Your Data

Something that’s becoming quite an issue at present is DATA, specifically yours.

This usually happens when you want to change to a competitors product, and YOUR DATA is inside another product, and they make it bloody difficult to get it out, or charge exorbitant rates to give you YOUR DATA. Make me mad a bit!

Being that I do a lot of database development, most of the time to get my client’s own data it’s quite simple, even if their project specification didn’t include the ability to export the data, most of the time it’s setup logically and it quite easy to get out in a standardized format (namely CSV/TAB). The only charge is for a short time to actually login and retrieve the data.

The part that makes me mad, is database developers charging several hundred (or thousand?!) dollars to get the data out because “it’s complex”! What I would say to these developers is if it’s that complex perhaps you should find a better suited profession, as if it’s complex your product is likely to have other problems which is why your customers are looking else where (although that’s only part of the picture I’m sure).

So the rules for buying your next database application:

1. Can I easily retrieve my data?
2. What is the charge to get my data out?
3. What is your backend?
4. Is your backend fit with my business practices/ideals?