Databases and Data Warehouses

Chapter 6:

1. List, describe, and provide an example of each of the five characteristics of high quality information.
Accuracy: The Information that is held within the database must be correct for it to be useful and or high quality. For example if information is incorrectly spelt or wrongly recorded the standard of the database and its usefulness drops!
Consistency: Any summary information that has been formed from individual fields of the database must make sense and match up with those fields.
Completeness: to make sure that a database is of high quality all data must be imputed. For example if the data base is about students at a school and the information in there is age, gender, phone number, student identification and home address, each student must have each field entered must be complete for the database to be useful and high quality.
Uniqueness: there must only be one customer and there information must be unique to them, the customer must to reoccur with the same data as another.
Timeliness: Data should be up to date or be unchanging information, if addresses or phone numbers are not up to date then the database is unhelpful. (therefore the data needs to be 'timeless' and constantly updated)

2. Define the relationship between a database and a database management system.
A database is where organisational information is stored thought it is extremely useful it would not assist with anything if there was no Database management system (DBMS) this system, in relation to a database is what organises and manages the information that is stored within a database.

3. Describe the advantages an organisation can gain by using a database.

By using a database there are many advantages an organisation can have. There is an increased flexibility on how and what information can be viewed, databases can also handle quick changes and it therefore increases the mobility and ability of the organisation. Another advantage of using a database is that it increases scalability and performance of an organisation, when data is imputed into systems such used in the Australian bureau of Static’s they are easily able to adapt the information to suit a persons searching needs.

Databases also reduce information redundancy within organisations; this means that information is easily stored in multiple locations. By using databases the risk of information being altered in one location and not another is removed. The final two things, which are advantages to organisations that use databases, is that there is an increase in information integrity and information security. This means that information is more useful and has a higher quality and also that the information is safe and only open to particular people and areas, which are required to view it.

4. Define the fundamental concepts of the relational database model.

An entity is a person, place, thing, transaction or events which information about the particular thing is stored. Attributes; also known as fields or columns are properties of an entity. A primary key is a field of the database which uniquely identifies an entity within the table. For example under a entity for STUDENT the key would be a student ID number. Finally a foreign key in a relational database os a primary key in one table that is an attribute in another table and provides logical relationship between two table. 

5. Describe the benefits of a data-driven website.
There are multiple advantages that arise with the use of a data-driven website. The quick development of the website is one advantage, it allows the owner to make quick alterations and additions with a little to no training on editing a web page. The content management is simplified, it removes the need for a programer who would normal be needed to update information on the website and quickens the update of data onto a website. The speed of which a data-driven website allows for fasters expandability of the site, and its reliability and the amount of data it can hold increases its efficiency and stability. The use of this style website minimises the risk of human error, even the most advanced programers can make mistakes which allow for bugs and other issues which are time consuming and expensive to fix. Lastly a data-driven website creates more convenience and  self-sufficiency for website owners, creators and users.

6. Describe the roles and purposes of data warehouses and data marts in an organisation.

A data warehouse is a collection of information, gathered from many different databases to create a large collection of information and create a more detailed database. The main purpose of a data warehouse is that all information and data collected by one organisation can be collated in one depository and allow for the organisation to make business decisions and analysis's through the use of all information from one place rather than many. A data mart is a division of a data warehouse. These are focused on the needs of the organisation unit (e.g. finance pr production and operation) where as data warehouses hold all of an organisations data and information.

Enterprise Architectures

Chapter 5:
1.What is information architecture and what is information infrastructure and how do they differ and how do they relate to each other?


