DATA AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

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DATA AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

This lesson discusses managing data, database approach,

differentiation of data warehouses and data marts as well as an
overview of knowledge management concepts and basic
methodologies.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Define and understand the terms, data, knowledge ,

information, data management, data warehouses, data
marts, data governance, and knowledge management;
2. To be able to identify the difficulties in managing data;
3. To be able to discuss the database approach;
characteristics of data warehouses and marts;
4. To be able to differentiate data warehouses and data
marts;
5. Discuss knowledge management and its life cycle.

MANAGING DATA

All IT applications require data. These data should be of high quality,

meaning that they should be accurate, complete, timely, consistent,
accessible, relevant, and concise. Unfortunately, the process of
acquiring, keeping, and managing data is becoming increasingly
difficult.

Difficulties of Managing Data

1. The amount of data increases exponentially with time.

2. Data are scattered throughout organizations, and they are
collected by many servers and locations and in different
computing systems, databases, formats, and human an
computer languages
3. Data are generated from multiple sources:
a. Internal
b. Personal
c. External
d. Click stream (from the web)

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4. Data are subject to data rot.

5. Data security quality and in integrity are critical, yet they are
easily jeopardized.
6. Duplication of data
7. Federal regulations
8. Data drowning

DATA GOVERNANCE

A control that ensures that the data entry by an operations team

member or by an automated process meets precise standards, such
as a business rule, a data definition and data integrity constraints
in the data model.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_governance

THE DATA BASE APPROACH

With database systems, it is possible to hold the facts relating to parts

of the organization on an integrated set of computer files: a database.
The ‘organization’ in this context could be the whole business or, more
likely, a part of it, such as a division or department. The various
computer applications can use this as the data source. If the functions
change, the data on the database will probably still be appropriate. If
the facts change, then the database can be amended without
redesigning the application systems. There is thus an element of data
independence between the database and the applications that use it.
The hardware and software can also be changed in order to reflect
developments in the technology without requiring substantial changes
in the application systems or the structure of the database.
Databases are arranged so that one set of software programs-the
database management systems-provides all users with the access to all
of the data. This system minimizes the following problems:

1. Data redundancy – the same data are stored in multiple

locations.
2. Data isolation – applications cannot access data associated with
other applications
3. Data inconsistency – various copies of the data do not agree.
4. Data security – because data are put in one place is database,
there is a risk of losing a lot of data at once.
5. Data integrity – data meet certain constraints

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6. Data independence – applications and data are independent of

one another; that is applications and data are not linked to each
other, so all applications are able to access the same data.

DATA WAREHOUSES AND DATA MARTS

A data mart is a simple form of a data warehouse that is focused on a

single subject (or functional area), such as Sales, Finance, or
Marketing. Data marts are often built and controlled by a single
department within an organization. Given their single-subject focus,
data marts usually draw data from only a few sources. The sources
could be internal operational systems, a central data warehouse, or
external data.

How Is It Different from a Data Warehouse?

A data warehouse, unlike a data mart, deals with multiple subject

areas and is typically implemented and controlled by a central
organizational unit such as the corporate Information Technology (IT)
group. Often, it is called a central or enterprise data warehouse.
Typically, a data warehouse assembles data from multiple source
systems.

Nothing in these basic definitions limits the size of a data mart or the
complexity of the decision-support data that it contains. Nevertheless,
data marts are typically smaller and less complex than data
warehouses; hence, they are typically easier to build and
maintain. Table A-1 summarizes the basic differences between a data
warehouse and a data mart.

