Competitive Intelligence Database

[jrock1203]

Hello everyone,

New forum member, I'm the "Access Guru" at work. I use access, crystal, and hyperion all day everyday and need some help.

I've been tasked with creating a "Competitive Intelligence Database" using Access and am totally at a standstill.



I'm not quite sure what format, template, design etc. to use that will be acceptable.

In addition to the DB itself, it has to have a very user friendly interface (I'm thinking forms) so that even the most inexperienced user can input and retrieve data.


Ideas?

[June7]

Doesn't matter what the database is for, it's still a database and still need to apply relational database principles and still need to apply the same processes when developing. Identify data entities and relationships, build objects, write code when needed.

So what is a Competitive Intelligence database - what is its purpose?

[jrock1203]

So what is a Competitive Intelligence database - what is its purpose?

Totally agreed - doesn't matter. A DB is a DB.

basically a repository of data and information about a competitor regarding their offices, services, rates etc.

[June7]

Sounds simple enough. Not aware of any specific templates. MS Desktop Contacts or Address Book might offer some ideas.

[ItsMe]

Why are you at a standstill? To me, this sounds like some sort of progression was halted. What were you doing/working on when the world stopped turning?

It sounds like you may be dealing with some historical data that will needed to be imported as well as the ability for users to append records. I would probably start by making sure my ERD fit well with the existing data and I would do my best to normalize the existing data.

[kagoodwin13]

Totally agreed - doesn't matter. A DB is a DB.

basically a repository of data and information about a competitor regarding their offices, services, rates etc.

Sounds like a manager has the buzzword bug.

This is far too vague to get started. That's why you are at a standstill.

It's like filling up the gas tank, being told to drive to Mexico, but given no map, and no directions, and no specifics (Why do you want me to drive to Mexico? How will I get there? What will I do once I get to Mexico? Do I need to get to Mexico by a certain date? What city in Mexico should I drive to?)

Right now, this would involve building a database, building a user-friendly front-end, planning how the data will be populated, and planning how the data will be used in a business manner. It sounds like it could potentially be a lot of work. But there's still no end in mind, so there's no way to know.

There's potentially much easier solutions as well. Can you hire a consulting firm to study your industry and give you data on your competitors? Maybe there's a report/whitepaper that already exists, and all your company has to do is pay for the report.

Once they get the report, what do they plan on using it for? Do they want to compare it to internal sales data? That would potentially require a database. Or just use it for a one-time pricing analysis? That would only require Excel. These types of questions will give you much better direction to get started.