Just because it has data in it does not make it a database.

I am continually surprised when I find companies using makeshift ways to manage data. Sure, Betty who sells pottery on Ebay is probably fine using her email client as a CRM, but when I see fortune 500 companies rely on outdated copies of Outlook Express to act as a customer database I just sort of sigh and die a little bit inside.

Outlook and Outlook Express are not databases, they are email clients with contact management features.

Excel is not a database, it is a spreadsheet application.

If your company is serious about making your data accessable, secure and reliable use a real database application. I of course have a propensity to suggest MySQL, but even Microsoft's Access is a better choice than Outlook Express