Eight months ago, I set out to deliver a whitepaper that would serve as a guide to purchasing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) for businesses and teams looking for a better way to manage information. And then that topic led into a more specific focus around the fact that business needs have evolved and a discussion of how more traditional desktop databases, like MS Access and spreadsheets (that are really meant for single-users and too often misused as databases) have become more of a hindrance than help – in the sense that they inhibit the ability to easily share and collaborate quickly.

The end product is a guide entitled ‘Maximizing the Power of your Desktop Database: Top business advantages of moving your data online.’ Today, I’ll share with you the first of six benefits of moving your data online:

#1: It facilitates communication, collaboration and productivity:

Unlike desktop databases (that are often tied to a single client interface), many online databases are built to be widely shared with internal and external teams. Any users with access to a web browser can interact with the data – regardless of operating system and where they might be at any given time. Sharing information among vendors, customers or business partners is common practice today and is much easier to do via a web-interface than trying to get them access to data residing on your corporate network. The hoops one may have to jump through with IT to enable that are ones that often waste time – valuable time that could be spent working on a specific project, customer case or partner effort with the parties that are meant to have access to the specific business data relevant to the initiative.

Successful businesses have long understood that managing critical data—and transforming that data into usable information—is key to informing the business intelligence that enables productivity, agility, and competitive advantage. Many of these organizations have traditionally relied upon desktop solutions to house such data, but are growing increasingly frustrated with their lack of flexibility, scalability, and security—as well as the administrative headaches and costs of supporting them. Online databases offer an attractive alternative to desktop products, combining speed of implementation and ease of use with the collaborative functions required to inform and power organizations’ unique business processes and performance.

Feel free to download the rest of the guide here in order to access the other 5 reasons, as well as some of the short-comings of desktop-databases in today’s work environment.