At the end of the day it depends greatly on what you would consider good output. In the simplest of terms a spreadsheet would be sufficient for smaller companies, but more radical/complex systems may be required for larger organisations. In my experience the simpler the system the a) more likely people are to use b) more likely people are able to understand. Is there any particular reason for this question or just opinions? I have come across both good and bad databases both in-house and externally made/run.