Chapter 5
Data Resource Management
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2010 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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
5-2
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
5-3
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
5-4
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
5-5
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?
5-6
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
5-7
Logical Data Elements
5-8
Logical Data Elements
Character
•A single
alphabetic,
numeric, or other
symbol
Field
(data item)
•Represents an
attribute (quality
or characteristic)
of some entity
(object, person,
place, event)
•Examples…
salary, job title
Record
•Grouping of all
the fields used to
describe the
attributes of an
entity
•Example… payroll
records with name,
SSN, pay rate
5-9
Logical Data Elements
File
(table, flat file)
•Group of related
records
Database
•Integrated
collection of
logically related
data elements
5-10
Electric Utility Database
5-11
Common Database Structures: Hierarchical
– Early DBMS structure
– Records arranged in tree-like structure
– Relationships are one-to-many
5-12
Common Database Structures: Network
– Used in some mainframe DBMS packages
– Many-to-many relationships
5-13
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
5-14
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)
5-15
Multidimensional Model
5-16
Common Database Structures: Object-Oriented
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.
Copyright @ 1995, Association for Computing Machinery. By permission.
5-17
Evaluation of Database Structures
Hierarchical
Works for
structured,
routine
transactions
Can’t handle
many-to-many
relationship
Network
Relational
More flexible
than hierarchical
Easily responds
to ad hoc
requests
Unable to handle
ad hoc requests
Easier to work
with & maintain
Not as efficient
or quick as
hierarchical or
network
5-18
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
5-19
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
5-20
Database Development
5-21
Entity Relationship Diagram
5-22
Logical and Physical Database Views
5-23
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
5-24
Case 2: Applebee’s, Travelocity, and Others

Applebee’s
– 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
5-25
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?
5-26
Case Study Questions

Data mining and warehousing technologies use
data about past events to inform better decisionmaking 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?
5-27
Types of Databases
5-28
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
5-29
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
5-30
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
5-31
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
5-32
Components of Web-Based System

A hypermedia database contains
– Hyperlinked pages of multimedia
– Interrelated hypermedia page elements,
rather than interrelated data records
5-33
Data Warehouses
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)
5-34
Data Warehouse Components
5-35
Applications and Data Marts
5-36
Data Mining
5-37
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
5-38
Traditional File Processing - Banks
5-39
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
5-40
Database Management Approach
5-41
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
5-42
Common DBMS Software Components
5-43
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
5-44
DBMS Major Functions
5-45
Database Interrogation
End User
Makes DBMS
Query
No programming
required
Query
Language
Immediate
response to ad hoc
data requests
Report Generator
Quickly specify
a format for
information you
want to present
as a report
Response is a video display
or a printed report
5-46
Database Interrogation

SQL Queries
– Structured, international standard query
language found in many DBMS packages
– Query form is SELECT…FROM…WHERE…
5-47
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
5-48
Database Interrogation
Graphical and Natural Queries
It is difficult to correctly phrase SQL and
other database language search queries
Most DBMS packages offer easier-to-use
point-and-click methods
Translates queries into SQL commands
Natural language query statements are
similar to conversational English
5-49
Microsoft Query Wizard
5-50
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
5-51
Application Development
Use DBMS software development tools
to develop custom application programs
Not necessary to develop detailed datahandling procedures using conventional
programming languages
Can include data manipulation language
(DML) statements that call on the DBMS to
perform necessary data handling
5-52
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
5-53
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
5-54
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
5-55
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?
5-56
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
5-57