Managing Information Resources

1. Group 6 Information Systems Management by McNurlin & Sprague Managing Information Resources prepared by Jeraldine Faye A. Rea, Rhemalyn E.Abalos & Vanessa C. Cacas of Ilocos Sur Polytechnic State College,Sta.Maria Ilocos Sur

2. This lecture explores the management of data, information, and knowledge • It begins by identifying some problems in managing data, and then surveys the evolution of database management systems, including the next-generation systems • It explores the various types of information that companies need to manage as they treat information as an organizational resource • It concludes by discussing one of the most important issues facing companies today: how to manage knowledge

3. Today’s Lecture • Introduction • Managing Data • The Three-Level Database Model • Four Data Models • Getting Corporate Data into Shape • ERP(Enterprise Resource Planning) • Managing Information • Four Types of Information • Data Warehouses • Document Management • Content Management • Managing Blogs

4. Introduction • “Managing information resources” initially meant managing data, first in files, then in corporate databases which were: • Well structured • Carefully defined, and • Controlled by IS department • Data vs. Information vs. Knowledge • Data: facts devoid of meaning or intent • Information: data in context • Knowledge: information with direction or intent

5. Introduction cont. • Information in the form of documents (electronic or paper) and Web content has exploded the size of databases organizations now manage • Knowledge management is becoming a key to exploiting “intellectual assets” • Information resources need to be well managed as information becomes an important strategic resource

6. Managing Data To mange data,it is important to define in a structured way how data are represented, stored and retrieve for use. A well-designed data structure helps reduce problems related to data storage(e.g., undesired duplication of records, multiple updating of records) and allows efficient manipulation of data(e.g., combine daily data into annual data.Ideally,each data item should be entered in the database only once.

7. Managing Data:The Three-Level Database Model See Figure 7-1 • Level 1 - The external, conceptual, or local level, containing the various “user views” of the corporate data that each application program uses . • Level 2 - The logical or “enterprise data” level It encompasses all an organization’s relevant data under the control of the data administrators. Data and relationships are represented at this level by the DBM. This level contains the same data as Level 3, but with the implementation data removed. • Level 3 - The physical or storage level, It specifies the way the data are physically stored. A data record consist of its data fields plus some implementation data, generally pointers and flag fields. The end user, of course, need not be concerned with these pointers and flags; they are for use by the DBM only.

9. Managing Data:Four Data Models The second major concept in database management is alternate ways to define relationships among data • Hierarchical model: structures data so that each element is subordinate to another in a strict hierarchical manner • Parent, child etc. • Network model: allows each data item to have more than one parent, • Relationships stated by pointers stored with the data

10. Managing Data:Four Data Modelscont. • Relational model: where the data is stored in tables. • Eight relational operations can be performed on this data • Select, Project, Join, Product, Intersection, Difference, Union, Division • Microsoft Access Relational systems are not as efficient as hierarchical or network database systems, but because relational systems allow people to create relationships among data on the fly, they are much more flexible • Object model: can be used to store any type of data, whether a: • Traditional name or address, • An entire spreadsheet, • A video clip, • A voice annotation, • A photograph, or • A segment of music

11. Relational Model Network Model

12. Hierarchical Model

13. Managing Data:Four Data Models cont. • Finally, security is of major importance in today’s DBMSs • Problem = compounded by distributed, heterogeneous Internet-linked databases • Companies may want to permit access to some portions of their databases while restricting other portions • This selective accessibility requires reliably authenticating ‘users’ • Unless security and integrity are strictly enforced, users will not be able to (fully) trust the systems

14. MANAGING DATA Getting Corporate Data into Shape

15. Getting Corporate Data into Shape • In the midst of this growing richness of data and information, companies are still struggling to get their internal alphanumeric data under control • The installation of company-wide software packages such as SAP, enterprise data warehouses, and intranets has once again brought to the fore the problems of “dirty data” • Data from different databases that has: • Different names • Uses different time frames, or • That otherwise does not match

16. Getting Corporate Data into Shape:The Problem: Inconsistent Data definition • Problem: data definitions incompatible from: • Application to application • Department to department • Site to site, and • Division to division • Reason: to get application systems up and running quickly, system designers sought data from the cheapest source or politically expedient source • Result: different files with: • Different names for same data, and • Same name for different data etc.

