Data and data management

Terms related to data, including definitions about data warehousing and words and phrases about data management.

redundancy - Redundancy is a system design in which a component is duplicated so if it fails there will be a backup.
refactoring - Refactoring is the process of restructuring code, while not changing its original functionality.
registered health information technician (RHIT) - A registered health information technician (RHIT) is a certified professional who stores and verifies the accuracy and completeness of electronic health records.
relational database - A relational database is a type of database that organizes data points with defined relationships for easy access.
Report on Compliance (ROC) - A Report on Compliance (ROC) is a form that must be completed by all Level 1 Visa merchants undergoing a PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) audit.
restore point - A system restore point is a backup copy of important Windows operating system (OS) files and settings that can be used to recover the system to an earlier point of time in the event of system failure or instability.
RFM analysis (recency, frequency, monetary) - RFM analysis is a marketing technique used to quantitatively rank and group customers based on the recency, frequency and monetary total of their recent transactions to identify the best customers and perform targeted marketing campaigns.
SAP Basis - Basis is a set of middleware programs and tools from SAP, the German company whose comprehensive R/3 product is used to help manage large corporations.
SAP BW (Business Warehouse) - SAP Business Warehouse (BW) is a model-driven data warehousing product based on the SAP NetWeaver ABAP platform.
SAP Data Services - SAP Data Services is a data integration and transformation software application.
schema - In computer programming, a schema (pronounced SKEE-mah) is the organization or structure for a database, while in artificial intelligence (AI), a schema is a formal expression of an inference rule.
security information management (SIM) - Security information management (SIM) is the practice of collecting, monitoring and analyzing security-related data from computer logs and various other data sources.
self-driving car (autonomous car or driverless car) - A self-driving car -- sometimes called an autonomous car or driverless car -- is a vehicle that uses a combination of sensors, cameras, radar and artificial intelligence (AI) to travel between destinations without a human operator.
self-service analytics - Self-service analytics is a type of business intelligence (BI) that enables business users to access, manipulate, analyze and visualize data, as well as generate reports based on their discoveries.
self-service business intelligence (self-service BI) - Self-service business intelligence (BI) is an approach to data analytics that enables business users to access and explore data sets even if they don't have a background in BI or related functions such as data mining and statistical analysis.
semantic network (knowledge graph) - A semantic network is a knowledge structure that depicts how concepts are related to one another and how they interconnect.
semantic technology - Semantic technology is a set of methods and tools that provide advanced means for categorizing and processing data, as well as for discovering relationships within varied data sets.
semi-structured data - Semi-structured data is data that has not been organized into a specialized format, such as a table, a record, an array or a tree but that nevertheless has associated information, such as metadata, that makes it more amenable to processing than raw data.
sensitive information - Sensitive information is data that must be protected from unauthorized access to safeguard the privacy or security of an individual or organization.
sentiment analysis - Sentiment analysis, also referred to as 'opinion mining,' is an approach to natural language processing (NLP) that identifies the emotional tone behind a body of text.
SequenceFile - A SequenceFile is a flat, binary file type that serves as a container for data to be used in Hadoop distributed compute projects.
server-based storage - Server-based storage is a re-emerging class of data storage that removes cost and complexity by housing storage media inside servers rather than in dedicated and custom-engineered storage arrays.
serverless database - A serverless database is a type of cloud database that is fully managed for an organization by a cloud service provider and runs on demand as needed to support applications.
SFX (special effects) - SFX, an abbreviation for special effects, is a software product that makes it easy to create certain kinds of hypertext links within a collection of information such as the description of a library collection.
