CompanyIntroduction to Information Management System
In general terms, an Information Management System (IMS) is a kind of software that has been developed to provide facilities to organisations to store, manage, and use the sore information as per the requirements. The following system has been built by IBM, which delivers a high level of security, scalability, availability, and performance to different types of industries. The following study is prepared on IMS with the purpose of explaining the importance of this system in organisations for dealing with security issues and managing the database. The themes that will be covered by the present research are the concept of database management, the need and essentialness of database systems in enterprises, the use of stored data in managerial decisions, and the roles and responsibilities of database administrators. For students delving into this topic, seeking computer science assignment help online can greatly enhance their understanding and performance.
Concept of Database Management System (DBMS)
Before understanding the concept of DBMS, it is important to know what a database is. It is a logical collection of information that defines variables and their interrelationship with each other. DBMS is a software of computer systems for developing and managing the database of the entire corporation. It is user-friendly software and allows the users as well as programmers to create, recover, update, delete, and manage the information in a systematic manner. It is an essential system that helps in creating the interface between the users and the database. It is also ensured that the collected data should be well organised and easily accessible.
The important things of DBMS are the data, database engine, and database schema, which allows complete data integration and security to the users. It also supports change management, monitoring the performance of the system, and backup of the information and helps in recovering from big losses. In the present time, there are many types of DBMS systems that also assist organisations in the auditing process. It provides a centralised view of information that can be easily accessed by a large number of users at the same time from different locations. The most important feature, or benefit, which is provided by the facility is taking the review of the store information in many formats. The database users in any company are database administrators, database designers, and end users. The common languages used in DBMS are data definition languages, data manipulation languages, and structured query languages. The application areas where DBMS can be used are banking, airlines, sales, manufacturing, human resource management, and universities.
Technical responsibilities of a database administrator
A database administrator is an IT professional person who is responsible for ensuring the integrity of data, monitoring and evaluating the performance of the system, and checking the security of the database within the organization. The following person performs duties and other activities to manage the information in an appropriate manner. The role played by a database administrator is to develop and design strategies for database management, monitor the system, ensure the working of software, and develop the plan using the system according to the requirements. To perform the duties of a database administrator, there are certain skills that are required, such as good communication skills, complete and deep knowledge of database theory and design, understanding the distributed computing architectures, being able to perform the work on different types of OS, and having a better understanding of information storage and its management.
The role of database administrator varies from industry to industry and organisation to organization. However, there are some activities that need to be performed by a database administrator as primary work. The common technical responsibilities of a database administrator are as follows...
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Taking the backup of the data and recovering the information during a system failure.
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Install and configure the Oracle software in the computer systems.
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Creation of a new database.
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Designing of database schema and required database objects according to requirements and future needs.
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Development of optimal application SQL (structured query languages).
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Ensuring the database security and implementing the DBMS to store and manage the information.
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Working with application developers and system administrators to ensure that the present DBMS meets all the requirements of the organisation.
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Updating the existing DBMS as per the requirements with complete security.
Requirements of data storage and information gathering in organisations
In the present time, the need for data storage and information gathering in both small and large enterprises is increasing with time. The rise in the amount of information and data put pressure on organisations to adopt various kinds of storage strategies, methods, and technologies. Information cannot be considered data because it has been collected from the observation, and it is unstructured in nature. When the available information is processed and is converted into meaningful form, then it is called data. For students working with similar concepts, obtaining the Best MATLAB Assignment Help can enhance their comprehension and streamline their academic work.
Data and information are both important for every kind of organisation because they help in making different types of business decisions and formulating various policies. Therefore, it is more important to gather, manage, and store available information in an appropriate manner. Storage is an important part of the organisation, and from the research, it has been found that about 2.5 quintillion bytes of data have been created every day in every company, of which 90% are unstructured. These types of information are generally related to customer sales interactions, the firm's logistics information, communication between the business partners as well as vendors, and the customer database. There are several reasons that influence enterprises and generate requirements of data storage and information gathering, which are as follows.
Compliance with the law
Every year, each organisation has to conduct audits at their workplace. These audits are financial, operational, departmental, human resource, information audits, etc. Therefore, to organise internal as well as external audits, different types of information and data are required. In this situation, it is needed to gather from the respective department by using the standard format. If the corporations are not using appropriate information collection processes, then it will not be possible to conduct different audits.
Data hygiene
It is not possible for corporations to keep records of all types of data in the right manner. Even electronic systems are not always able to store the data because they have finite capacities to save the information. In this regard, the need for storage and gathering of information is required in companies.
New laws
For developing new policies and laws for the employees, proper information and data collection and gathering are important. For example, to provide the flexibility in selection of working time by the workers, a company has to know the reasons that can justify the need for requirements of flexible working hours. So, for this, proper information has to be gathered and analysed in the appropriate way. Therefore, for developing new laws, the requirements of information gathering have been raised.
Adopting new business practices
With time, every company is required to adopt new business practices to take competitive advantages and bring growth in business. For example, the firm wants to change the method of promotion of products and services for the target market. In this context, it is needed to know what the lacking areas and reasons are that affect the promotional strategies. Therefore, the management has to conduct meetings to identify the reasons for the poor and ineffective promotion of the product. By doing this, new options can be raised for making the promotion more effective and attractive for the users. So, the gathered information and data help organisations to adopt new business practices.
