The above article highlights the importance of good software to manage data so as to produce value-added information. AC 233 has in the past weeks covered database analysis and design phases that implicate the importance of good database diagrams that incorporate structural/business rules and essential normalisation to augment the utility of the database. Oracle has essentially built its business on a gold mine as in the Information Age the database in the campfire, in which mission critical activities like Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and business to business transactions, are built around. "Oracle's core product is its database software, which enables corporations to store massive amounts of information and retrieve it in varied and useful ways."

With the advent of the Internet, companies need to manage large amounts of information effectively. Successful business strategy is often aligned with good information management that is supported by quality software that harnesses such information. Citibank, for example, has been very successful in retail banking in Singapore due to its ability to understand customers needs, identify trends and customise financial planning portfolios. It has invested in data-warehousing techniques and networks to strengthen their business processes and achieve their business strategy. The challenge for companies like Citibank now is, whether they can manage their data with trends such as the Internet, convergence of computers, WAP and consumer electronics blazing through the business environment.

In the second mentioned article, Asian financial services need to explore the cyberarena to survive. In competing with global players like Citibank, Asian banks have to brave the "tsunami of online financial services and mine their resources for creative and effective strategies to globalise their services through the Internet. However, such efforts may face difficulties due to the lack standardisation protocols. In Western countries, special interest groups are working on a Financial Protocol Markup Language (FpML) to achieve greater consistency, reliability and ease of transaction in their financial services (especially in brokerage and financial instruments modelling).

In conclusion, database software created by companies such as Oracle can drastically improve the usefulness of data. However, the purchase of such software will come to nought if organisations are oblivious of how to harness its power to realise their strategies. In the financial services, competition is being made borderless with the Internet and for banks in Asian countries to retain their market share they must embrace e-commerce. In e-commerce, standardisation will play an important part in harmonising business processes and promoting more effective database design and management.