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Q5-3 What Is a Database Management System (DBMS)?

So Not What the Data Says … 205
What?

Two product managers, Jeremey Will and Neil Town, are arguing
about the effectiveness of a September product sales promotion in
front of their boss, Sarah Murphy.
Sarah: “So, should we repeat that promotion in October?”
Jeremey: “No way. It was expensive, and there was no increase
in sales.”
Neil: “I disagree. Well, wait, I agree there was no increase in
sales from August, but if you look at sales history, we have a
substantial increase over past Septembers.”
Jeremey: “Where’d you get that data?”
Neil: “Extracted it from the sales database. Anyway, on
average, our sales are up 11 percent from past years. And, Source: StockLite/Shutterstock
even better, most of that increase is from new customers.”
Jeremey: “I don’t think so. I called four different sales reps, 3. List specific sales data you need to provide answers as
and they said they can’t get any prospects to bite.”
Neil does.
Neil: “Not what the data says. I put it into Access and then 4. In words, describe how that data needs to be processed in order
did a series of queries. Nineteen percent of sales in September to produce Neil’s responses.
were from new customers.”
5. All of the results that Neil provides are readily produced
Sarah: “Amazing. But can you relate that to the campaign?”
by Access or by any SQL-processing DBMS. With a basic
Neil: “Yes, strongly. Turns out of the new customers’ sales, understanding of SQL, you could write the queries in 5
almost two-thirds used a coupon.” minutes or less. However, this chapter will give you necessary
Sarah: “Neil, put this into a report for me. I want to take it to background, but it won’t teach you SQL queries. Consult your
the executive meeting tomorrow.” university’s course catalog and find a course that would teach
you the necessary skills. Name that course and explain why you
1. Do you want to be Jeremey or Neil? Justify your answer. will (or won’t) take it.
2. What skills and abilities will you need to be Neil?

Structured Query Language (SQL) is an international standard language for processing
a database. All five of the DBMS products mentioned earlier accept and process SQL (pronounced
“see-quell”) statements. As an example, the following SQL statement inserts a new row into the
Student table:

INSERT INTO Student
([Student Number], [Student Name], HW1, HW2, MidTerm)
VALUES
(1000, ‘Franklin, Benjamin’, 90, 95, 100);

As stated, statements like this one are issued “behind the scenes” by programs that process
forms and reports. Alternatively, they can be issued directly to the DBMS by an application program.