Rather than the above-stated reasons, there are several other needs where the corporations are required to gather the information and store data, such as to organise training and development for the employees, reduce the cost of the final product, minimise the liabilities, overcome the risk of data loss, etc.
Use of gathered information in managerial decisions
Decision-making is a cognitive method that is used in the selection of appropriate action from the available options. It is an important part of every company to make day-to-day decisions. These daily decisions are taken on the basis of available information. During the decision-making process, the organisation has to ensure that the required information should be collected, sorted, and managed. The proper decisions can be taken within a minimum time without affecting the operational activities of the business.
There are different types of managerial decisions that are taken by enterprises, such as programmed and non-programmed decisions, organisational decisions, routine and strategic decisions, etc. For making these types of decisions, a proper collection of information and data is needed. If any information is missing during the decision-making process, then it will ruin all efforts of management and increase the chances of failure of the strategy.
The usefulness of gathering information in managerial decisions can be understood by an example. The effective management of the organisation's operations depends on the available information in the hand. If the firm wants to gain competitive advantages in the market and increase market share as compared to the rival parties, then it needs to collect the required information. In this regard, the management has to gather past sales data and analyse current market demand of their products. After this, the needs, expectations, and complaints of the customers about the services have to be determined. By collecting all this information, a proper analysis is required to reach a particular result. Afterwards, the management of the company can make managerial decisions for developing strategies to gain the competitive advantages of the market competition as well as increase market share. From the above-stated example, it has been clear that the gathered information and data have been used in managerial decisions in the enterprises.
Strategies used by organisations to deal with security threats in information and databases
Every organisation has a computer system, which is used to save sensitive information and manage it in the right order. A security threat is a danger that generally occurs due to a breach of security and harms the data. At the time of performing various business operations, the firms have faced different kinds of security threats, such as viruses, worms, spyware, trojans, etc. But when the company adopts a database system for information storage and management, then there are numerous security threats that may harm the data. When hackers are trying to access the sensitive data and information of the firm, that time they can extract some important information from the system and use it for their personal benefit. Common database security threats are excessive and unused privileges, malware, input injections, storage media exposure, denial of services, weak audit trails, etc.
There are various strategies by which organisations can deal with different types of security threats to information and databases, which are as follows...
Discovery and assessment
This strategy is used in that situation when a database is assailable and critical data reside. In these conditions, input injections and malware are the common threats that may harm the database and steal information from the system. In this state, a procedure has to be adopted by companies that can help in identifying those areas that are easily accessible and face weak authentication. Along with this, by just categorising the information into more to less sensitive terms, it can be easy to secure a database and its information.
User rights management
In this strategy, the management of the firm has to manage the rights of the users according to the organisation's structure. It helps in overcoming the excessive rights of the employees to access the information. Additionally, the management can use different systems, such as passwords or login methods, on databases that are crucial for the business. For further insights into effective management practices, consider seeking a management assignment help UK to ensure a thorough understanding and implementation of security measures in business operations.
Monitoring and blocking
By monitoring the suspicious activities on the system by using patterns in real-time to detect leakage of information, the database security threats towards the stored information can be minimized. Along with this, by blocking the malicious web request, the input rejection database security attack can be reduced. On the other hand, by allowing limited connections with the server, the information can be secured from outsiders.
Auditing
By implementing DAP solutions, the scalability and security of the data can be managed by the organizations. This solution helps in capturing the details of transactions of information from one system to another. Along with this, it also assists the firms in preparing the reports for auditing purposes and monitoring the performance of the existing system.
Data protection
For protecting the data for a long time, it is important to save the information in various locations in different forms. This can be recovered in the case of loss or breakdown of the system to affect the operational activities of the business. By using the Encrypt Database, a heterogeneous environment can be created for the present information. It allows the organisations to secure the original and backup of the information to control access to the sensitive data from the outsiders.
Non-technical security
By hiring experienced security professionals, enterprises can take defensive actions against the probability of internal and external database threats. With the help of this, the management can easily control access to the information by employees and other people. On the other hand, by adopting the defensive matrix in organisations, the management can easily protect the database and its information from different types of security risks. Along with this, by educating the workers with the help of training, the importance of database security and threats can be explained in a more appropriate manner.
Conclusion
From the above study, it can be concluded that information management is an important requirement of every kind of organization. Many of companies have used different kinds of database management systems to store, manage, and retrieve information to protect it from any kind of harm. There are various reasons that generate the requirements of data storage and information gathering. This data helps in making managerial decisions and formulating various business policies. There are numerous kinds of roles and responsibilities played by database administrators in every company. During operational activities, there are different types of information on business activities that are required to be saved at proper locations and in set formats. In this situation, it is needed to store them in a proper manner by minimising the risk of security threats. But, in the case of increasing the risk of attack of database security threats, various strategies have to be followed to manage risk and avoid threats.
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References
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Bloom, N., 2014. The distinct effects of information technology and communication technology on firm organization. Management Science.
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Conde, M. et al., 2014. An evolving learning management system for new educational environments using 2.0 tools. Interactive Learning Environments.
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Galliers, R. D. and Leidner, D. E., 2014.Strategic information management: challenges and strategies in managing information systems. Routledge.
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