Technical Paper: Database Administrator for Department Store

Instructors, training on how to grade is within the Instructor Center.
Technical Paper: Database Administrator for Department Store worth 200 points
The Strayer Oracle Server may be used to test and compile the SQL Queries developed for this assignment. Your instructor will provide you with login credentials to a Strayer University maintained Oracle server.
Imagine that you have been hired as the database administrator for a local department store. The department store has recently expanded by opening five (5) stores within your local region. They have also launched a series of marketing campaigns to attract new customers and increase sales. For your hired role, you will be responsible for creating and maintaining an enterprise-wide database system that will hold the sales and inventory data for the organization. The designed database will help operations in supporting its new business marketing strategy. Using the concepts presented throughout the course, you will develop a plan to create this database and establish a design that aligns with the product sales initiatives of the organization.
Write a twelve to fifteen (12-15) page paper in which you:
  1. Identify the potential sales and department store transactions that can be stored within the database.
  2. Design a database solution and the potential business rules that could be used to house the sales transactions of the department store. 
  3. Evaluate all relationships of each entity within your database solution using the Crow’s Foot notation. Include all data elements, entities, relationships (such as 1:M, 1:1, M:N), and cardinalities for the department store database in your diagram. Note: The graphically depicted solution is not included in the required page length.
  4. Research the Internet for best practices of how retail stores use databases for retaining customers and increasing sales and complete the following:
    1. Justify how Big Data tools could be used for forecasting sales and inventory of the department store.
    2. Propose two (2) SQL Stored Procedures that use SQL functions to help sales associates perform explanatory or predictive analytics.
    3. Give your opinion on which of the two (2) ways you proposed in Question four (4) b provide greater value to expanding their business within the region.
    4. Provide a copy of your working SQL code as part of the paper.
  5. Research the Internet for database vendors that provide cloud computing services and complete the following:
    1. Estimate the types of costs involved or the pricing structure required when implementing a cloud-hosted solution for a database. 
    2. Analyze security considerations and pricing of the different cloud implementation types.
    3. Rank the cloud services options of Software as a Service, Platform as a Service and Infrastructure as a Service in terms of functionality, mobility, and ability to provide distributed transaction concurrency. Compare how these cloud-based services fit within an environment where users are mobile. Determine the technical provisions that would be required to ensure data integrity.
  6. Evaluate whether the use of a distributed DBMS structure is appropriate and identify the optimization techniques that should be factored in to enhance the operations of the database in your design.
  7. Provide at least two (2) examples of how lost updates and uncommitted data may occur, keeping in mind that five (5) stores will be generating transactions.
  8. Determine the concurrency control factors that can be used to ensure valid execution of transactions within the current multiuser environment.
  9. Research the Internet for backup and restoration recovery solutions and database security threats that could be applicable to the department store. Upon your research, complete the following:
    1. Suggest at least two (2) options that could be made available to provide disaster management functions for the database system within the retail environment.
    2. Assess the types of security threats that may exist when managing the department store database and suggest measure(s) that can be performed to minimize these threats that are particular to retail.
  10. Use at least six (6) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
  • Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
  • Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
  • Include charts or diagrams created in any chart or drawing tool with which you are familiar. The completed diagrams / charts must be imported into the Word document before the paper is submitted.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
  • Compose conceptual data modeling techniques that capture information requirements.
  • Prepare database design documents using the data definition, data manipulation, and data control language components of the SQL language.
  • Describe the basic mechanisms for accessing relational databases from various types of application development environments.
  • Use technology and information resources to research issues in the strategic implications and management of database systems.
  • Write clearly and concisely about topics related to the strategic planning for database systems using proper writing mechanics and technical style conventions.
