1. Data Resource Management
Chapter 5
Data Resource Management
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2010 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

2. Learning Objectives
Explain the business value of implementing data resource management processes and technologies in an organization
Outline the advantages of a database management approach to managing the data resources of a business, compared with a file processing approach
Explain how database management software helps business professionals and supports the operations and management of a business

3. Learning Objectives
Provide examples to illustrate the following concepts
Major types of databases
Data warehouses and data mining
Logical data elements
Fundamental database structures
Database development

4. Case 1: Cogent Communications, Intel, Others
IT integration and adoption issues can make or break merger and acquisition activities
Companies will feel the full impact of the merger/acquisition frenzy in their data centers
Companies with employees who hold all the knowledge suffer greatly when those people are let go
It is important to document the knowledge from those people and to figure out how to work with small crews
Companies should know what goes on in the data center, in terms of systems and how they interact with each other and the business

5. Case Study Questions
Place yourself in the role of a manager at a company undergoing a merge or acquisition
What would be the most important things customers would expect from you while still in that process?
What role would IT play in meeting those expectations?
Provide at least three examples

6. Case Study Questions
Focus on what Andi Mann in the case calls “tribal knowledge”
What do you think he means by that, and why is it so important to this process?
What strategies would you suggest for companies that are faced with the extensive presence of this issue in an acquired organization?

7. Case Study Questions
Most of the discussion on the case focused on hardware and software issues. However, these are essentially enablers for underlying business processes developed by each of the companies involved
What alternatives do companies have for merging their business processes, and what role would IT play in supporting those activities?
Pay particular attention to data management and governance issues

8. Logical Data Elements

9. Logical Data Elements Character Field (data item) Record
A single alphabetic, numeric, or other symbol
Represents an attribute (quality or characteristic) of some entity (object, person, place, event)
Examples… salary, job title
Grouping of all the fields used to describe the attributes of an entity
Example… payroll records with name, SSN, pay rate

10. Logical Data Elements File (table, flat file) Database
Group of related records
Integrated collection of logically related data elements

11. Electric Utility Database

12. Common Database Structures: Hierarchical
Early DBMS structure
Records arranged in tree-like structure
Relationships are one-to-many

13. Common Database Structures: Network
Used in some mainframe DBMS packages
Many-to-many relationships

14. Common Database Structures: Relational
Most widely used structure
Data elements are stored in tables
Row represents a record; column is a field
Can relate data in one file with data in another, if both files share a common data element
Relational operations include:
Select… Create a subset of records that meet a stated criterion. Example: employees earning more than $30,000
Join… Combine two or more tables temporarily. Looks like one big table.
Project… Create a subset of columns in a table

15. Common Database Structures: Multidimensional
Variation of relational model
Uses multidimensional structures to organize data
Data elements are viewed as being in cubes
Popular for analytical databases that support Online Analytical Processing (OLAP)

16. Multidimensional Model

17. Common Database Structures: Object-Oriented
An object consists of
Data values describing the attributes of an entity
Operations that can be performed on the data
Encapsulation
Combine data and operations
Inheritance
New objects can be created by replicating some or all of the characteristics of parent objects
Used in object-oriented database management systems (OODBMS)
Supports complex data types more efficiently than relational databases
Examples: graphic images, video clips, web pages
Source: Adapted from Ivar Jacobsen, Maria Ericsson, and Ageneta Jacobsen, The Object Advantage: Business Process
Reengineering with Object Technology (New York: ACM Press, 1995), p. 65.
1995, Association for Computing Machinery. By permission.

18. Evaluation of Database Structures
Hierarchical
Works for structured, routine transactions
Can’t handle many-to-many relationship
Network
More flexible than hierarchical
Unable to handle ad hoc requests
Relational
Easily responds to ad hoc requests
Easier to work with & maintain
Not as efficient or quick as hierarchical or network

19. Database Development Database Administrator (DBA)
In charge of enterprise-wide database development
Improves integrity and security of organizational databases
Uses Data Definition Language (DDL) to develop and specify data content, relationships, and structure
Stores these specifications in a data dictionary or metadata repository

20. Data Dictionary Data Dictionary Contains data about data (metadata)
Relies on specialized software component to manage a database of data definitions
Can be active or passive
Names and descriptions of all types of data records and their interrelationships
Requirements for end users’ access and use of applications
Contains information on…
Database maintenance
Security

21. Database Development Database development is a top-down process
Develop an enterprise model that defines the basic business process of the enterprise
Define the information needs of end users in a business process
Identify the key data elements that are needed to perform specific business activities (entity relationship diagrams)

22. Entity Relationship Diagram
This model illustrates the relationships in a purchasing/receiving process. It is the schema or subschema on which to base…
The physical design of the database
Development of application programs to support business processes

23. Logical and Physical Database Views
This is an example of the logical and physical database views and the software interface of a banking services information system.

24. Data Resource Management
Data resource management is a managerial activity
Uses data management, data warehousing, and other IS technologies
Manages data resources to meet the information needs of business stakeholders

25. Case 2: Applebee’s, Travelocity, and Others
Uses data for basic business decisions, such as replenishing food supplies based on how much finished product was sold daily
Developing more sophisticated analyses that look at how well items are selling
This will help the company make better decisions about what to order and what products to promote
Today, organizations extensively aggregate and mine their data to make better decisions
Travelocity mined 600,000 comments so it could better monitor and respond to customer issues

26. Case Study Questions
What are the business benefits of taking the time and effort required to create and operate data warehouses such as those described in the case?
Do you see any disadvantages?
Is there any reason why all companies shouldn’t use data warehousing technology?
Applebee’s noted some of the unexpected insights obtained from analyzing data about “back-of-house” performance
Using your knowledge of how a restaurant works, what other interesting questions would you suggest to the company?

