Database Management Systems

All four have specific purposes, and therefore all four are relevant to specific business use and/or purpose. Relational databases, and at this point it should be noted that any relational implementation for a non-embedded database should have a large degree of XML capability, should be implemented where there is a strong and ongoing relationship between data elements. The relational model is designed to represent parts of the real world, and for this purpose it is still the best choice.

Native-XML databases should be implemented where the business requirement is to store specific business documents that have a well-formed XML structure for search and retrieval purposes. That is, where the need is for persisted XML documents.

Content management can be used to store structured or non-structured content that does not fit within either of the other two models. Typically, new media-type storage fits into this category.

Data warehouses and data marts fit best into the strategic BI arena, and are more the concern of purpose rather than structure.

Even though the different physical implementations can be clearly defined (with some cross-over as to the choice between relational and native-XML) this should not extend to the use of data, information, or content. This is a key message, and one that organisations have to come to terms with. The ability to re-purpose data will form the competitive differentiator for all businesses within the next 20 years.