17. Getting Corporate Data into Shape:The Problem: Inconsistent Data Definitions cont. • Account Number • AcctNum • AcctNumb • Acct# • A/CNum • Note: people (in the majority of cases) weren’t stupid • They never dream their files / databases etc. would be used in this manner

18. Getting Corporate Data into Shape:The Role of Data Administration • The use of DBMS - database management software, reduced, to some extent, the problems of inconsistent and redundant data in organizations • However merely installing & running a DBMS is not sufficient to manage data as a corporate resource • Database administration: concentrates on administering databases and the software that manages them

19. Getting Corporate Data into Shape:The Role of Data Administration cont. • Data administration is broader: • To determine what data is being used outside the organizational unit that creates it • Whenever data crosses organizational boundaries, its definition and format need to be standardized

20. Getting Corporate Data into Shape:Enterprise Resource Planning • To bring order to the data mess, data administration has four main functions: • Clean up the data definitions • Control shared data • Manage data distribution, and • Maintain data quality • Interestingly, many companies really did not take these four jobs seriously until the mid 1990s, when they needed consistent data to install a company-wide ERP package.

22. Managing Information • Once enterprises get their data into shape, that data can more easily be turned into information “Information is power.” “We are in the Information Age.” • These and similar statements would lead you to believe that managing information is a key corporate activity • Technology = infrastructure; • Asset = information that runs on that infrastructure

23. Information is data in context, which means the data have been given an explicit meaning in a specific context. We often hear such statements as “Information is power” or “ We are in the information age.” These and similar statements would lead you to believe that managing information is a key corporate activity.

24. Managing InformationFour Types of Information • In Figure 7-3 we looked at a matrix representing the full scope of data information resources: • Internal record-based information, such as those found in databases • Internal document-based information, such as reports, opinions, e-mails and proposals. Pertains to concepts: ideas, thoughts, etc. • External/record-based information, such as acquisition from external databases. • External/document-based: WWW

27. Managing InformationFour Types of Information cont. • Internal record-based information was the original focus of IS departments because it is the type of information that computer applications generate and manage easil • External record-based = accessible via Internet or public databases • Including subscription • Until recently = little attention to internal and external document-based information because it was so difficult to manipulate in computers • Intranets changed this • Documents = integral part of information on these sites • Responsibility = now on IS, even if just for technical issues

29. Managing InformationData Warehouses • Data warehouse: Houses data used to make decisions • This data is obtained periodically from transaction databases • The warehouse provides a snapshot of a situation at a specific time • Data warehouses differ from operational databases in that they do not house data used to process daily transactions • Operational databases have the latest data • Data warehouses = not so ‘time critical’ • Like ERP systems, they, too, spurred getting record-based data into shape

30. Managing InformationData Warehousescont. Key Concepts: • Metadata: The part of the warehouse that defines the data. Metadata means “data about data.” • Metadata explains the meaning of each data element, how each element relates to each other, etc. • It sets the standard – without it data from different legacy systems cannot be reconciled, so the data will not be “clean” • Quality data: Is the cleaning process to adhere to metadata standards • The older the data the more suspect its quality • Datamarts: Is a subset of data pulled off the warehouse for a specific group of users • In the early 1990s, one huge warehouse was envisaged, but proved un-practical due to long search times and large cost factors

31. Managing InformationData Warehousescont. 5 Steps in a Data Warehousing Project: • Define the business uses of the data • Create the data model for the warehouse • i.e. defining the relationships between the data elements • Cleanse the data • Select the user tools • Consider the users point of view by selecting the tools they will use & then training them on tool use • Monitorusage and system performance

32. Managing InformationDocument Management • Even in today’s Internet-rich world, paper still plays a major role in most enterprises • There is also a need to move seamlessly between digital and printed versions of documents; hence, the importance of document management • The field of electronic document management (EDM) uses new technologies to manage information resources that do not fit easily into traditional databases • EDM addresses organizing and managing conceptual, descriptive, and ambiguous multimedia content. • Applying technology to process traditional documents makes a major change in what documents can accomplish in organizations

33. It is hard to think of anything more pervasive and fundamental to an organization than documents • The impact of applying emerging technologies to document management is potentially significant • EDM contributes to business process redesign • Numerous EDM applications generate value. The ‘Big 3’ are: • To improve the publishing process • To support organizational processes • To support communications among people and groups • The concept of just-in-time (printing, publishing and forms processing) pervades the design philosophy in all three areas

