CIS 3050 Concepts and Definitions Chapter 1

Enterprise resource planning (ERP)

A business management system that integrates all functions of the enterprise, such as manufacturing, sales, finance, marketing, inventory, accounting, and human resources. ERP systems are software applications that provide the data necessary for the enterprise to examine and manage its activities.

Data warehouse

An integrated decision support database whose content is derived from the various operational databases.

Database application

An application program (or set of related programs) that is used to perform a series of database activities (create, read, update, and delete) on behalf of database users.

Data independence

The separation of data descriptions from the application programs that use the data.

Data modeling and design tools

Software tools that provide automated support for creating data models.

Repository

A centralized knowledge base of all data definitions, data relationships, screen and report formats, and other system components.

Enterprise data modeling

The first step in database development, in which the scope and general contents of organizational databases are specified.

Conceptual schema

A detailed, technology-independent specification of the overall structure of organizational data.

Physical schema

Specifications for how data from a logical schema are stored in a computer's secondary memory by a database management system.

Prototyping

An iterative process of systems development in which requirements are converted to a working system that is continually revised through close work between analysts and users.

Project

A planned undertaking of related activities to reach an objective that has a beginning and an end.

Database

An organized collection of logically related data.

structured data

Stored representations of meaningful objects and event: numbers, text, dates

unstructured data

Stored Representation of meaningful objects and events: images, video, documents.

Data

Stored representations of objects and events that have meaning and importance in the user's environment.

Information

Data that have been processed in such a way as to increase the knowledge of the person who uses the data.

Metadata

Data that describe the properties or characteristics of end-user data and the context of those data.

Data models

Graphical systems used to capture the nature and relationships among data.

Entity

A person, a place, an object, an event, or a concept in the user environment about which the organization wishes to maintain data.

Relational database

A database that represents data as a collection of tables in which all data relationships are represented by common values in related tables.

Database management system (DBMS)

A software system that is used to create, maintain, and provide controlled access to user databases.

User View

A logical description of some portion of the database that is required by a user to perform some task.

Constraint

A rule that cannot be violated by database users.

Systems development life cycle (SDLC)

The traditional methodology used to develop, maintain, and replace information systems.

Logical schema

The representation of a database for a particular data management technology.

Agile software development

An approach to database and software development that emphasizes "individuals and interactions over processes and tools, working software over comprehensive documentation, customer collaboration over contract negotiation, and response to change over following a plan."

Data lake

A large integrated repository for internal and external data that does not follow a predefined schema.