Chapter 3: Databases

and Big Data

INSY 50 – Fundamentals of Information Systems
Why learn
Organizations and individuals capture enormous
about amounts of data from different sources every
databases day
and big It is important to know where all this data come
from, where it goes, how it is safeguarded, and
data? how you can use it to your advantage
Regardless of your field of study/specialization,
using database systems and big data will likely
be a critical part of your job
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 Without data and the ability to process it:
An organization could not successfully complete
most business activities
Data consists of raw facts
Data Data must be organized in a meaningful way to
Fundamentals transform it into useful information

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 A bit (binary digit) represents a circuit that is
either on or off
A byte is made up of eight bits
Each byte represents a character
Field: a name, number, or combination of
Hierarchy of characters that describes an aspect of a
Data business object or activity
Record: a collection of related data fields
File: a collection of related records
Database: a collection of integrated and
related files

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Hierarchy of
Data

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 Entity: a person, place, or thing for which data is
collected, stored, and maintained
Attribute: a characteristic of an entity
Data item: the specific value of an attribute
Data
Primary key: a field or set of fields that uniquely identifies
Entities, the record
Attributes,
and Keys

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 Each distinct operational system used data files
dedicated to that system

Traditional
Approach to
Data
Management

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 Data Redundancy and Inconsistency
Data redundancy is the presence of duplicate data
in multiple data files so that the same data are
Problems stored in more than one place or location.
with the Data redundancy wastes storage resources and
also leads to data inconsistency, where the same
Traditional attribute may have different values.
File Program-Data Dependence
Environment It refers to the coupling of data stored in files and
the specific programs required to update and
maintain those files such that changes in programs
require changes to the data.

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 Lack of Flexibility
The inability to deliver ad hoc reports or respond
to unanticipated information requirements in a
timely fashion
Problems
with the Poor Security
Little to no means of knowing who can access or
Traditional make changes to the organization’s data
File Lack of Data Sharing and Availability
Sparse information that cannot be related to one
Environment another – in different files and different parts of the
organization – which makes it virtually impossible
for information to be shared or accessed in a timely
manner.

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 Database approach to data management
Information systems share a pool of related data
Offers the ability to share data and information
resources
A database management system (DBMS) is required
The
Database
Approach

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 Interfaces between
applications and physical
data files
Separates logical and
physical views of data
Database Solves problems of
Management traditional file
environment
Systems Controls redundancy
Eliminates inconsistency
Uncouples programs and data
Enables organizations to
centrally manage data and
security

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 Data definition: specifies structure of database
content, used to create tables and define
characteristics of fields
Data dictionary: automated or manual file
storing definitions of data elements and their
Capabilities characteristics
of DBMS Data manipulation language: used to add,
change, delete, retrieve data from database
Structured Query Language
Many DBMS have report generation capabilities
for creating polished reports (Crystal Reports)

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Popular
DBMS

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 Considerations when building a database:
Content: what data should be collected?
cost?
Access: what data should be provided to
which users and when?
Database Logical structure: how should data be
Characteristics arranged so that it makes sense?
Physical organization: where should data
be physically located?
Archiving: how long to store?
Security: how can data be protected?

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 Data model: a diagram
of data entities and
their relationships
Data Enterprise data
Modelling modeling: data
modeling done at the
level of the entire
enterprise

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 Entity-relationship (ER) diagrams:
data models that use basic graphical
symbols to show the organization of
and relationships between data
Data
Modelling

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 Selecting: eliminating rows according to
certain criteria
Projecting: eliminating columns in a table
Manipulating Joining: combining two or more tables
Data Linking: combining two or more tables
through common data attributes to form a new
table with only the unique data attributes

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 Data management
An integrated set of functions that defines
the processes by which data is obtained,
Data certified fit for use, stored, secured, and
Management processed in such a way as to ensure that
the accessibility, reliability, and timeliness
of the data meet the needs of the data
users within an organization

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 Data management is driven by a variety of
factors:
The need to meet external regulations
designed to manage risk associated with
Data financial misstatement
Management The need to avoid the inadvertent release of
sensitive data
The need to ensure that high data quality is
available for key decisions

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 An information policy specifies the
organization’s rules for sharing, disseminating,
acquiring, standardizing, classifying, and
Data inventorying information.
Established and implemented by the owners
Management and managers in small businesses
In a large organization, managing and planning
for information as a corporate resource often
require a formal data administration function.

