Data and Databases
Data is a valuable resource. Therefore, data management has become an important administrative function. An effective data management plan should govern how to acquire, store, and secure organizational data. Remember, reliable data management plans depend on your ability to identify the value added to operational and strategic planning.
Read this chapter. Focus on the differences between data, information, and knowledge; why database technology for data resource management is important; and the role of database management systems. Answer the study questions at the end of the chapter. Why is data management valuable to the success of an organization? What are some common weaknesses in data resource management? How can they be mitigated?
Big Data
Almost all software programs require data to do anything useful. For example, if you are editing a document in a word processor such as Microsoft Word, the document you are working on is the data. The word-processing software can manipulate the data: create a new document, duplicate a document, or modify a document. Some other examples of data are: an MP3 music file, a video file, a spreadsheet, a web page, a social media post, and an e-book.
Recently, big data has been capturing the attention of all types of organizations. The term refers to such massively large data sets that conventional data processing technologies do not have sufficient power to analyze them. For example, Walmart must process millions customer transactions every hour across the world. Storing and analyzing that much data is beyond the power of traditional data management tools. Understanding and developing the best tools and techniques to manage and analyze these large data sets are a problem that governments and businesses alike are trying to solve.