Should you provide employees with SQL training? As a business owner or training manager, this question may have crossed your mind. You may have thought of the different ways this important programming language could benefit your enterprise.
If your business stores its data in a database, then you have to have someone with the skills to manage and process these data into useable reports. Otherwise you’re missing out on a huge amount of business intelligence.
Why is SQL Important?
SQL (Structured Query Language) is the standard programming language used in relational databases. In many modern businesses, huge amounts of data are stored in databases. However, data in these databases is of little use if your employees are unable to interact with it.
SQL allows you and your employees to quickly process this data into meaningful information. For instance, they can be used in data mining and data analytics to allow you to extract statistics that can help you make more informed business decisions.
Types of Businesses That Can Benefit from SQL Training
Although some businesses may only use data minimally in their everyday processes, data generation and data manipulation are integral to other businesses. These businesses are sure to enjoy a higher return on investment when it comes to providing SQL training for their employees. These businesses include the following:
– Businesses The Deal with a High Volume of Data
Many businesses rely on data to be able to perform their daily tasks efficiently, to provide better services to their customers, and to make better business decisions. If your enterprise is generating tens of thousands or millions of records per day, then quickly getting the information that you need becomes difficult. This can result in delays and cause you to incur losses in productivity and revenues.
A bank or a similar financial institution is an example of such type of business. Large banking networks generate enormous amount of data every day, be it from account openings, various types of banking transactions, or other activities. To make better sense of this enormous amount of data, bank officers can use SQL to generate and analyse reports. Other types of businesses that can use SQL to facilitate data handling include logistics companies and retail businesses, both of which process thousands of products and records every day.
– Data-Driven Businesses
Simply handling large volumes of data does not mean that a business is data driven. To be data driven, a company has to have data at the core of their business strategy. These companies are able to leverage data and use data science in order to create powerful business decisions. This can often be seen in many tech, marketing, and sales companies, where data from various sources are analysed to optimize growth and drive better decisions.
Many successful global enterprises are data-driven. For instance, transportation booking service provider UBER uses big data not only to help its app users book rides, but also to create algorithms for implementing a pricing system based on factors like traffic conditions and user demand.
With the increasing use of big data in driving business growth and exploring new markets and opportunities, employees skilled in SQL are becoming even more essential to many businesses.
– Digital Business
If you operate a digital business, then it is critical that your employees learn SQL. This is especially true if you are part of a small business or a start-up company that wants to empower its employees. A digital business is built on and relies on data rather than physical assets. As as such, it needs to have the right people who can put the data they possess to good use.
While many technological solutions do have pre-built reporting and analytics tools, these might not contain everything you need. For example, a reporting tool might present the report in a form that is hard to understand or analyse, or it might not have the capability to provide you with the customized structure that you need. Instead of contacting the software developer to customise a report for you, you can run queries yourself. Not only does this ensure you’ll have the reports in a timely manner, you also won’t have to pay for the customised reports.
Famous examples of digital businesses are Amazon, AirBNB, and LinkedIn. And as the internet continues to become part of our daily lives, you can expect more and more traditional businesses to be transformed into digital enterprises.
Every Business Can Benefit from SQL Training
If your business falls within one or more of the above types, your employees are sure to stand to gain from SQL training. Providing employees with training is often a better alternative than hiring an SQL professional from outside your business. The improvement in the productivity of your trained employees will more than make up for the cost of your investment.
