Security Enters the Picture

Databases are getting bigger, the applications that work with them are getting more complex, and the people doing the bulk of the data entry are getting less sophisticated. This is a recipe for a security nightmare, too many people accessing too much data with not enough control and clearance.

The result is a plethora of rules and controls for access and the watch phrase becomes: If you don't need to see it, you can't!

The security aspects of the database control become more and more important, different levels of access are granted to different operational requirements. After scandals such as Enron, the financial controls guidelines, protocols and regulations become more stringent. The days of a single person having access to the data, either from the front door, or through a back door, are at an end.

Security of the data and the database becomes a heavy trump card in the development and operation of the modern database and data warehouse.

Between the security and the complexity of the modern database, very few people get to the see the raw data. What anyone does get to see has been preprocessed and pre-packaged into bite-size packets. However, these packets are still only data, they are not information.

In order to turn it into information one needs interpretation. This interpretation can only come from the SME, Subject Matter Experts. These are the few that really understand what is in the data.