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Avoiding Disaster: The Database Planning Process
Save money, time, and resources with a good database plan

By: Mary Duffy

September 15, 2000

When it comes to databases, disaster is easy to come by. You may have heard (or experienced) the horror stories: you spend thousands of dollars on the database you think you want, only to find out that it isn't compatible with everyone's system, and it doesn't track that one essential detail. What's worse, once you've invested the money to build it, you may find that it is prohibitively expensive or impossible to make changes.

How can you avoid this? To save your agency money, time, and resources, a database planning process is essential, regardless of what you may think you need. The database planning process will help your organization develop clear ideas and an agreement about what kind of database you really need, can afford, and are able to support. The database plan you develop should examine your current information and data-tracking systems and identify future needs.

A complete guide to the database planning process is included in the Database Planning Guide. You can download the workbook directly from TechSoup and open it or print it from Microsoft Word. The worksheets and templates will guide you through every step of the process.

Below is a quick introduction to get you started:

Goals of the Planning Process

Components of a Database Plan

What Will it Take?

Goals of the Planning Process

The goal of the database planning process is to identify the following:

the information you want or need to track in the future
the reports you need to produce
where information "flows" through your agency (who collects it, who enters it, what reports are produced from the information, etc.)
which database product most closely matches your needs
whether to buy an off-the-shelf database or build a custom database

Components of a Database Plan

The key outcome of the database planning process is a database plan, which includes the following components:

Executive Summary
Implementation Plan
Hardware/Software Purchase Plan and Needs
Staffing Recommendations
Training Recommendations
Data/Information Flow (where/how data moves through your agency)
Which database you will use
Who will build the database
Who will maintain the database

What Will it Take?

Before you begin this process, we suggest that you determine your agency's readiness to complete and implement a database plan. Review the checklist below and evaluate whether you have the time and resources to make your database plan useful and feasible.

Commitment

You need to have agreement from the executive level of your agency that database planning is a priority. The executive director will need to monitor and support the milestones, dates, and deliverables. This person should also be prepared to make a statement at one or two staff meetings to inform staff about the project, as well as to communicate what support is needed.

Time

You need to allocate one staff person's time to coordinate the data collection process and write the database plan. Depending on the size of the organization and the complexity of your needs, this person (the database planning coordinator) will need a minimum of 40 hours to complete this project. If you do not have forms, reports, applications, etc. that you are happy with, this process can easily take double that amount of time.

You will also need to dedicate staff time for the participants in a database planning team. These individuals will attend two or three meetings of approximately two hours each, and they will require a few hours to review their forms and reports.

Resources

Funding: To complete your database plan, you will need to allocate funds for the following:

funding to develop a database plan

funding to build or buy a database

funding to staff and manage the database (It makes sense to begin fundraising now -- if you haven't already -- for upcoming expenses.)

Database Developer: If you will be building your own database, the process requires an experienced database planner/developer. It is not advisable to do this process without this expertise, as you may not get the database you need and want. If you don't have the in-house expertise, this is the time to hire an experienced consultant. For more information on hiring a technical consultant, please see the resource "Selecting a Consultant" in the appendix section of the planning workbook.
Identify staff member(s): Who will manage and update the database?

If you feel confident you have the time and staff to make this happen, you're ready to move on to the next step, which will bring together a team to work on this project. See the Database Planning Guide for a detailed discussion of the different phases of the project, as well as resources and worksheets to help you.