What are the advantages of database systems over paper based systems?

Answer 1

A paper-based system can only be organized in a single way, cannot be easily searched, cannot be easily modified, cannot be accessed remotely, cannot be conveniently cross-referenced, maintained and updated, protected, and cannot be expanded without considerable effort.

Computerized databases solve nearly all of these problems.

Whereas a paper-based system would need extensive labor and reorganization in order to change the sequence and order of data, a digital database could be re-ordered instantly with a single click; thus, data could immediately be re-sorted based on (for example) a customer's name, address, age, average order size, credit rating, etc. Then, the digital version could be re-sorted by another criteria... and then another, all in just a few seconds.

A paper system would require extensive time and man-power to search for a given piece of information, whereas a digital database could instantly find the required data in any field, instantly. Further, a database system could cross-reference data, finding matches within multiple fields, correlate them, perform arithmetic processes on them, and retrieve only the data that matches every single criteria. For example, it could find a list of every customer in a database with an 'A' credit rating who is engaged in heavy construction projects, who has spent more than $40,000 with your company within the past year, and whose current fleet of bulldozers is more than 15 years old... perhaps the perfect lead for your bulldozer sales representatives. To find, analyze and correlate this data by hand would take nearly a lifetime.

A paper system cannot be easily modified and expanded. Updating data requires removing each record's card or file, erasing the old data (or waiting while white-out dries because a former employee violated the 'pencil only' rule), and then carefully entering it again. For bulk updates and batch changes, every single record must be found and updated individually. If the original filing system wasn't conceived to take new fields into consideration, you'll resort to writing on the backs of cards, or meticulously writing in margins, or adding pages to filing systems that were designed for a single page per record. Not so with computer-based databases. Batch updates take seconds, with a click-and-drag function. Need to expand data? No problem, just add a field to the entire database with a single click. Did the law recently change, prohibiting certain information from being maintained on clients? Or does the law now require new accountability for record keeping? Examples could include the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act), or the HIPAA (Healthcare Information Privacy and Accountability Act), or any number of ever-changing state and federal regulations for nearly any industry. With a paper database, you may well be out of business, but with a digital database, you're instantly back in compliance with just a few clicks.

A paper system requires massive amounts of space, climate control, fire protection, lighting, etc. These all add overhead to your operation, whether in the home environment, or a high-level corporate record keeping firm. The paper is a risk, in and of itself, to life and safety due to accidental fire concerns. Paper files are subject to damage from temperature, water (floods, hurricanes), fire, theft, accidental loss and mis-ordering (which, depending on the size of the filing system, could be catastrophic and impossible to correct), and are almost impossible to back-up completely, requiring that an entire new system be duplicated from scratch, perhaps by hand. This dilemma is what prompted the now-obsolete technologies of microfilm and microfiche (essentially condensed photographic slides of files) -- so that data could be archived to save space and backup valuable data. On the other hand, a digital database of nearly any size could reside on a single computer or small network. Perfect digital backups of data can be made instantly to protect against any loss. With a small amount of care and diligent and frequent archiving (perhaps even automatically), there is no reason that there should ever be data loss; these convenient backups can survive and maintain an office's operations, regardless of any threat to the original data, up to and including catastrophes and acts of God. Further, data in a computer database could be encrypted during storage, to prevent any theft or unauthorized copying of information.

Further, whereas an old-fashioned paper file must be visited to be used, for example the card catalogs that are disappearing from libraries everywhere, a digital database, if appropriate and desirable, can be accessed remotely from anywhere, either securely by authorized users, or publicly by anyone connected to the internet. Digital databases fuel internet revenue, essentially allowing buyers to check a business's current stock of merchandise, then automatically edit the inventory sheets when they make their purchase. That sure beats counting items manually, or risking embarassing cancellations for orders when a surprise glitch in the paper filing system shows inventory that doesn't exist, or has been sold.

A business's paper-based system could even be discontinued, and proprietary-sized paper, forms, or storage could become impossible to obtain. The advantages of digital databasing systems over a paper system are innumerable.