Introduction
Businesses have to consider who has access to information that they use daily. The current problem under review is data security, as the company operates with sensitive data about employees and services. The existing offline text file system is simplistic, and it provides access to all data at once, making any privacy considerations meaningless. The proposed solution is a cloud-based relational database management system (RDBMS). Its definition, operation, and benefits will demonstrate why a relational database solution will improve the security of information for the firm.
Definition
In contrast to older means of information storage, relational databases separate data into several tables and present it using rows and columns (Harrington, 2016). Charts with different types of information can be connected, allowing a person to retrieve the necessary facts from multiple parts of the database. First of all, RDBMSs make data collection easy and visually understandable, separating pieces into different segments and updating the database with the potential for infinite expansion.
Second, to manipulate data, an individual does not need to search through many lines of data, utilizing a simple search tool and some keywords. For example, one table lists all employees and their private information, and another table contains all equipment data that these people handle. A manager can compile the details for presentation by using each employee’s assigned number – the system will collect all facts on its own (Colombo & Ferrari, 2015). To operate these systems, workers need to learn basic SQL (Structured Query Language) commands, but after training, an employee will be able to understand any RDBMS. To share data, one can collect all the needed facts, omitting information that has to stay private.
Benefits
As can be seen, relational database systems simplify data collection and management. This is the first benefit of RDBMSs – their structure allows for less time and effort to work with information. Furthermore, the flexibility and versatility of such systems are high, and they can adapt to the expansion in the firm’s services, workforce, and resource use (Harrington, 2016). The standard framework of SQL makes the tables uniform, compiling only necessary data and reformatting all previously disorganized papers into a single interconnected system.
The main benefit of relational databases is their potential in increasing the safety of business data. One should note that offline systems can be protected with a password, and access can be given to people who work with data. Nevertheless, in some cases, computers can lose data or be exposed to employees with insufficient skills, leading to data loss and exposure (Xue et al., 2017). By moving to a cloud-based RDBMS, the company can prevent such situations from happening because the information will be stored separately and retrieved through protected channels. Moreover, as relational databases have different tables for data, they allow the company to establish a set of access levels for its employees and people who come into contact with secure data (Harrington, 2016). Thus, each worker will only be able to see the information that they are allowed to use for their job. Specific user rights and permissions can also protect data from deletion and tampering.
Currently, a variety of industries use relational databases to elevate their performance. One of the popular frameworks is the Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) that is utilized by Airbnb, Maplebear, and Fortune Magazine (“Companies using Amazon,” n.d.). This means that RDBMSs effectively support businesses in online services, publishing, and foods. However, the industry that is most engaged in using relational databases is computer software (“Companies using Amazon,” n.d.). It can be explained by the amount of data that such firms need to process every day.
Conclusion
The description of relational database systems demonstrates their strengths in comparison with paper-based and textual methods of data management. By storing all information in various interconnected tables, RDBMSs secure data, create tiered lists of access, and decrease the risk of tampering. The current business problem of protecting crucial information can be solved by moving it into a relational database. Apart from that, the company will ensure that its systems are ready for expansion and change.
References
Colombo, P., & Ferrari, E. (2015). Efficient enforcement of action-aware purpose-based access control within relational database management systems. IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, 27(8), 2134-2147.
Companies using Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS).(n.d.). Web.
Harrington, J. L. (2016). Relational database design and implementation (4th ed.). Cambridge, MA: Morgan Kaufmann.
Xue, K., Li, S., Hong, J., Xue, Y., Yu, N., & Hong, P. (2017). Two-cloud secure database for numeric-related SQL range queries with privacy preserving. IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security, 12(7), 1596-1608.