Data storage levels
Application data is stored at the following four levels: enterprise, set, organization, and site. The data that a user can see and use depends on the level at which the data is stored and whether the user is part of an organization or site that can access the data.
Enterprise level
An enterprise represents a single instance of the Manage database. Data that is stored at the enterprise level, which is sometimes referred to as the system level, is available to all organizations and sites in the enterprise. An enterprise can have multiple organizations, and each organization can have multiple sites.
When an application stores data at the enterprise level, the data is unique for the entire implementation. An identifier for a record in an enterprise-level application can be used only once for that application. For example, in the People application, if a person record exists with the identifier 12345, then no other person record in any organization or site can use the identifier 12345.
Set level
The set level is a category below the enterprise level, but above the organization level. The set level allows multiple organizations to use the same item data and vendor data. Item data is stored in an item set. Vendor data is stored in a company set.
An enterprise can have multiple item sets and company sets, but each organization can use only one company set and one item set. Multiple organizations can use the same item set or company set.
For example, a utilities company owns several power plants and several water treatment facilities. The business practices of the power plants are similar, but different from the water treatment facilities. You can create an item set and a company set for use by the power plant organizations. Then you can create a different item set and company set for use by the water treatment organizations.
Organization level
Organizations and sites correspond to logical divisions in the company. An organization contains one or more sites.
If an application stores data at the organization level, then all sites in that organization access and use the same data from that application. For organization-level applications, different organizations can maintain separate data.
For example, the Chart of Accounts application is an organization-level application. Two organizations can each maintain separate general ledger accounts. The corollary is that different organizations can use the identical general ledger account code to refer to different accounts. For example, the account code 2000-300-400® might identify a tax debit account in one organization and an expense account in another organization.
Site level
A site is a division in an organization that maintains certain kinds of data independently from other sites. For example, the Assets application is a site-level application. The same asset number might identify a pump at one site and a computer at another site. Site-level applications primarily involve work management activities.
You can also use sites in administering security. You can give users different rights at different sites. For example, a user with management responsibility at one site might need full rights to the Work Order Tracking application at that site. The same user might only need to view work order data at another site.