This article I found on Charity Village was an easy to understand look, through case studies, at the intricacies of deciding on a database for your organization.
No surprise, everyone agrees with what we kind of already know from discussions in class: Do the paper planning before you invest a dime. First decide what is important to your organization, critical needs versus the nice to haves. Test drive those that interest you: is it easy to navigate, does it capture everything you want in a way that all involved can get what they need to from it, etc. Is it in your budget? What about withstanding test of time, will your needs outgrow the system and require expensive replacements before you can manage them?
Sometimes mistakes are made when organizations mistakenly set out to build their own. Investments of time and money don't produce a database that achieves what you need it to.
One case study looked at a collaboration between several agencies. Several group meetings determined a need for a relational database system thats cost of training, initial and ongoing support, and upgrades etc, could be shared among everyone, while still delivering on individual customized needs.
Everyone has an opinion of what the best database is, but the answer really lies in doing your homework, and comparing the options available, then determining if it fully meets your needs. Don't jump in without all the information, talk to others who have experienced this, consider everyone in your organization who will need specific information, take your time and you will be satisfied with the outcome.
Check out the article with short case studies at:
http://www.charityvillage.com/cv/research/rtech64.html