34. Improving the Publishing Process • It is hard to think of anything more pervasive and fundamental to an organization than documents • The impact of applying emerging technologies to document management is potentially significant • EDM contributes to business process redesign • Numerous EDM applications generate value. The ‘Big 3’ are: • To improve the publishing process • To support organizational processes • To support communications among people and groups • The concept of just-in-time (printing, publishing and forms processing) pervades the design philosophy in all three areas

36. Figure 7-7 shows the steps in the revised publishing/distribution process using newer technologies • Documents are stored electronically, shipped over a network, and printed when they are needed • The major benefits result from reducing obsolescence, eliminating warehouse costs & reducing or eliminating delivery time

37. Managing InformationContent Management • Corporate intranets now house documents that were previously paper-based • A major reason content has become important to CIOs is because it is a core management discipline underlying online business • Without production-level Web content, management processes, and technologies, large-scale e-business is not possible • Use of XML moves Web content from being in a human-only readable format to being in a computer-readable format • Thus, the content can be passed to back-end transaction processing systems and cause an action to take place • Content is no longer static; it is active

38. Managing InformationContent Management cont. • To create a content management strategy, companies need to understand the three phases of the content management life cycle: • Managing Content Creation and Acquisition • Content Administration and Safeguarding • Content Deployment and Presentation

40. Content Management:Managing Content Creation and Acquisition • Content creation and acquisition need to focus on creating content quality • That’s why it might be wise to buy some content from specialists – which is called syndicated content – rather than create it in-house • The best organizational structure is to distribute content creation and maintenance to content-expert employees • But to avoid anarchy, these dispersed experts should be directed centrally, and use centrally-created formats and an automated workflow system that moves their work along

41. Content Management:Content Administration and Safeguarding • The emphasis in this phase, like any operational phase, is efficiency • Goal = achieve the most with the least effort • Content management tools can be used to identify types of content and the business rules that apply to each type • Whereas content creation should be distributed, content administration should be centralized

42. Content Management:Content Deployment and Presentation • The emphasis in this phase should be effectiveness: • Presenting the content so that it: • Attracts visitors • Allows them to navigate the site easily, and • Leads them to the desired actions • Because this phase can determine the success of a firm’s e-commerce efforts, it’s best to design a Website beginning with this phase • Then move on to ensuring content quality and processing efficiency • Eastman-Kodak case: moving from an ‘inside-out’ view to taking its customers point of view • Today most Web sites need certain features to attract and keep visitors. Two of the most important are: • Personalization = allowing visitors to customize how they view the page • Localization = tailoring a site to a culture, market or locale

43. EASTMAN CHEMICAL COMPANYCase Example: Content Management • Thisglobal manufacturer of chemicals had a Website in 1994 • It redesigned the site in 1999 to become more customer-focused and to launch a major e-commerce program • Eastman changed the Website structure from presenting an inside-out view (based on its corporate structure) to presenting an outside-in view (with sections devoted to the markets the company serves) • Eastman selected a content management product to create pre-approved templates for employees to use

44. EASTMAN CHEMICAL COMPANYCase Example: Content Management cont. • The benefits of the redesign were far greater than expected • Today, traffic has tripled (more than 50 percent from outside the United States) and 70 percent of the hits are in the market sectors, where Eastman sells its products • Customers report that the online availability of technical data has significantly accelerated their internal decision-making processes • It’s now working on globalizing and personalizing the site even more

45. Managing Blogs Blog = short for “Web Log” • A blog is a Web site where an individual makes intermittent Web postings. It is akin to a personal online journal. People write and post on blogs as a form of self-expression. What do they write about? They write whatever comes to mind. They may write about their private life or their work life. Most blogs also invite comments from others, which appear on the blog as well. Blogs are different form of Web content, but they still need to be managed. Enterprises need to establish guidelines for employees who choose to blog.

46. GROOVE NETWORKSCase Example: Managing blogs • Views personal websites and blogs positively • Has issued Employee Guidelines for Personal Website and Weblogs • Make it clear to readers that the views you express are yours and not necessarily those of the company • Take care not to disclose any confidential information • Company • Third party • Since your site is a public space, be respectful to • Company • Our employees • Our customers etc. • ….Finally, the company may request that you temporarily confine your commentary to topics unrelated to the company

47. Conclusion • The job of managing information resources is widening significantly • Not only must IS departments get corporate data in shape, but they also need to create and build an infrastructure for managing the full range of information types • In some ways, the Internet helps because it gives companies an easily accessible place to store information • On the other hand, the Internet has also contributed mightily to the information glut we all face

48. Question: • What are the benefits of ERP system? • Differentiate document and content management?