SNOMED CT (Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine -- Clinical Terms) - SNOMED CT (Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine -- Clinical Terms) is a standardized, multilingual vocabulary of clinical terminology that is used by physicians and other health care providers for the electronic exchange of health information.
snowflaking (snowflake schema) - In data warehousing, snowflaking is a form of dimensional modeling in which dimensions are stored in multiple related dimension tables.
software-defined storage (SDS) - Software-defined storage (SDS) is a software program that manages data storage resources and functionality and has no dependencies on the underlying physical storage hardware.
spatial data - Spatial data is any type of data that directly or indirectly references a specific geographical area or location.
spreadsheet - A spreadsheet is a computer program that can capture, display and manipulate data arranged in rows and columns.
standard business reporting (SBR) - Standard business reporting (SBR) is a group of frameworks adopted by governments to promote standardization in reporting business data.
star schema - A star schema is a database organizational structure optimized for use in a data warehouse or business intelligence that uses a single large fact table to store transactional or measured data, and one or more smaller dimensional tables that store attributes about the data.
statistical analysis - Statistical analysis is the collection and interpretation of data in order to uncover patterns and trends.
storage class memory (SCM) - Storage class memory (SCM) is a type of physical computer memory that combines dynamic random access memory (DRAM), NAND flash memory and a power source for data persistence.
stored procedure - A stored procedure is a group of statements with a specific name, which are stored inside a database, such as MySQL or Oracle.
stream processing - Stream processing is a data management technique that involves ingesting a continuous data stream to quickly analyze, filter, transform or enhance the data in real time.
streaming data architecture - A streaming data architecture is an information technology framework that puts the focus on processing data in motion and treats extract-transform-load (ETL) batch processing as just one more event in a continuous stream of events.
structured data - Structured data is data that has been organized into a formatted repository, typically a database.
Structured Query Language (SQL) - Structured Query Language (SQL) is a standardized programming language that is used to manage relational databases and perform various operations on the data in them.
supply chain planning (SCP) - Supply chain planning (SCP) is the process of anticipating the demand for products and planning their materials and components, production, marketing, distribution and sale.
support vector machine (SVM) - A support vector machine (SVM) is a type of supervised learning algorithm used in machine learning to solve classification and regression tasks.
syslog - Syslog is an IETF RFC 5424 standard protocol for computer logging and collection that is popular in Unix-like systems including servers, networking equipment and IoT devices.
system of record (SOR) - A system of record (SOR) is an information storage and retrieval system that stores valuable data on an organizational system or process.
System Restore (Windows) - System Restore is a Microsoft Windows utility designed to protect and revert the operating system (OS) to a previous state.
T-SQL (Transact-SQL) - T-SQL (Transact-SQL) is a set of programming extensions from Sybase and Microsoft that add several features to the Structured Query Language (SQL), including transaction control, exception and error handling, row processing and declared variables.
table - A table in computer programming is a data structure used to organize information, just as it is on paper.
taxonomy - Taxonomy is the science of classification according to a predetermined system, with the resulting catalog used to provide a conceptual framework for discussion, analysis or information retrieval.
text mining (text analytics) - Text mining is the process of exploring and analyzing large amounts of unstructured text data aided by software that can identify concepts, patterns, topics, keywords and other attributes in the data.
text tagging - Text tagging is the process of manually or automatically adding tags or annotation to various components of unstructured data as one step in the process of preparing such data for analysis.
timeline - A timeline is a visual representation of a chronological sequence of events along a drawn line that helps a viewer understand time relationships.
transactional data - In computing, transactional data is the information collected from transactions.
transcription error - A transcription error is a type of data entry error commonly made by human operators or by optical character recognition (OCR) programs.
transportation management system (TMS) - A transportation management system (TMS) is specialized software for planning, executing and optimizing the shipment of goods.
tree structure - A tree data structure is an algorithm for placing and locating files (called records or keys) in a database.
U-SQL - U-SQL is a Microsoft query language that combines a declarative SQL-like syntax with C# programming, enabling it to be used to process both structured and unstructured data in big data environments.
unstructured text - The unstructured text collected from social media activities plays a key role in predictive analytics for the enterprise because it is a prime source for sentiment analysis to determine the general attitude of consumers toward a brand or idea.
user acceptance testing (UAT) - User acceptance testing (UAT), also called application testing or end-user testing, is a phase of software development in which the software is tested in the real world by its intended audience.
user behavior analytics (UBA) - User behavior analytics (UBA) is the tracking, collecting and assessing of user data and activities using monitoring systems.
utility storage - Utility storage is a service model in which a provider makes storage capacity available to an individual, organization or business unit on a pay-per-use basis.
validation set - A validation set is a set of data used to train artificial intelligence (AI) with the goal of finding and optimizing the best model to solve a given problem.
virtual desktop - A virtual desktop is a computer operating system that does not run directly on the endpoint hardware from which a user accesses it.
volatile memory - Volatile memory is a type of memory that maintains its data only while the device is powered.
web analytics - Web analytics is the process of analyzing the behavior of visitors to a website by tracking, reviewing and reporting the data generated by their use of the site and its components, such as its webpages, images and videos.
web services - Web services are a type of internet software that use standardized messaging protocols and are made available from an application service provider's web server for a client or other web-based programs to use.