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 Data administration:
responsible for the specific
policies and procedures
through which data can be
managed as an
organizational resource.
Data Developing an information
Management policy
Planning for data
Overseeing logical database
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Monitoring how IS specialists

and end-user groups use data

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 Data governance requires business leadership and
active participation
Use of a cross-functional team is recommended
Team should consist of executives, project managers,
line-of-business managers, and data stewards
A data steward is an individual responsible for
Data management of critical data elements
Management Database administration: defining and organizing
the structure and content of the database and
maintaining the database

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 Database administrators
(DBAs)
Works with users to define their
data needs
Applies database programming
Database languages to craft a set of
databases to meet those needs
Administration Tests and evaluates databases
Implements changes to improve
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Assures that data is secure from

unauthorized access

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 Data administrator: a nontechnical position
responsible for defining and implementing
consistent principles for a variety of data issues
Including setting data standards and data
Database definitions that apply across all the databases in an
Administration organization
The data administrator can be a high-level
position reporting to top-level managers

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 Data Quality Audit
Structured survey of the accuracy and level
of completeness of the data in an
information system.
Data Cleansing
Ensuring Also called data cleaning or data scrubbing
The process of detecting and then
Data Quality correcting or deleting incomplete,
incorrect, inaccurate, irrelevant records that
reside in a database
Different from data validation, which
involves the identification of “bad data” and
its rejection at the time of data entry

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 Extremely large and complex data collections
Traditional data management software, hardware,
and analysis processes are incapable of dealing with
them
Three characteristics of big data:
Volume
Big Data Velocity
Variety

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Sources of
Big Data

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 Examples:
Retail organizations monitor social networks to
engage brand advocates, identify brand
adversaries
Advertising and marketing agencies track
Big Data comments on social media
Uses Hospitals analyze medical data and patient records
Consumer product companies monitor social
networks to gain insight into consumer behavior
Financial service organizations use data to identify
customers who are likely to be attracted to
increasingly targeted and sophisticated offers

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 How to choose what subset of the data to store
Where and how to store the data
Challenges How to find the nuggets of data that are
relevant to the decision making at hand
of Big Data How to derive value from the relevant data
How to identify which data needs to be
protected from unauthorized access

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 Data warehouse: a database that stores
current and historical data of potential interest
to decision makers throughout the company.
Business Data mart: a subset of a data warehouse in
which a summarized or highly focused portion
Intelligence of the organization’s data is placed in a
Infrastructure separate database for a specific population of
users.
A specific area in the data mart might contain
greater detailed data than the data warehouse

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 Data lake: takes a “store everything” approach
to big data, saving all the data in its raw and
Business unaltered form
Also called an enterprise data hub
Intelligence Raw data is available when users decide just how
Infrastructure they want to use the data
Only when the data is accessed for a specific
analysis is it extracted from the data lake

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 An open-source software framework that
includes several software modules that provide
a means for storing and processing extremely
large data sets
Hadoop Has two primary components:
A data processing component (MapReduce)
A distributed file system (Hadoop Distributed File
System, HDFS)

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 The database approach to data management has
become broadly accepted
Data modeling is a key aspect of organizing data and
information
A well-designed and well-managed database is an
extremely valuable tool in supporting decision making
Summary We have entered an era where organizations are
grappling with a tremendous growth in the amount of
data available and struggling how to manage and make
use of it
A number of available tools and technologies allow
organizations to take advantage of the opportunities
offered by big data

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 Laudon, K. C. and Laudon, J. P. (2019). Management Information
Systems: Managing the Digital Firm (16th ed.). Pearson: New
York.
References
Stair, R. M. and Reynolds, G.W. (2017). Fundamentals of Information
Systems (9th ed.). Cengage: Massachusetts.

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