For most businesses, the database is a required part of the functioning of the business. That means: - the database must be secured against unauthorized or imp

For most businesses, the database is a required part of the functioning of the business. That means: - the database must be secured against unauthorized or improper use - the database must be accessed efficiently - the database must have some degree of resilience - the database must be recoverable - the database must be available Each business will have different weightings for these properties -- does a dating website care more about database security than a bank does? -- which will lead to different decisions about who should own and manage the DB. But a business is, absolutely, a group of people who are doing things together. If you can't identify, authenticate, and authorize those people, you don't have a business. And if the database that stores that information isn't among your highest priorities, I think that business is rather misguided.