QUESTIONS CHs 5&6
1. How often should a business back up its data?
The frequency of data backups varies by business needs, though daily backups serve as a
reliable starting point for most. Regular saves, say every 24 hours, shield against losses from
system failures, cyberattacks, or mistakes, securing vital data like client info or finances. High-
transaction outfits, such as online stores, might opt for hourly or live backups to limit downtime.
It boils down to aligning backup timing with risk levels, busier operations demand tighter
schedules.
An e-commerce shop’s nightly backups secure orders and data, preventing major losses from
hacks. A design studio might use weekly full backups and daily updates to balance cost and
recovery. Skimping on backups risks losing critical data, but tailored, regular saves offer cheap
protection against disasters.
2. What is the difference between a disaster recovery plan and a business continuity plan?
A disaster recovery plan (DRP) and a business continuity plan (BCP) both address emergencies,
but their scopes diverge. A DRP targets the rapid restoration of IT infrastructure and data post-
disruption, think a failed server or ransomware hit, focusing on quick tech revival through steps
like retrieving backups or restarting systems. A BCP takes a wider view, aiming to keep the
entire operation afloat amid and after a crisis, managing staff, workflows, and physical assets,
not just digital ones. It’s about enduring the storm, not just patching the leak.
For a flooded retail chain, a DRP restores payment systems and data, while a BCP reroutes
deliveries and staff to keep sales alive. DRP fixes tech; BCP keeps the business going. Both are
essential to survive disruptions.
3. What are the three forms of MIS infrastructures and what do they support?
Management Information Systems (MIS) depend on three key infrastructures: information,
agility, and sustainability. The information infrastructure manages data, collecting, processing,
and protecting it, through systems like databases and servers that safeguard customer details or
sales stats. The agility infrastructure keeps operations nimble, enabling rapid adjustments, such
as cloud solutions helping a retailer ramp up for a sales boom. The sustainable infrastructure
emphasizes green technology, lowering energy demands while supporting functions, like solar-
powered facilities reducing both bills and emissions.
A grocery chain’s information infrastructure tracks stock to prevent shortages, agility
infrastructure shifts to online sales during disruptions, and sustainable infrastructure powers
warehouses eco-efficiently. Together, they enhance decisions, adaptability, and resilience. This
keeps the business strong in a dynamic world.
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4. List the characteristics of an agile MIS infrastructure and explain why they are all critical
for supporting change.
An agile MIS infrastructure features traits like accessibility, availability, scalability, flexibility,
and reliability,all essential for embracing change. Accessibility keeps systems and data at hand
anytime, anywhere, while availability ensures uninterrupted uptime. Scalability adapts capacity to
fluctuating needs, flexibility permits swift adjustments for fresh demands, and reliability delivers
steady performance. These traits form a dynamic foundation that flexes seamlessly as the business
pivots.
For a tech startup’s product launch, accessibility delivers live data anywhere, availability keeps it
online, and scalability handles traffic surges. Flexibility adds features like payments on the fly,
while reliability avoids crashes—any gap could doom it. This agility ensures the firm adapts
swiftly to change.
5. Compare the differences among a hot, cold, and warm site.
Hot, cold, and warm sites serve as disaster recovery backups, each with unique features. A hot
site is a fully operational duplicate, loaded with servers, data, and staff,ideal for seamless
switching, like a bank keeping ATMs active during a blackout. A cold site offers just the basics,
space and power, requiring days to outfit, suited for a small shop seeking a low-cost, gradual
recovery. A warm site lands between, partly set up with tech but not fully active, offering a mix
of affordability and readiness.
A tech firm picks a hot site for instant app recovery, while a gym opts for a cheap cold site post-
flood. A consultancy chooses a warm site for balanced speed and cost. Each aligns with budget,
urgency, and risk needs.