27. Case Study Questions
Data mining and warehousing technologies use data about past events to inform better decision-making in the future
Do you believe this stifles innovative thinking, causing companies to become too constrained by the data they are already collecting to think about unexplored opportunities?

28. Types of Databases

29. Operational Databases
Stores detailed data needed to support businesses and operations
Also called subject area databases (SADB), transaction databases, and production databases
Database examples: customer, human resource, inventory

30. Distributed Databases
Distributed databases are copies or parts of databases stored on servers at multiple locations
Protection of valuable data
Data can be distributed into smaller databases
Each location has control of its local data
All locations can access any data, anywhere
Improved database performance at worksites
Maintaining data accuracy
Advantages
Disadvantages

31. Distributed Databases
Replication
Look at each distributed database and find changes
Apply changes to each distributed database
Very complex
Duplication
One database is master
Duplicate the master after hours, in all locations
Easier to accomplish
Requires extra computing power & bandwidth

32. External Databases
Databases available for a fee from the Web, or from commercial online services
Hypermedia databases
Statistical databases
Bibliographic and full-text databases
Search engines like Google or Yahoo are external databases

33. Components of Web-Based System
A hypermedia database contains
Hyperlinked pages of multimedia
Interrelated hypermedia page elements, rather than interrelated data records

34. Data warehouses may be divided into data marts
Stores static data that has been extracted from other databases in an organization
Central source of data that has been cleaned, transformed, and cataloged
Data is used for data mining, analytical processing, analysis, research, decision support
Data warehouses may be divided into data marts
Subsets of data that focus on specific aspects of a company (department or process)

35. Data Warehouse Components

36. Applications and Data Marts

37. Data Mining
Data in data warehouses are analyzed to reveal hidden patterns and trends
Market-basket analysis to identify new product bundles
Find root cause of qualify or manufacturing problems
Prevent customer attrition
Acquire new customers
Cross-sell to existing customers
Profile customers with more accuracy

38. Traditional File Processing
Data are organized, stored, and processed in independent files
Each business application uses specialized data files containing specific types of data records
Problems
Data redundancy
Lack of data integration
Data dependence (files, storage devices, software)
Lack of data integrity or standardization

39. Traditional File Processing - Banks

40. Database Management Approach
The foundation of modern methods of managing organizational data
Consolidates data records, formerly in separate files, into databases
Data can be accessed by many different application programs
A database management system (DBMS) is the software interface between users and databases

41. Database Management Approach

42. Database Management System
In mainframe and server computer systems, database management software is used to…
Create new databases and database applications
Maintain the quality of the data in an organization’s databases
Use the databases of an organization to provide the information needed by end users

43. Common DBMS Software Components

44. Database Management System
Database Development
Defining and organizing the content, relationships, and structure of the data needed to build a database
Database Application Development
Using DBMS to create prototypes of queries, forms, reports, Web pages
Database Maintenance
Using transaction processing systems and other tools to add, delete, update, and correct data

45. DBMS Major Functions

46. Database Interrogation
End User Makes DBMS Query
Query Language
Report Generator
Immediate response to ad hoc data requests
Quickly specify a format for information you want to present as a report
No programming required
Response is a video display or a printed report

47. Database Interrogation
SQL Queries
Structured, international standard query language found in many DBMS packages
Query form is SELECT…FROM…WHERE…

48. Database Interrogation
Boolean Logic
Developed by George Boole in the mid-1800s
Used to refine searches to specific information
Has three logical operators: AND, OR, NOT
Example
Cats OR felines AND NOT dogs OR Broadway

49. Database Interrogation
Graphical and Natural Queries
Most DBMS packages offer easier-to-use point-and-click methods
Translates queries into SQL commands
It is difficult to correctly phrase SQL and other database language search queries
Natural language query statements are similar to conversational English

50. Microsoft Query Wizard

51. Database Maintenance
Accomplished by transaction processing systems and other applications, with the support of the DBMS
Done to reflect new business transactions and other events
Updating and correcting data, such as customer addresses

52. Application Development
Use DBMS software development tools to develop custom application programs
Not necessary to develop detailed data-handling procedures using conventional programming languages
Can include data manipulation language (DML) statements that call on the DBMS to perform necessary data handling

53. Case 3: Amazon, eBay, and Google
Amazon’s data vault
Product descriptions
Prices
Sales rankings
Customer reviews
Inventory figures
Countless other layers of content
10 years & $1 billion to build

54. Case 3: Amazon, eBay, and Google
Amazon opened its data vault in 2002
65,000 developers, businesses, and entrepreneurs have tapped into it
Many have become business partners
eBay opened its $3 billion databases in 2003
15,000 developers and others have registered to use it and to access software features
1,000 new applications have appeared
41 percent of eBay’s listings are uploaded to the site using these resources

55. Case 3: Amazon, eBay, and Google
Google recently unlocked access to its desktop and paid-search products
Dozens of Google-driven services cropped up
Developers can grab 1,000 search results a day for free; anything more requires permission
In 2005, the Ad-Words paid-search service was opened to outside applications

56. Case Study Questions
What are the business benefits to Amazon and eBay of opening up some of their databases to developers and entrepreneurs?
Do you agree with this strategy?
What business factors are causing Google to move slowly in opening up its databases?
Do you agree with its go-slow strategy?

57. Case Study Questions
Should other companies follow Amazon’s and eBay’s lead and open up some of their databases to developers and others?
Defend your position with an example of the risks and benefits to an actual company