Click here to view the grading rubric. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The merchandise sold at Costco may be similar to that of its two main competitors—Sam’s Club and BJ’s—but Costco aims to be a cut above by offering many unique and unusual items. Its stores also look slightly more upscale than other club stores, the brands it carries have more cachet, and the products are often a bit more expensive, but they still offer extremely good value. And unlike some other discounters, Costco does not have everything under the sun. The stores carry only about 4,000 products each, which is a small fraction of the more than 100,000 items stocked by other warehouse clubs and conventional discounters such as Target and Walmart. About 3,000 of Costco’s products are a consistent array of carefully chosen basics, from canned tuna to laundry detergent to printer cartridges. The other 1,000 items are a fast-moving assortment of goods such as designer-label clothing, watches, and premium wines. These items change from week to week, reinforcing the idea of buying something when you see it because it’ll probably be gone next week. Costco prefers to offer name-brand products and has successfully introduced some branded luxury items such as Kate Spade and Coach purses. However, high-end suppliers such as Cartier and Cannondale flinch at the idea of their goods being sold in a warehouse setting, so carrying those brands isn’t always possible. Some suppliers, hoping to protect their higherend retail customers, have been known to spurn Costco’s offers “officially,” only to call back later to quietly cut a deal. In other cases, Costco goes on its own treasure hunts, using third-party distributors to track down hot products, even though these “gray market” channels can be unpredictable. And if that doesn’t work, Costco can commission another manufacturer to create a lookalike product—leather handbags are one example—with its own Kirkland Signature label. To give its millions of members the best prices on everything, Costco negotiates directly—and fiercely—with suppliers. Aiming to be known as the toughest negotiators in the business, Costco’s buyers won’t let up until they get their target price on the merchandise. Often, the “right” price is determined by how much less expensively Costco can make a product itself. Using this approach, the company has managed to drive down price points in several categories, such as over-the-counter drugs. Costco then passes on the savings to customers, who never pay more than 15 percent above the company’s cost. Cofounder and recently retired CEO Jim Sinegal was determined not to let the wheel of retailing take Costco for a spin, either. “When I started, Sears, Roebuck was the Costco of the country, but they allowed someone else to come in under them. We don’t want to be one of the casualties. We don’t want to turn around and say, ‘We got so fancy we’ve raised our prices,’ and all of a sudden a new competitor comes in and beats our prices.” Inventory turnover rate is also a key to Costco’s financial success. By focusing on fast-selling items, the company moves its merchandise significantly faster than competitors—so quickly, in fact, that it often sells products to shoppers before it has to pay its suppliers. Costco is rolling through its third decade with strong financial health, a dominant market position, and millions of consumers and business customers that rely on Costco bargains. Annual sales will break the $80 billion barrier soon, and $100 billion doesn’t look too far out of reach. Online sales remain a fairly small fraction of total revenue, but the company expects those sales to pick up as the economy improves and consumers are more confident to spend on the more expensive items that are typically offered on the website. International expansion is another item on Costco’s strategic menu, with sales recently growing at a faster clip outside the United States. Per-store sales are up in other countries, but the number of new store openings has tapered off over the past few years, thanks in part to the economy and in part to a cautious approach to finding the right locations. For instance, the company thinks Taiwan could support 20 Costco stores and Japan could support 50, but finding enough land for the giant footprint of a warehouse store—typically 15 acres—that is near population centers but not in areas with zoning regulations that prohibit bigbox retailers is a particular challenge in some countries.37 Question 1. If customers repeatedly ask Costco to carry certain items that the company thinks are outside its price/quality “comfort zone” (because they’re too expensive or not of high enough quality), should it give in and carry the items? Why or why not? 2. Most of the items on Costco’s website are available only through Costco; should it expand its online product selection to include more commonly available products, since an online store doesn’t have the physical constraints of a brick-and-mortar location? Why or why not? 3. If Costco can’t find enough land in, say, Japan, to build its usual store format, should it leverage the Costco brand name anyway and build something such as conventional department stores or grocery stores in these areas? Why or why not?

As she begins her new journey at CSU, Claudia has identified a new goal that she has, but she still needs your help

Decide which play you would like to write about.