CHAPTER 7: STORING ORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION—DATABASES

RELATIONAL DATABASE FUNDAMENTALS

• Information is everywhere in an organization
• Information is stored in databases

Database – maintains information about various types of objects (inventory), events (transactions), people (employees), and places (warehouses)

RELATIONAL DATABASE FUNDAMENTALS

Database models include:

• Hierarchical database model – information is organized into a tree-like structure (using parent/child relationships) in such a way that it cannot have too many relationships
• Network database model – a flexible way of representing objects and their relationships
• Relational database model – stores information in the form of logically related two-dimensional tables

Entities and Attributes

• Entity – a person, place, thing, transaction, or event about which information is stored
• The rows in each table contain the entities
• Attributes (fields, columns) – characteristics or properties of an entity class
• The columns in each table contain the attributes
• Keys and Relationships
• Primary keys and foreign keys identify the various entity classes (tables) in the database
• Primary key – a field (or group of fields) that uniquely identifies a given entity in a table
• Foreign key – a primary key of one table that appears an attribute in another table and acts to provide a logical relationship among the two tables

RELATIONAL DATABASE ADVANTAGES

Database advantages from a business perspective include

• Increased flexibility
• Increased scaleability and performance
• Reduced information redundancy
• Increased information integrity (quality)
• Increased information security
• Increased Flexibility

A well-designed database should:

• Handle changes quickly and easily
• Provide users with different views
• Have only one physical view

Increased Scalability and Performance

A database must scale to meet increased demand,  while maintaining acceptable performance levels

• Scalability – refers to how well a system can adapt to increased demands
• Performance – measures how quickly a system performs a certain process or transaction

Reduced Information Redundancy

Databases reduce information redundancy

• Redundancy – the duplication of information or storing the same information in multiple places

Increase Information Integrity (Quality)

Information integrity – measures the quality of information

Integrity constraint – rules that help ensure the quality of information

• Relational integrity constraint
• Business-critical integrity constraint

Increased Information Security

Information is an organizational asset and must be protected

Databases offer several security features including:

• Password – provides authentication of the user
• Access level – determines who has access to the different types of information
• Access control – determines types of user access, such as read-only access

DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Database management systems (DBMS) – software through which users and application programs interact with a database

DATA-DRIVEN WEBSITES

Data-driven websites – an interactive website kept constantly updated and relevant to the needs of its customers through the use of a database

DATA-DRIVEN WEBSITE BUSINESS ADVANTAGES

• Development
• Content Management
• Future Expandability
• Minimizing Human Error: 
• Cutting Production and Update Costs
• More Efficient
• Improved Stability

DATA-DRIVEN BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

BI in a data-driven website

INTEGRATING INFORMATION AMONG MULTIPLE DATABASES

• Integration – allows separate systems to communicate directly with each other
• Forward integration – takes information entered into a given system and sends it automatically to all downstream systems and processes
• Backward integration – takes information entered into a given system and sends it automatically to all upstream systems and processes

Forward integration and backward integration

Building a central repository specifically for integrated information

-END OF CHAPTER 7-