Chapter 8 : Accessing Organizational Information - Data Warehouse

Learning Outcomes

1.     Compare the multidimensional nature of data warehouses (and data marts) with the two-dimensional nature of databases.

o    Databases contain information in a series of two-dimensional tables, which means that you can only ever view two dimensions of information at one time.  In a data warehouse and data mart, information is multidimensional, it contains layers of columns and rows.  Each layer in a data warehouse or data mart represents information according to an additional dimension.  Dimensions could include such things as products, promotions, stores, category, region, stock price, date, time, and even the weather.The ability to look at information from different dimensions can add tremendous business insight.

2.     Identify the importance of ensuring the cleanliness of information throughout an organization.

o    An organization must maintain high-quality information in the data warehouse.

o    Information cleansing and scrubbing is a process that weeds out and fixes or discards inconsistent, incorrect, or incomplete information.

o    Without high-quality information the organization will be unable to make good business decisions.

3.     Describe the roles and purposes of data warehouses and data marts in an organization.

o    The primary purpose of data warehouses and data marts are to perform analytical processing.

o    The insights into organizational information that can be gained from analytical processing are instrumental in setting strategic directions and goals.

4.     Explain the relationship between business intelligence and a data warehouse.

o    A data warehouse is an enabler of business intelligence. The purpose of a data warehouse is to pull all kinds of disparate information into a single location where it is cleansed and scrubbed for analysis.

Chapter 7 : Storing Organizational Information - Databases

Learning Outcomes

1.  Describe the two primary methods for integrating information across multiple databases.

·         Backward integration - takes information entered into a given system and sends it automatically to all upstream systems and processes.

·        Forward integration - takes information entered into a given system and sends it automatically to all downstream systems and process.

2.  Describe the benefits of a data-driven Web site.

·         A data-driven Web site is an interactive Web site kept constantly updated and relevant to the needs of its customers through the use of a database. Data-driven Web sites are especially useful when the site offers a great deal of information, products, or services. Web site visitors are frequently angered if they are buried under an avalanche of information when searching a Web site. A data-driven Web site invites visitors to select and view what they are interested in by inserting a query, which the Web site then analyzes and custom builds a Web page in real-time that satisfies the query.

3.  Define the fundamental concepts of the relational database model.

·         The relational database model stores information in the form of logically related two-dimensional tables.

·         Entities, attributes, primary keys, and foreign keys are all fundamental concepts included in the relational database model.

4.  Evaluate the advantages of the relational database model.

·         Database advantages from a business perspective include

·         Increased flexibility

·         Increased scalability and performance

·         Reduced information redundancy

·         Increased information integrity (quality ) 

·         Increased information security

5.  Compare operational integrity constraints and business-critical integrity constraints.

  ·       Operational integrity constraints are rules that enforce basic and fundamental information-based constraints.

 ·    Business-critical integrity constraints are rules that enforce business rules vital to an organization’s success and often   require more insight and knowledge than operational integrity constraints.

Chapter 5: Organizational Structures That Support Strategic Initiatives

IT Roles and Responsibilities

• Information technology is a relatively new functional area,having been only around formally around 40 years. It can divide into five parts of each position in usually in large companies or certain company that have establish in doing business organization :-
• Chief Information Officer (CIO)
• Chief Technology Officer (CIO)
• Chief Security Officer (CSO)
• Chief Privacy Officer (CPO)
• Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO)

Chief Information Officer (CIO)

• Oversees all uses of IT and ensures the strategic alignment of IT with business goals and objectives. For example,in an organization,the CEO give the instructions to the Chief Information Officer to set up or redesign our product information through the website.Then,the CIO will make a meetings with the employee that involve in Information system department, how to make the website become more easiest to customer when finding information.

Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

• Responsible for ensuring the throughput, speed, accuracy, availability, and reliability of IT.For example, in produce a product,we used a machines to produce it. When demand form customer is high,we must changes our production through upgrade the good technology machines that can produce more in a each day. Hired the skilled worker that able to managed the system of machines and have a skill and knowledge in technology.

