However, each system was maintaining separate data about common business entities, such as employees. The price of this approach was paid in obscure ways. If an employee moved, it could take months before all of the places the employee s address was kept came to light. Additionally, changing information consumer requirements took a painfully long time to implement. The 1990 s have brought us completely into the database era.
Every application seems to be associated with one.
Ever increasing power has put relational database applications on the desktop. Some of the largest software companies in the world are best known for their database products. SQL has evolved into an international standard. The World Wide Web is a vast reservoir of data, and no shortage of Internet applications exist to collect, categorize, and commit to memory huge quantities of it. The Golden Age of Information has arrived.