2. Describe how an organisation can implement a solid information architecture? 
There are three steps that should be taken when a business is creating a solid information architecture. 
Backup and recovery: businesses loose hundreds to thousands of dollars each year. This step aims at remiving the risk of such great loss by continual re-saving and backing up of each file and document which a company produce. and recovery refers to being able to re-boot a system that has failed, saving the files and removing the loss of important documentation.
Disaster recovery: this is a detailed process for recovering data from IT systems after catastrophic damage is done via a disaster. Things such as where the data is able to be recovered from off-site back-up stations and other steps that must be taken to make sure that a business is not in 'downtime' loosing money for long after a disaster. When considering disaster recovery many business also set up 'hot sites' which are designated places the employees can move to if the area in which they are working is damaged to continue the running of the company.
Information security: making sure that the data and information within the company is secure and only available to those who it is supposed to be available too. This means that there has to be a use of strong passwords and other deterrents for hackers who may be able to take others identity  or enter accounts if access is granted to particular files.
3. List and describe the five requirement characteristics of infrastructure architecture.
Flexibility:This means that the systems created within infrastructure architecture should suit all types of business challenges. As the company grows the system should already have the ability to handle new information and alterations of older data.
Scalability: Refers to how well a system can adapt to increased demands. If this was not a characteristic of infrastructure architecture then many companies may not think about the importance of this. It could cause a great slowing or programs, running out of disk space and other types of performance dilapidation. 
Reliability: Refers to the correct functioning of a system and making sure that the system is providing accurate information.
Availability: The accessibility of a system to the customers. Some companies create a 24/7 option for availability so as customers from around the world and business operation support. As technology grows so too does the expectation for there to be a constant availability over the internet, for example if a web page close at 9pm and the customer needs to contact them they are going to become dissatisfied by the cooperation and remove there use of the company.
Performance: how quickly a system performs a specific process or action. if web sites are not quick responsive this can cause a great negative impact to its use by customers. To get the best out of there systems businesses should implement capacity planning to understand what they are running is able to handle.
4. Describe the business value in deploying a service oriented architecture
An SOA (service oriented architecture) service allows simple business tasks to be completed. This service allows companies to be come more agile by aligning business needs and the IT options which are available to assist in these tasks. It also allows for the IT environment to effectively an efficiently respond to the requirements of a business driven environment.
5. What is an event?
they are programs that detect threats and opportunities for the company and inform the people best equipped to deal with them. An example of this is a credit card monitoring system which can alert the credi supervisor of transactions made on a card for $7000 when the card has a limit of $6000
6. What is a service?
these are more like software products that coding projects. Originally things like 'print' and 'save' were services that were provided but as technology has grown things like 'credit check', 'customer information' and 'process payments' are some types of more complex services available to the community. These services are created to provide options and simplicity when working and using particular items and products.
7. What emerging technologies can companies can use to increase performance and utilise their infrastructure more effectively? 

Ethics and Information Security

Chapter 4

1. Explain the ethical issues surrounding information technology.
Ethics is defined as 'the principles and standards that guide our behavior to other people'. Due to the fast growing technology in society many issues have arisen surrounding copyright infringements and issues of intellectual property rights, things such as image, music and movie copying and downloading is a major area which has increasing become an issue with the rising and advancing or technology. These actions which are illegal are also now seen as unethical due to the fact that these actions are classified as stealing from a party whom has not consented to the use of there products in this way.

      Figure 5: Cartoon comic of unethical decisions in a work place.  

2. Describe a situation involving technology that is ethical but illegal.
An example where technology is used in a way that is said to be illegal but is actually ethical would be when purchasing a computer program and creating a copy to back up in case of loss of the original copy. Though it says that copies of the program should not be made and that it is an offense to do so, the backing up of a program for your own use is not undercutting the producers of customers. This situation may be easily altered by changing one or more of the factors. For example if the copy is being made multiple times to sell over the internet or at a market then the issue becomes both unethical an illegal.

3. Describe and explain one of the computer use policies that a company might employ.
Many companies employ a blocking of particular sites on there work network. Programs like Facebook are often seen as both distracting and also lead to risk 
of cyber-bullying and inappropriate relations between colleagues. Blocking these programs allows for the company to remove issues that may risk how the company runs and cause a lack of ethical treatment to employees. Another way that a company may minimize the risk of such issues from appearing within there staff is to employee monitoring processes on there screens and email programs. For example many companies will not allow for particular emails to pass through to the recipient as they are not seen fit for within the workplace.

4. What are the 5 main technology security risks?
-Human error
-Natural disaster (Floods, earthquakes)
-Technical failures (software bugs)
-Deliberate acts (sabotage, white collar crime)
-Management failure

5. Outline one way to reduce each risk.
Human error: often this can be due to untrained employees who have not been properly informed on the programs that are being used. One way of reducing the risk of information that is being imputed by employees is to train them within there job and also with how the programs work. If this is done correctly the risk of pivotal information being unsaved or disclosed to the wrong people will be greatly reduced.

Natural Disaster: These can cause great effect on the security and information which is held within a business. To remove the risk of loosing all data and information in the event of a natural disaster businesses generally have an off-site data holding facilities which have all data and information backed up!

Technical failure: the most important thing with technology is to create backed up data in many different external areas other that within the company network. This is so that if a program is effected by a bug of some sort the safety of the data is not lost.
Deliberate acts: This refers to things such as password hacking and even risk of online back-robbery. The main deterrent of these things is to create passwords which are going to be uncommon or difficult to guess. It is often suggested to have capital letters in the middle of the password and numbers also. The other way these risks can be reduced it through a continual change of passwords and making sure that things such as online banking and emails are logged off when the computer is not being watched.

Figure 6: Statistics of online crime from 2007-2008

Management failure: this again needs to be backed up with programs which could be of vital importance and are at risk of being lost and also has too do with whether the management staff are properly trained to keep company files safely stored and covered.

6. What is a disaster recovery plan, what strategies might a firm employee?
The main things that companies should have planned in case of a disaster such as bomb threats, chemical spills, fire, flood, network failure or terrorism (just some examples) is to have somewhere away from the main company base which holds all date systems and files that the company has. The company should also have ways to communicate to these plants and be able to quickly move the people needed to the places to that there is minimal "downtime" where the company is at risk of loosing millions of dollars in income. This also means that key people must know where and how to find the backed up date and obtain it to remove as much cost to the business as possible.

