Chapter 6: Foundations of Business Intelligence

Question 1

What are the problems of managing data resources in a traditional file environment?

Answer 1

• hard to keep track
• difficult to organize
• different functional areas develop files independently
• data redundancy & inconsistency
• program-data dependence
• inflexibility
• poor security
• lack of data sharing & availability

Question 2

What is a database management system (DBMS)?

Answer 2

Software that permits centralization of data (management) so that businesses have a single consistent source for all their data needs
–> minimizing redundant & inconsistent files

Question 3

What are the capabilities of DMBS?

Answer 3

capability in terms of specifying the structure & content of the database
- data dictionary capability: automated or manual file that stores information about data in this database
- data manipulation language: specialized language for accessing & manipulating data in the database (e.g. SQL)

Question 4

What is a relational database?

Answer 4

• organization of data in two-dimensional tables called relations with rows & columns
• each table contains data about an entity & its attributes
• each row = a record
• each column = an attribute/ field
• each table with a key field to uniquely identify each record for retrieval or manipulation

Question 5

What are the characteristics of a relational database?

Answer 5

• flexible & easily accessible
• vertically scalable, not horizontally
• can be combined easily to deliver specific data
• normalization: process of creating small, stable, flexible & adaptive data structures fom complex groups of data when designing relational DB
• a well-designed relational DB will not have many-to-many relationships, all attributes of one entity apply only to it, enforcing referential integrity rules
• entity-related diagrams (ERD) graphically depict the relationship between entities (tables) in a relational DB

Question 6

What are nonrelational databases?

Answer 6

Non-relational databases are often used when large quantities of complex and diverse data need to be organized (exceeding relational DB capabilities)

Question 7

What are distributed databases?

Answer 7

• database that runs and stores data across multiple computers
• typically, distributed databases operate on two or more interconnected servers on a computer network (incl. cloud computing services)

Question 8

What are the requirements for designing a database?

Answer 8

• logical design: models DB from business perspective, reflects key BPs & DM requirements
• physical design: shows how DB is arranged on direct-access storage devices

Question 9

Where is big data stored in vast quantities?

Answer 9

• data warehouses & data mart
• Hadoop (Google)
• in-memory comuting
• analytical platforms

Question 10

What tools & tech are there to access information from databases?

Answer 10

• Online Analytical Procesing (OLAP): relationships among data visualized as data cubes & cubes within data cubes
• data mining: finding patterns & rules in large pools of data to predict future behaviour
• text mining tools
• web mining tools (website structure & content, user activity)

Question 11

What is data governance?

Answer 11

Organizational policies & procedures for maintenance, distribution & use of information in the organization
–> crucial to ensure high data quality, which prevents operational & financial problems caused by flawless software etc.

Question 12

What steps can be taken to ensure high data quality?

Answer 12

• enterprise-wide data standards
• DBs designed to minimize inconsistent & redundant data
• data quality audits
• data cleansing software