6. What is Moore’s Law and how does it affect companies?
Moore’s Law, coined by Intel’s Gordon Moore, predicts that the number of transistors on a
microchip doubles roughly every two years, boosting computing power while costs drop. It’s not
a law of physics but an observation that’s held true for decades, driving tech leaps, like
smartphones shrinking from room-sized machines to pocket powerhouses. For companies, it
means faster, cheaper tools to innovate and compete, reshaping how they operate.
Moore’s Law helps a logistics firm boost tracking with cheaper, faster chips, delighting
customers. It forces constant updates, a slow retailer risks falling behind with old tech. It drives
innovation like AI but requires adaptability to avoid obsolescence.
7. List the business benefits of using grid computing.
Grid computing links numerous computers to handle hefty tasks, delivering business perks like
reduced costs, scalability, and speed. It leverages a shared network to dodge expensive
dedicated servers, imagine borrowing computing muscle on demand. It adapts smoothly to
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workload jumps, speeds up data processing by dividing work across systems, and enhances
dependability, with backup nodes stepping in if one falters.
A financial firm uses grid computing to slash risk analysis time overnight, saving costs. A
retailer scales it for Black Friday, processing sales data in real time. It’s a flexible, efficient
boost for lean, resilient operations.
8. Explain why a business today would want to follow sustainable MIS practices.
Sustainable MIS practices emphasize green technology, such as low-energy servers or cloud
solutions, to reduce ecological harm while maintaining efficient operations. Businesses adopt
them today for financial benefits, enhanced reputation, and regulatory advantages. Reduced power
consumption lowers expenses, an eco-friendly image draws in environmentally aware clients, and
adhering to regulations sidesteps penalties. It’s a smart blend of profit and planetary care, syncing
with a global push toward sustainability.
A manufacturer uses sustainable MIS to optimize energy, meet rules and saving cash. It boosts
loyalty and future-proofs firms in a green-focused market.
9. Why does a business need to be concerned with the quality of its data?
A business must prioritize data quality since it underpins decisions, workflows, and trust
flawed data leads to flawed results. Reliable data, precise, thorough, and current, powers
effective plans, like pinpointing ideal customers or managing inventory. Shoddy data, such
as stale addresses or repeated entries, can sabotage efforts, drain budgets, or annoy clients.
It separates a smooth operation from a stumbling one, impacting both efficiency and
reputation.
An e-commerce site needs accurate data to ship correctly, avoiding returns, while bad
stock counts upset customers. A bank with poor data risks misjudging loans, costing
money. Quality data is vital for efficiency, reputation, and staying competitive.
10. Why would a company care about the timeliness of its data?
A company values timely data because stale information can throw off choices and workflows,
imagine navigating with an outdated chart. Current, live data sharpens tactics, letting firms
respond to today’s conditions, not last week’s. It’s key for catching shifts, serving clients, or
sidestepping trouble, like a sales drop flagged for a swift response. Up-to-date data anchors a
business in the present, avoiding blind stumbles.
A ride-sharing app uses live data to match riders fast, while stale info loses fares. A
supermarket’s timely stock updates avoid waste; old data costs money. Fresh data keeps firms
agile and ahead, avoiding slip-ups.
11. What are the four primary traits that help determine the value of data?
The value of data hinges on four key traits: accuracy, timeliness, completeness, and relevance,
each dictating its worth to a company. Accuracy keeps it true, like valid customer addresses;
timeliness ensures it’s fresh, such as today’s sales versus last year’s; completeness delivers all
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essentials, no holes; and relevance links it to goals, like campaign-specific metrics. These make
data a treasure, or trash if they slip.
An online bookstore thrives with accurate shipping, timely trends, complete logs, and relevant
ad data. Old or spotty info sinks marketing and loyalty. These traits drive smarts, savings, and
success in a busy market.
