Sunday, October 2, 2011

Weekly Questions 6









Week 6 Questions

What is information architecture and what is information infrastructure and how do they differ and how do they relate to each other?

Information architecture identifies where and how important information, such as customer records is maintained and secured and is very useful for planning. Information infrastructure is the actual implementation that will provide for effective information systems, including the hardware, software, services and people involved. These differ because one is a plan and the other is the implementation of the plan. They relate to each other because there can not be one without the other.
Describe how an organisation can implement a solid information architecture
For an organisation to have a solid information architecture they need to have:
  • A backup and recovery system: A backup is an exact copy of a systems information and Recovery is the ability to get a system up and running in the event of a system crash or failure
  • A disaster recovery plan: A detailed process for recovering information or an IT system in the event of a catastrophic disaster such as a fire or flood.
  • Information security: Such as managing user accounts and keeping up to date antivirus software and patches.

List and describe the five requirement characteristics of infrastructure architecture.
The five requirement characteristics of infrastructure architecture are:
  1. Flexibility: The ability to meet all types of business changes
  2. Scalability: How well a system can adapt to increased demands and meet growth requirements.
  3. Reliability: Ensures all systems are functioning correctly and providing accurate information. High accuracy, low accuracy puts organisations at risk.
  4. Availability: Addresses when systems can be accessed by users. This ensures business continuity
  5. Performance: Measures how quickly a system performas a certain process or transaction.

Describe the business value in deploying a service oriented architecture
A service oriented architecture is a business driven IT architectural approach that supports integrating a business as linked, repeatable tasks or services. By using a service orientated architecture businesses are able to innovate by ensuring that IT systems can adapt quickly, easily and economically to support rapidly changing business needs.

What is an event?
An event is the eyes and ears of the business expressed in technology- they detect threats and opportunities and alert those who can act on the information.

What is a service?
A service must appeal to a broad audience and need to be reusable if they are going to have an impact on productivity.

What emerging technologies can companies use to increase performance and utilise their infrastructure more effectively?

The emerging technologies that companies can use to increase performance and utilise their infrastructure more effectively are Virtualisation and Grid Computing. Virtualisation is a framework for dividing the resources of a computer into multiple execution environments. It is a way of increasing physical resources to maximise the investment in hardware. Grid Computing is an aggregation of geographically dispersed computing, storage and network resources, coordinated to deliver improved performance, higher quality of service, better utilisation and easier access to data


All answers came from Business Driven Information Systems (Baltzan, Phillips, Lynch, Blakey)
Accuracy – are values input correct e.g. correct spelling of names, addresses and phone numbers
Completeness – missing or incomplete values e.g. missing first names, phone numbers, email address
Consistency – standard of data input is kept the same for particular values e.g. standard date format, capital letters for names
Uniqueness – no duplication in data, whereby data such as events and transactions are represented only once in information e.g. duplicate customers 
Timeliness – is the information current (up-to-date)? e.g. changes in customer phone numbers or addresses
2. Define the relationship between a database and a database management system.
A database is a system used to store and organise important information through the use of fields, records and 2 dimensional tables. Data stored could include sales data, inventory data, transactions and people. Database management systems are programs used in the creation and maintenance of databases, and allow multiple users to access, store and retrieve information from a database. 
Database Management System (Diagram 2)
  For further information, visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database_management_systems
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/D/database_management_system_DBMS.html
3. Describe the advantages an organisation can gain by using a database.
Advantages gained from the use of Databases include:
Database made up of many records and tables(Diagram 3)
  • Increased flexibility – Able to update and change data easily and quickly. An individual only needs to input data once in the database and this transfers to various areas. The user can search for specific information more easily.
  • Reduced information redundancy - Reduces duplication and storage of information in multiple areas which results in inconsistencies.
  • Increased information quality – As a result of ‘Relational integrity constrains’ and ‘business- critical integrity constraints’, data entered must meet specific requirements (e.g. 10 digits). As such, this will keep a high quality standard throughout the database. 
  • Increased information security – Makes data more secure because databases allow authorisation and authentication, limiting the information available to only approved individuals  
4. Define the fundamental concepts of the relational database model.
Relational Database Model (Diagram 4)
A relational database model contains many records and 2 dimensional tables. These 2 dimensional tables are then joined together, which enables an individual to find specific information, without having to alter table formats. In relational databases, primary and foreign keys must be established in order to form a relationship between data. Primary keys have great importance as they are used to identify entities (e.g. customer ID). "Primary keys in one table which appear as an attribute on another are called foreign keys"(Baltzan, Philips, Lynch & Blakey 2010).As such, this provides a link between data (tables), allowing a user to find information needed.   

For further information, visit:
5. Describe the benefits of a data-driven website.
  • Development – Changes and updates to a website can be made by the business owner with ease.
  • Future expandability – website is able to grow at a fast rate because of the ease of adding and modifying page layouts, features and functions on a website
  • Content management & Minimizing human error – Data is entered once, thereby reducing information redundancy
  • Cutting production and update costs – Altering and updating a data driven website is more cost effective and less time consuming then altering a static website. A data driven sites can be altered by a competent administrative person who could be trained within a day. However, a programmer’s training would take months, adding to the cost of the business.
  • More efficient- Site Layouts, features and structures would only need to be altered once and these changes will be implemented to the areas and pages necessary. A data driven infrastructure not only saves time when making alterations, but also improves the reliability and stability
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