During the trial period, most people look at database functionality and how it conforms and aligns with the company’s existing processes. Do the features meet my expectation? Is the licensing arrangement suitable to meet the demands of my company’s growth? Is the cost too high? Are electronic signatures utilized throughout? Is this software popular and intuitive to use? However, little attention is paid to reporting features before a company makes their decision to align with
Every database comes with built-in customization. You will find aliases for database title, report titles, process names, vital stats, report settings, fiscal year start, employee setup and electronic signatures. Other features include assigning permission levels, datasheet view for making quick changes to employee information, and specific customization depending on the database, such as an authorization matrix, document control settings and file folder creation to store associated database records.
The ability to filter table data is critical to creating a useful report. Perhaps your report acts like a simple to-do list and you wish to look at all the open records of a particular status assigned to one person. Or maybe you need to look at data during a specific time period for trend analysis each month. The best reporting filters are embedded in your database and allow you to query data to promote
Finding a specific quality record in a database with literally thousands of records can be a challenge. There are open and closed records, records assigned to specific people, records identified by initiator, date, type, status, risk level, and so on. Perhaps you wish to search for records associated with a document number, or reference to an audit, corrective action, training class or equipment. Maybe you are looking for records within a specific date range or
Some software companies offer a trial version of their quality management system databases so you can take a test drive. The trial period typically varies from a few days to a month. The trial version should be a fully featured database so you can test all functionality to ensure it is a good fit for your business. It’s always good practice to test 2 or 3 databases before deciding on a brand. The trial version