WebLogic - Oracle WebLogic Server is a leading e-commerce online transaction processing (OLTP) platform, developed to connect users in distributed computing production environments and to facilitate the integration of mainframe applications with distributed corporate data and applications.
What are data silos and what problems do they cause? - A data silo is a repository of data that's controlled by one department or business unit and isolated from the rest of an organization, much like grass and grain in a farm silo are closed off from outside elements.
What are graph neural networks (GNNs)? - Graph neural networks (GNNs) are a type of neural network architecture and deep learning method that can help users analyze graphs, enabling them to make predictions based on the data described by a graph's nodes and edges.
What is a data architect? - A data architect is an IT professional responsible for defining the policies, procedures, models and technologies used in collecting, organizing, storing and accessing company information.
What is a private cloud? - Private cloud is a type of cloud computing that delivers similar advantages to public cloud, including scalability and self-service, but through a proprietary architecture.
What is a vector database? - A vector database is a type of database technology that's used to store, manage and search vector embeddings, numerical representations of unstructured data that are also referred to simply as vectors.
What is bit rot? - Bit rot is the slow deterioration in the performance and integrity of data stored on storage media.
What is data architecture? A data management blueprint - Data architecture is a discipline that documents an organization's data assets, maps how data flows through IT systems and provides a blueprint for managing data, as this guide explains.
What is data governance and why does it matter? - Data governance is the process of managing the availability, usability, integrity and security of the data in enterprise systems, based on internal standards and policies that also control data usage.
What is data labeling? - Data labeling is the process of identifying and tagging data samples commonly used in the context of training machine learning (ML) models.
What is data lifecycle? - A data lifecycle is the sequence of stages that a unit of data goes through from its initial generation or capture to its archiving or deletion at the end of its useful life.
What is data management and why is it important? Full guide - Data management is the process of ingesting, storing, organizing and maintaining the data created and collected by an organization, as explained in this in-depth guide.
What is data preparation? An in-depth guide - Data preparation is the process of gathering, combining, structuring and organizing data for use in business intelligence, analytics and data science applications, as explained in this guide.
What is data science? The ultimate guide - Data science is the process of using advanced analytics techniques and scientific principles to analyze data and extract valuable information for business decision-making, strategic planning and other uses.
What is enterprise content management? Guide to ECM - Enterprise content management (ECM) is a set of defined processes, strategies and tools that allows a business to effectively obtain, organize, store and deliver critical information to its employees, business stakeholders and customers.
What is PaaS? Platform as a service definition and guide - Platform as a service (PaaS) is a cloud computing model where a third-party provider delivers hardware and software tools to users over the internet.
What is Software as a Service (SaaS)? - Software as a service (SaaS) is a software distribution model in which a third-party provider hosts applications and makes them available to customers over the Internet.
What is the Driver's Privacy Protection Act (DPPA)? - The Driver's Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) is a United States federal law designed to protect the personally identifiable information of licensed drivers from improper use or disclosure.
wipe - Wipe, in a computing context, means to erase all data on a hard drive to render it unreadable.
workload - In computing, a workload is typically any program or application that runs on a computer.
WORM (write once, read many) - In computer media, write once, read many, or WORM, is a data storage technology that allows data to be written to a storage medium a single time and prevents the data from being erased or modified.
XML Schema Definition (XSD) - XML Schema Definition or XSD is a recommendation by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to describe and validate the structure and content of an XML document.
YAML (YAML Ain't Markup Language) - YAML (YAML Ain't Markup Language) is a data serialization language used as the input format for diverse software applications.
yobibyte (YiB) - A yobibyte (YiB) is a unit of measure used to describe data capacity as part of the binary system of measuring computing and storage capacity.