Database applications are costly to develop and maintain. Most companies could benefit from custom-built systems that support their unique value propositions, but few can afford them: most must settle for one-size-fits-all application packages, which have to be expensively modified to meet their objectives.

Moreover, managers who must rely on such applications cannot directly influence their behaviour: when changes are needed, they are dependent on programmers whose priorities may differ.

In 2001, Kmart scrapped $130m-worth of distribution software.

In 1999, Hershey's faulty new $112m fulfilment systems cost it $120m in lost sales.

The biggest driver of cost and complexity in database applications is the Relational Model of data, the standard database architecture underlying almost all modern applications.

Relational databases store each different type of data in a separate table. Each table is unique, and the programs are hard-coded to fit the tables.

This is labour-intensive and wasteful, for two reasons: new applications always need new programs which have to be written from scratch, and any change to the structure of the data means that the programs must be changed too.

SAP's R3 ERP system uses over 16,500 individual tables.


"This is what we get for our $400 million?" - Nike CEO Phil Knight

Instead of using a separate, unique table for every different type of data, Lazysoft's Associative Model of Data uses a single, generic structure to contain all types of data. Information about the logical structure of the data and the rules that govern it are stored alongside the data in the database.

This sets the scene for a new style of programming, whereby the data structures and the rules that govern them are no longer hard-coded into the programs, but are obtained by the programs from the database itself. Thus, for the first time, such programs are truly reusable, and no longer need to be amended when the data structures change. This dramatically reduces the cost of application development and maintenance.

"… avoids the long-term administrative costs of "software sclerosis" - Aberdeen Group

"… clear and compelling benefits in a number of key areas of data management" - IDC