E-business

Chapter 3 

                                                   

1.Why has the web grown so dramatically?

There are many influencing factors within technology, which makes it greatly popular within society, and this has allowed it to dramatically grow. Much use of the Internet within business it due to the information that can be found within the many sites that the ‘world wide web’ proves. The fact that there is such a variety of information and that it is so content rich allows for greater use to new and old businesses. It is also personalized to particular people and companies and it is easy to access and is open to the public. The main reasoning for it is grow in the past years is due to its ability to be useful to people in all different areas of life.

2. What is Web 2.0,how does it differ from web 1.0?

To put it in general terms Web 2.0 is much more complex and interactive when measured up against web 1.0. Web 1.0 is generally explained as ‘read only’ web, this means that a business (for example) creates a website to inform its target market about the products, where they are available and even upcoming events and functions. Though this is helpful to the market, as technology grows the ability for this information to be more two way then one way becomes apparent. Web 2.0 allows for the respondent of the information and data that is presents on a site to ‘respond’ to that information. A prime example of this would be on a blogsite where information is posted and then responded to through comments; Facebook the social networking program is another example of how web 2.0 is a more complex yet user enhancing web system.

Figure 3: How does web 1.0 and 2.0 compare?

3.   How could a web 2.0 technology be used in business?

Web 2.0 is a very effective way for business to improve different areas of marketing, communication and relation both within the company and between the company and the consumer. It allows for the managers of the company and the employees to quickly communicate through internal IM sites. To the general public web 2.0 allows for them to be able to ask questions and receive quick answers about queries they have and it also allows for things about the product to be constantly promoted to the people of the world.

Figure 4: Web 2.0

4.   What is E-Business, how does it differ from E-commerce?

E-business refers to the complete workings of a business within an online forum. From buying and selling, serving the customers and relating to business partners E-business refers to each aspect of the company and how it relates via the Internet to its customers. E-commerce on the other had refers to the buying and selling of products over the Internet. The main difference between the two is the e-business refers to online exchanges with the manufacture and suppliers being able to view and monitor production schedules and financial companies allowing there customers to view their banking and other money related accounts online.

5.   What is pure and partial eCommerce?

There are many examples of partial and pure e-commerce transacting that are used everyday by people around the world. Pure e-commerce refers to transitions that happen via digital means where the product is online transferred to the customer in digital copy. An example of a program that uses pure e-commerce is Itunes, there data and products are never purchased as hard copy and are received onto the computer online there transfer of music, applications and even books creates a reduction of the materials that would be needed when one of these products is purchased within a store. Partial e-commerce on the other hand refers to the purchasing of goods over the Internet when receiving a physical product in the future.

6.   List and describe the various E-Business models?
There are 4 major models of e-business:
Business-to-business (B2B): Applies to businesses buying and selling ther products on the internet to each-other.
Business-to-consumer (B2C): any business which sells its products over the internet to its consumers. Examples; eShops and eMalls.
Consumer-to-business (C2B): Any consumer who sells his or her products or services to a business over the internet. this could refer to such as artists (painters/photographers) selling the works to magazines or to exhibition houses and can even hold things like customers fulfilling surveys on business websites as being part of the C2B model.      
Consumer-to-consumer (C2C): Ebay is a prime example of a C2C system, where like-minded buyers and sellers are connected through the online auction. This model aims to connect customers via offering goods and services which assist consumer interaction with each-other over the internet. 

7.   List and describe the major B2B models? 

The main way that B2B models work is through electronic or eMarketplaces. When it comes to buying and selling products eMarketplaces aim at tightening the relation between buyers and sellers. In a business-to-business model this style of market place alows for businesses to browse the options and pricing of products that they wish to purchase.

8. Outline 2 opportunities and 2 challenges faced by companies doing business online?

There are many opportunities and challenges that can be faced when business begin to create an online version of their company. Opportunities for growth are seen within companies that explore their online market. When companies use online business their product is not only seen in the community that it is based but is also seen by the nation and even possibly by an international audience, this can create more work within a company and bring what there aims are to a much larger group of people. The use of the internet as a tool within business is effective as it is a simple way to communicate to other business and people whom may be interested in the company and also allows for the company’s aims and values to be known by a larger number of people.

Along with the opportunities of online businesses there are also challenges. The major challenge within an online business is that the information on the site is available to all who approach the site (within or outside the company), this poses a risk with security of patrons, their details and there identities. For example if a purchase is made online a credit card is gerentally needed this in itself can lead to grate loss of money if the wrong people were able to access the information that is contributed within that transaction. Another less significant downfall of online business is that, particularly with reference to online shopping, the products are not physically able to be tested, seen or tried on and therefore products may be not as good or not correct compared to what the customers thought they were purchasing. When these problems occur there is generally an exchange or refund policy that is sighted somewhere on the web site.

Advantages and disadvantages aside the idea that business can become electronic opens many new jobs and areas which can be explored and built on to create new ways for companies to communicate within a society.