[acomjean]

That's kind of how we design my web applications.

We store all the data in the database and the applications query the data/ process and return. We actually have multiple applications in various languages accessing the data (php, java, perl...).

Its genetic data so a lot of tables are shared across our applications. Gene symbol lookup for example).

When I started in this field I worked with Lotus Notes. Its actually a shared nosql database which users can create applications that query it as they see fit. I was clunky, but it could be effective in making custom team tools.