Table A-1 Differences between a Data Warehouse and a Data

Mart

Category Data Warehouse Data Mart

Scope Corporate Line of Business (LOB)
Subject Multiple Single subject
Data Sources Many Few
Size (typical) 100 GB-TB+ < 100 GB
Implementation Time Months to years Months

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http://docs.oracle.com/html/E10312_01/dm_concepts.htm

Basic Characteristics of Data warehouses and data marts include the

following:

1. Organized business dimension or subject – This arrangement

differs from transactional systems, where data are organized by
business process, such as order entry, inventory control, and
accounts receivable.
2. User online analytical processing – Typically, organizational
databases are oriented toward handling transactions.
3. Integrated – data are collected from multiple systems and then
integrated around subjects.
4. Time Variant – data warehouse and data marts maintain
historical data. Unlike transactional systems, which maintain
only recent data.
5. Nonvolatile – data warehouses and data marts are nonvolatile –
that is, users cannot change or update the data.
6. Multidimensional – Typically the data warehouse or mart uses
The figure shows several examples of business pressures,
organizational performance and responses, and IT support

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Knowledge management (KM) is the process of capturing,

developing, sharing, and effectively using organizational knowledge.
It refers to a multi-disciplined approach to achieving organizational
objectives by making the best use of knowledge.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_management

Data, Information and Knowledge

Data: Facts and figures which relay something specific, but which are
not organized in any way and which provide no further information
regarding patterns, context, etc. I will use the definition for data
presented by Thierauf (1999): "unstructured facts and figures that have
the least impact on the typical manager."

Information: For data to become information, it must be

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contextualized, categorized, calculated and condensed (Davenport &

Prusak 2000). Information thus paints a bigger picture; it is data with
relevance and purpose (Bali et al 2009). It may convey a trend in the
environment, or perhaps indicate a pattern of sales for a given period
of time. Essentially information is found "in answers to questions that
begin with such words as who, what, where, when, and how many"
(Ackoff 1999).

Knowledge: Knowledge is closely linked to doing and implies know-

how and understanding. The knowledge possessed by each individual
is a product of his experience, and encompasses the norms by which
he evaluates new inputs from his surroundings (Davenport & Prusak
2000). I will use the definition presented by Gamble and Blackwell
(2001), based closely on a previous definition by Davenport & Prusak:

In order for KM to succeed, one needs a deep understanding of what

constitutes knowledge.

Figure 1.1: Data, Information, Knowledge

http://www.knowledge-management-tools.net/knowledge-information-
data.html

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DATA AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

A NEW LIFE CYCLE MODEL FOR KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

In accordance with knowledge management literature, five

basic processes can be considered by managing knowledge.
These can be defined as creating, sharing, structuring, using,
and auditing in turn that is called “knowledge management life
cycle” model. This model makes us to understand knowledge
management processes in hierarchical order. Each model is
explained in the following paragraphs. Figure-1. Knowledge
Management Life Cycle Model.

Figure-1. Knowledge Management Life Cycle Model

http://staff.neu.edu.tr/~msagsan/files/PUBL/A-NEW-LIFE-CYCLE-
MODEL-FOR-PROCESSING-OF-KNOWLEDGE-
MANAGEMENT.pdf

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GLOSSARY Data Governance is a control that ensures that the data entry by an
operations team member or by an automated process meets precise
standards, such as a business rule, a data definition and data integrity
constraints in the data model.

A data mart is a simple form of a data warehouse that is focused on a

single subject (or functional area), such as Sales, Finance, or
Marketing.

Data warehouse deals with multiple subject areas and is typically

implemented and controlled by a central organizational unit such as
the corporate Information Technology (IT) group.

Knowledge management (KM) is the process of capturing,

developing, sharing, and effectively using organizational knowledge.
It refers to a multi-disciplined approach to achieving organizational
objectives by making the best use of knowledge.

REFERENCES

Rainer, Prince (2015), Introduction to Information Systems, fifth

Edition

Joseph Valacich and Christoph Schneider. Information Systems

Today, 5th edition. Prentice Hall, 2010.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_governance

http://docs.oracle.com/html/E10312_01/dm_concepts.htm

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_management

http://www.knowledge-management-tools.net/knowledge-information-
data.html

http://staff.neu.edu.tr/~msagsan/files/PUBL/A-NEW-LIFE-CYCLE-
MODEL-FOR-PROCESSING-OF-KNOWLEDGE-
MANAGEMENT.pdf

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