Chief Security Officer (CSO)

• Responsible for ensuring the security of IT systems and developing strategies and IT safeguards against attacks from hackers and viruses.For example, the CSO must make sure their system such as a website must protect and have a strength security to prevent from hacker. For example, in UITM Student Portal,have a person that controlled or managed the website.

Chief Privacy Officer (CPO)

• Responsible for ensuring the ethical and legal use of information. CPO also is a senior level executive within a business or organization who is responsible for managing the risks and business impacts of privacy laws and policies.The CPO position is relatively new and was created to respond to both consumer concern over the use of personal information, including medical data and financial information, and laws and regulations, including, but not limited to, legislation concerning the protection of patient medical records. For example, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and the use and safeguarding of consumer financial and banking transactions.

  Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO)

• Responsible for collecting, maintaining, and distributing the organization’s knowledge. The CKO is responsible for managing intellectual capital and the custodian of Knowledge Management practices in an organization. CKO responsibilities include such things as :
• Collecting relevant data that is useful for the organization as knowledge
• Developing an overall framework that guides knowledge management
• Actively promoting the knowledge agenda within and beyond the company
• Overseeing the development of the knowledge infrastructure
• Facilitating connections, coordination and communication
  
  
  Organisation Chart

Chapter 4 : Measuring the Success of Strategic Initiativesc

The Interrelationships of Efficiency & Effectiveness It Metrics

6 Common Types of Efficiency Metrics :

• Throughput
• Transaction Speed
• Availability
• Accuracy
• Web traffic
• Response time

Throughput :

• The amount of information that can travel through a system at any point. For example, through UITM Student Portal as a students or anyone can access any information what we want to know and just click the icon for each button. From the website, we can get all the information and we do not need waste our time to go the HEA or HEP to fill up our information.

Speed :

• The amount of time a system takes to perform a transaction. For example, using an email to sent a paper work or do a business using such as hot-mail, y-mail, and g-mail, it can takes fast to sent and use, because the system have a high speed compared the few days ago when need to give all information to everyone, we using by hand the information and takes day to day to sent a document to the people that we want to sent to he or she. Using this technology, we can sent an important document with a fast speed without through with communication or meet the person.

Availability :

• The number of hours a system is available for users. For example, banking service such as May-bank to U is available to anyone to used it. Click the button,then proceed the next step or instructions that given. The service is operate 24 hours without sleep and unless the bank machine was broken.

Accuracy :

• The extent to which a system generates the correct results when executing the same transaction numerous times. For example, using Student Portal UITM, when want to check our marks for self-assessment, we just click e-Academic system and our details will viewed by the system.

Web Traffic :

• Includes a host of benchmarks such as the number of page views, the number of unique visitors, and the average time spent viewing a web page. For example, for those who have a blogger, we can put the term number of visitors in our blog. In Student Portal UITM also have a number of visitors that visit the web page.

Response time :

• The time it takes to respond to user interactions such as a mouse click. For example, when we open up a webpage of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) or other webpage, from button About KFC to button Colonel's Menu, the time take with fast unless our connections broadband or wireless is very slow.

My Efficiency and Effectiveness sell a product in Facebook

Efficiency = Measures the performance of the IT system itself including throughput, speed, and availability. I will make sure that our system in Facebook operates constantly. For example, I sell a handbag and shoes through on-line  I will make sure I put in different albums for handbag and for shoes to customer viewed in details and more specific. Next,each of item,I put price,what type of size,colour and the postage. I will use May-bank that act as a third party between me and my customer because the process at May-bank  have a high technology and always upgrade their system to make customer fell easy to used the transaction through on-line banking.   

Effectiveness = Measure the impact IT has on business process & activities. For example, For my regular customer,I will give free postage, when they buy 3 times within 2 months from me. I will check first their information that he or she give to me to purchase my luggage such as size of bags,colour,home address,phone number and the fees to be charged. I will update at my Facebook,who the owner that purchase each of item that I have sell and give free postage if my customer buy 2 and above. For my regular customer,I will sent a new information to their first, such as tag their name in Facebook about a luggage to they Facebook, to let they know that have a new item to be sold. I will make sure our quality of a product item does not have a damaged with a system POS LAJU.