Data Warehousing and data mining Research Paper

Data Warehousing and data mining - Research Paper Example Moreover, the increased data redundancy is further exacerbating the situation and the conversion of data into information, information into knowledge and knowledge in to power is very slow. This redundant and dubious information resource is of no good for managers who have to take quick decisions. Managers require precise information that represents and accounts for every aspect of a business. It is the responsibility of a decision support system to answer any query related to information stored in the system and to generate some nontrivial information patterns. These patterns can impart the required business intelligence and can leverage certain decisions. Data Warehouse There is no consensus on the definition of a data warehouse. In simplest terms, a data warehouse is a set of multiple applications, concepts, methodologies, tool and techniques to gain some knowledge based on historical data that may come from multiple systems and sources to assist managers in decision-making proces s. Vercellis (2009) defines â€Å"A data warehouse is the foremost repository for the data available for developing business intelligence architectures and decision support systems.† However, it is not a comprehensive definition and Vercellis (2009) himself admits, â€Å"The term data warehousing indicates the whole set of interrelated activities involved in designing, implementing and using a data warehouse.† Characteristics of a Data Warehouse There are few important characteristics of a data warehouse. These characteristics define the efficiency and effectiveness of the system and determine its qualification being a data warehouse. Most important characteristic of a data warehouse is the strength of its repository, which depends on the availability of sufficient historical and current data. The exact amount of historical and current data is determined by the domain where the data warehouse is being deployed. Secondly, a data warehouse has to provide ad-hoc access to information sources. This means there are only fewer fixed SQL queries and most of the inferences and intelligence is gathered through dynamic, on-the-fly queries. A data warehouse employs several tools like data modeling, star schema, data mining etc. to ensure ad-hoc access to its resources. Thirdly, a data warehouse is designed for decision makers and knowledge workers. However, these people are not bond to be information technology experts. Because strategic decisions are more concerned with customer trends, behaviors and market forces knowledge workers are not interested in individual records of a customer, product or service rather these users require an all inclusive big picture that may help to make long term strategic decisions and short term operational decisions. How it is different? A data warehouse is essentially different from Online Transaction Process (OLTP) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Resource Management (CRM) systems. Because these systems are not designed and engineered for decision-making and knowledge discovery, they do not have huge historical data. Secondly, they record live transactions of the business and keep records of customers, products and services updated. On the contrary, a data warehouse does not record live trans

Department of state Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Department of state - Essay Example The first display that I would like to take the time to speak about concerned the efforts of the Peace Corp as a function of the work they have accomplished in different parts of Southeast Asia. The exhibit showed the harsh conditions coupled with the difficult work that the Peace Corps volunteers have performed as a means of providing fresh drinking water and means of sanitation to some of the more remote districts in places such as Burma and Bangladesh. The exhibit was eye opening because although it is common to hear about the Peace Corps working to better the lives of people in remote corners of the world, it is rare to actually see or hear information that directly relates to the methods by which they do this. Additionally, since news stories are almost always concentric upon the negative with relation to what is going on in the world, it was necessary to visit the museum in order to see first hand some of the things that are being done. Secondly, I spent some time at an exhibit of Joseph E. Davies personal correspondence. To those that are not familiar with him, Joseph E. Davies is the US Ambassador who was responsible for meeting with Joseph Stalin during World War II. As such, the personal correspondence helped to reveal a side of Soviet Russia and the interactions that he had with Joseph Stalin that would otherwise be unknown to history. Furthermore, even though Joseph E. Davies presented an optimistic view of the Soviet Union to the president (FDR), he held a bit of resentment towards the Soviet Union as a result of the show trials that were currently being carried out upon the instructions of Joseph Stalin. With relation to how each of these related to the overall class them, it should be noted that each display helps to show the spirit of integration and involvement with which US diplomacy and foreign