Frequently Asked Questions What are your needs? Any enterprise that operates multiple locations, such as restaurant chains, retail outlets, and service companies, has faced the problem of configuring, maintaining, and polling data for remote locations. New inventory items, changes in pricing, running specials, maintaining employee data, updating tax tables, collecting sales data, and many other examples present unique challenges for the multi-unit operator. Managing this information can be expensive and labor intensive. Requirements for Enterprise Data Management Enterprises that operate multiple, remote locations have a number of common requirements for managing the data and applications that run in those locations. Data Management for Multiple Sites When software applications are used in multiple remote locations, the configuration and maintenance of the data for those applications is an important part of efficient operations for the enterprise. Personnel at headquarters need to be able to add new items, change prices, delete obsolete data, and perform other operations on the remote databases. Data Consolidation Collecting data from multiple remote locations is also a very important part of managing the enterprise. Sales totals, inventory usage, and deposit information are required for corporate reporting, accounting and control. Data Security and Control Keeping track of what data is being changed and when it is being changed is essential for controlling data errors and security problems when data is spread out over multiple locations. Customization and Internationalization Some enterprises have developed their own internal terminology and need their application software to use that terminology to reduce training costs and increase efficiency. Enterprises with remote locations in multiple countries also need the ability to easily internationalize their applications. The ability to translate text, date formats, and currency formats is a key usability feature. Hardware and Software Flexibility The wide variety of hardware and software platforms used to run applications in an enterprise’s remote locations means that their data management software must be flexible enough to run on many different computers and operating systems and support a wide variety of applications.