesser-known benefits that can be gained by using the Oracle Autonomous Database.
- INCREASED EFFICIENCY: Oracle Autonomous Database's extensive automation results in increased business efficiency, fewer mistakes, and enhanced performance. This translates to cost reductions, superior customer service, and heightened competitiveness for your organization.
- IMPROVED DATA QUALITY: Oracle Autonomous Database's self-driving capabilities improve the functioning of the database (e.g., setup, operations, etc.) and quality of information by reducing human error and increasing data accuracy, completeness, and consistency through the use of auto error detection and self-repairing capabilities. This leads to improved and timely decision-making and overall performance for the business.
- INCREASED AGILITY: Oracle Autonomous Database's extensive automation and converged features facilitate organizations to quickly adjust and adapt to changes in the marketplace or internal business operations. This results in increased innovation and competitiveness, especially when paired with low-code development tools such as Oracle Apex.
- IMPROVED COMPLIANCE: The Oracle Autonomous Database offers several features that can help businesses comply with regulations and standards, such as built-in security features, auditing capabilities, compliance management, data governance, automatic backups and recovery, and more. These features can help organizations meet regulatory requirements related to data security, data privacy, and data retention.
- IMPROVED SCALABILITY: Oracle Autonomous Database enables organizations to flexibly and easily adjust their data operations to changing business needs. This leads to increased efficiency and cost savings. It should be noted that this pertains to business scalability and not just the scalability of the database itself. The capability of deploying a high-quality, converged database on demand, quickly and reliably, significantly enhances the scalability of the business. For example, rolling out additional capacity, new systems or sub-systems, or brand-new capabilities becomes much easier and faster.
- IMPROVED EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION: Autonomous Database frees up employees (e.g., DBAs, testers, system administrators, etc) from repetitive and mundane tasks, allowing them to focus on higher-value activities such as getting involved with data engineering, data analytics, machine learning, and AI initiatives. This can result in increased job satisfaction and improved retention.
- IMPROVED CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE: The use of an autonomous database leads to better overall service (e.g., higher performance, greater availability, instant scalability, etc.), resulting in a higher level of customer satisfaction and retention. This, in turn, positively impacts the overall performance of the business and the bottom line.
In summary, the Oracle Autonomous Database offers numerous critical advantages for businesses that lead to improved employee satisfaction, better customer experience, and overall improved business performance. Organizations should carefully assess and make an informed decision about whether this modern technology is a good fit for their needs. Overall, in many cases, the Oracle Autonomous Database can be a valuable and crucial solution for organizations looking to improve their competitiveness in today's business landscape.
The opinions expressed in this article are personal.
