Foundations of information systems : BIS 1202 Lecture 4: Database Systems and Business Intelligence

Learning Objectives At the end of this lecture, students should – Define general data management concepts and terms, highlighting the advantages of the database approach to data management – Describe the relational database model and outline its basic features – Understand Data Modeling and Database Characteristics – Understand business intelligence and the associated BI tools BIS1202

Data Management Definition: – Systematic collection, organization and analysis of data. One interprets data using a variety of methods manually or on a computer. OR – The evaluation and the drawing of conclusions based on the analysis of the data. Without data and the ability to process it, an organization could not successfully complete most business activities For data to be transformed into useful information, it must first be organized in a way that is easy to use

The Hierarchy of Data Bit – Circuit that is either on or off – Eight bits = one byte Character – Basic building block of information Field – Name, number, or combination of characters that describes an aspect of a business object or activity – (a column in a relation) BIS1202

The Hierarchy of Data (continued) Record / table – Collection of related data fields (a raw in a relation) File – Collection of related records Database – Collection of logically related data Hierarchy of data – Bits, characters, fields, records, files, and databases BIS1202

The Hierarchy of Data (continued) BIS1202

Data Entities, Attributes, and Keys Entity – something that has a distinct, separate existence, -Attribute-Characteristic of an entity Data item – Value of an attribute BIS1202

Data Entities, Attributes, and Keys (continued) Key – Field or set of fields in a record that is used to identify the record Primary key – Field or set of fields that uniquely identifies the record BIS1202

The Approaches to data management Traditional approach to data management – Separate data files are created and stored for each application program Database approach to data management – Multiple application programs share a pool of related data – A shared collection of logically related data BIS1202

The Database Approach (continued) BIS1202

The Database Approach (continued) BIS1202

Data Modeling and Database Characteristics When building a database, consider: – Content: What data should be collected, at what cost? – Access: What data should be provided to which users and when? – Logical structure: How should data be arranged to make sense to a given user? – Physical organization: Where should data be physically located? BIS1202

Data Modeling Building a database requires two types of designs – Logical design Abstract model of how data should be structured and arranged to meet an organization’s information needs Determines how data is organized-(relational) – Physical design Fine-tunes the logical database design for performance and cost considerations BIS1202

The Relational Database Model Relational model A relational database matches data by using common characteristics found within the data set – Describes data using a standard tabular format – Data elements are placed in two-dimensional tables, called relations, the logical equivalent of files BIS1202

The Relational Database Model BIS1202

Manipulating Data The ways of modifying data that is stored with in the database. Selecting – Eliminates rows according to criteria Projecting – Eliminates columns in a table Joining – Combines two or more tables Linking – Combines two or more tables using common data attributes BIS1202

Overview of Database Types Flat file – Simple database program whose records have no relationship to one another Single user – Only one person can use the database at a time – Eg: simple databases kept in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet Multiple user – Allows dozens or hundreds of people to access the same database system at the same time – Eg: Oracle, Sybase, and IBM BIS1202

Users of a database Naive (End user) – invoke one of the permanent application programs that have been written previously. Sophisticated user – form requests in a database query language Online user Database Administrator Network Administrators Specialized users – write specialized database applications that do not fit into the traditional data processing framework. – Eg: Application Developers, Application Administrators Security Officers Application programmer – interact with system through DML calls BIS1202

Creating and Modifying the Database Data definition language (DDL) – Collection of instructions/commands that define and describe data and data relationships in a database – Allows database creator to describe the data and the data relationships that are to be contained in the schema Data dictionary – Detailed description of all the data used in the database BIS1202

Database Administration Database administrator (DBA) A person responsible for the design, implementation, maintenance and repair of an organization's database – Have a clear understanding of the fundamental business of the organization – Be proficient in the use of selected database management systems – Be aware of emerging technologies and new design approaches BIS1202

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE - BI BIS1202

Business Intelligence (BI) Business intelligence (BI) mainly refers to computer-based techniques used in identifying, extracting, and analyzing business data for proper decision making. such as sales revenue by products and/or departments, or by associated costs and incomes.

Data Warehouses, Data Marts, and Data Mining Data warehousing(a database used for reporting and analysis) (A data warehouse is a copy of transaction data specifically structured for querying and reporting.) – Data warehousing is storing data effectively so that it can be accessed and used efficiently. – Different organizations collect different types of data, but many organizations use their data the same way, in order to create reports and analyze their data to make quality business decisions. – Data warehouse Holds business information from many sources in the enterprise BIS1202

Data Warehouses, Data Marts, and Data Mining Data mining – Finding hidden insights about data. – Data mining is a crucial component to data management because it exposes interesting information about the data being collected. – Acts as an Information-analysis tool for discovering patterns and relationships in a data warehouse – Predictive analysis: Combines historical data with assumptions about future conditions BIS1202

Data Warehouses, Data Marts, and Data Mining Data mart – Subset of a data warehouse – I.e a simple form of a data warehouse that is focused on a single subject (or functional area), such as Sales, Finance, BIS1202

Data Warehouses, Data Marts, and Data Mining (continued) BIS1202

Business Intelligence…examples A bank bridges a legacy database with departmental databases, giving branch managers and other users access to BI applications to determine who the most profitable customers are or which customers they should try to cross-sell new products to. The use of these tools frees IT staff from the task of generating analytical reports for the departments and it gives department personnel autonomous access to a richer data source. BIS1202

Business Intelligence…examples A telecommunications company Maintains a multiterabyte decision-support data warehouse and uses business intelligence tools and utilities to let users access the data they need without giving them carte blanche to access hundreds of thousands of mission-critical records. The tools set boundaries around the data that users can access, creating data "cubes" that contain only the information that's relevant to a particular user or group of users. BIS1202

Summary Data – Organized into a hierarchy that builds from the smallest element to the largest Traditional file-oriented applications – Often characterized by program-data dependence Data model – Map or diagram of entities and their relationships DBMS – Group of programs used as an interface between a database and its users and other applications BIS1202

Summary After a DBMS has been installed – It can be accessed, modified, and queried via a data manipulation language Data warehouse – Relational database management systems specifically designed to support management decision making Business intelligence – Getting enough of the right information in a timely manner and usable form BIS1202