Monash University Handbook 2011 Undergraduate - Unit

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Information Technology
Offered	Clayton Second semester 2011 (Day)

Synopsis

Automation and the use of technological tools have resulted in the accumulation of vast volumes of data by modern business organisations. Data warehouses have been set up as repositories to store this data and improved techniques now result in the speedy collection and integration of such data. OLAP technology has resulted in the faster generation of reports and more flexible analysis based on the data repositories. Business intelligence (BI) can be considered as the art of exploring and analysing this data, extracting relevant information and identifying patterns, and turning such information and patterns into knowledge upon which actions can be taken. This unit will explore the concepts of BI, including the emergence of BI and factors influencing BI, technology requirements for BI and will provide hands on experience on designing and building business intelligence systems.

Objectives

At the completion of this unit students will have -

A knowledge and understanding of:

• the role of Data Warehousing (DW) as opposed to operational databases;
• the definition and the need of Business intelligence (BI);
• DW development methodology;
• dimensional models compared to ER models;
• DW architectures, ETL and data quality issues;
• how DW can support BI;
• BI tools, techniques and OLAP;
• Data Mining (DM) techniques;
• Data Mining Tools.

Developed attitudes that enable them to:

• recognise the value of DW and BI for a business organisation;
• adapt a critical approach to DW and BI technology in a business context;
• appreciate the value of DW for effective management support and decision making;
• understand the importance and value of BI tool and techniques compared to traditional data analysis techniques;
• appreciate the value BI tools and DM for providing knowledge for decision making, in ways unavailable with traditional techniques.

Gained practical skills to:

• create dimensional models;
• create DW architectures suitable for different organisations and requirements;
• interpret results from OLAP and dimensional models;
• create data analysis models using BI tools;
• interpret results from BI and DM tools.

Demonstrated the communication skills necessary to:

• document and communicate DW architectures and BI techniques;
• work in a team during DW architecture design and BI model development;
• communicate and coordinate during the team activities.

Assessment

Examination (2 hours): 60%; In-semester assessment: 40%

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Damminda Alahakoon

Contact hours

2 hrs lectures/wk, 2 hrs laboratories/wk

Prerequisites

One of FIT1004, FIT2010, FIT1013, BUS1010, BUS3112, CSE2316, CSE3316

Additional information on this unit is available from the faculty at:

http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/units/fit3003