12. What is the difference between an entity and an attribute?
In data language, an entity is a specific item a business monitors, like a customer, product, or
sale, while an attribute is a feature that defines it, such as a customer’s phone number, a
product’s weight, or a sale’s time. Entities act as the nouns, the main players in a database;
attributes are the descriptors, adding depth and detail. They team up to form a full view—
entities lay the foundation, attributes fill in the blanks.
In an online pet shop, "Cat Toy" is an entity with attributes like brand (Whisker), color (blue),
and price ($5), while "Customer" links orders via attributes like name or zip code. Mixing them
up, say, treating "color" as an entity, messes up stock or checkout. Entities structure the data,
attributes fill it in, driving actions like delivering toys to cat lovers.
13. What is the purpose of data cleansing (or scrubbing)?
Data cleansing, also known as data scrubbing, involves identifying and fixing errors,
inconsistencies, or gaps in a dataset to guarantee its precision and dependability. Its goal is to
convert chaotic, unrefined data into a solid base for analysis, reporting, or practical applications.
Failing to do so can lead companies to base choices on flawed data, resulting in expensive errors
or lost possibilities. Think of it like organizing a messy workspace, efficiency only comes once
everything is sorted.
An online pet store’s database with duplicates, misspellings, or wrong zip codes might send
"Jane Smith" two cat toys instead of one or ship to the wrong address. Data cleansing fixes these
issues by merging repeats, correcting errors, and validating details, ensuring accurate delivery.
This enhances customer satisfaction and streamlines operations, showing the value of clean
data.
14. What are the causes of dirty data?
Dirty data emerges from a mix of human errors, technical flaws, or process failures that inject
inaccuracies, inconsistencies, or gaps into datasets. Frequent culprits include typos or repeated
entries from manual input, along with uneven formatting—think "CA" versus "California" in the
same field. Tech issues like software bugs, stale data, or shaky connections between systems,
such as a CRM and an online store not aligning, further cloud the picture. It’s akin to a botched
meal: a dash of negligence or a broken utensil can ruin the result.
In an online pet store, a worker might typo "Sara" as "Sarah" or duplicate her profile during a
busy sale. An unrefreshed inventory system could list sold-out blue Whisker cat toys as
available, while a sync failure might miss Sara’s updated address, sending her order astray.
These slip-ups and tech issues create dirty data, costing time, money, and customer trust.
15. What is business intelligence and how can it help a company achieve success?
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Business intelligence (BI) involves gathering, processing, and converting raw data into
meaningful insights to inform both tactical and long-term decisions. It leverages tools, systems,
and methods, such as interactive dashboards or forecasting models, to reveal patterns, customer
preferences, and key performance indicators. Think of BI as a map for a hiker in dense fog: it
doesn’t walk the trail for you, but it points out the best route and potential pitfalls. By
translating data into clear stories, it enables firms to streamline operations, enhance
productivity, and outpace rivals.
A coffee shop chain aiming to grow might guess at top drinks or locations without BI, risking
waste. BI reveals lattes peak downtown in winter, iced coffee rules summer near parks, and 60%
of loyalty members live near a new site. This guides smarter inventory, marketing, and
expansion, boosting profits and satisfaction—showing BI’s forward-looking power.
16. Why would a business be data rich, but information poor?
A company might accumulate heaps of raw data yet remain information poor if it lacks the
systems, skills, or methods to distill it into useful insights. Data abundance flows from sources
like purchase records, website interactions, or inventory logs, but without organization, analysis,
or integration, it’s mere clutter—not wisdom. The gap lies in not uncovering the "why" or "what
to do next" from the figures. It’s similar to having a warehouse of unopened boxes, you possess
the goods, but they’re useless until unpacked.
A clothing retailer has heaps of data, sales, profiles, and online activity, but misses men’s
sweaters selling out every November or 25% of carts dropping due to costly shipping. Without
tools to spot trends or suggest actions like restocking or lowering fees, the data sits unused in
spreadsheets. This costs them sales and customers, proving data alone isn’t enough; it must be
turned into insights.
