Unit-1

Information Technology
21st century has come to be known as the era of Information Technology; it is the key driver of economic
growth of not only a nation, but rather the whole world.
The growth and progress of every sector of the country today depends on the level of Information Technology.
Furthermore, technology is not important only at the work place, but also in our everyday life; whether it is
working with the microwave oven which is a cooking appliance or a super computer, an appliance is based on
information technology, technology helps everywhere.
From hi-tech industry to an education system, Information Technology footprints can be seen everywhere.
Likewise, Information Technology is one of the essential features for the overall development of a country.

Meaning of Information Technology

The technology, which is exclusively designed to store, process, and transmit information, is known as
Information Technology.
Though the diagram given above is not inclusive, as it does not include every aspect and application of
information technology, but it comprehensively covers the major aspects.

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Important Features of Information Technology
Following are the major features as well as advantages of Information Technology −
 The development of Information Technology has made education system simpler, easier, and
widespread. Now, people of remote areas can also use technology for their children’s education and
also avail the benefits of adult education.
 Diffusion of e-governance on a large scale.
 Participation of public in governance and policy making.
 Fast economic development.
 Development of remote areas.
 Technology helps the police in nabbing the criminals.
 The judiciary and other administrative services can also take the help of technology to make work easier
and faster.
 Highly beneficial for the common people, as they can access their rights and can take legal action
against the person who violates his/her rights.
 It increases the happiness and prosperity of not only an individual, but rather the society as a whole.
Besides, there are many other advantages too that can be availed in our everyday life only with the further
development of information technology.

Demerits of Information Technology

Information Technology is like a boon on the society. However, it comes with its own disadvantages −
 As discussed above, with the help of technology, police can arrest criminals and criminal activities; at
the same time, technology has also opened the door for criminals as well to practice smart criminal
activity.
 There are chances that children can misuse technology and take a wrong path.
 Some distorted and perverted minds use technology to demean or defame someone unethically and also
illegally.
 These are basically not demerits but rather the misuse of technology.

Information Technology Act, 2000

By understanding the growing demand and applications of Information Technology, the Government of India
passed the bill of Information Technology in 2000, which came to be known as the Information Technology
Act, 2000.
The major features of the Act are −
 It facilitates e-governance and e-commerce by providing equal legal treatment to users.
 It made provision to accept electronic records and digital signature.
 It gave legal approval to electronic business transactions.
 The Act instructs banks to maintain electronic record and facilitate electronic fund transfer.

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Major Impacts of Information Technology on Businesses
1. Cloud Computing
The concept of cloud computing is immensely popular among businesses owing to the efficiency in business
operations that it provides. Cloud computing utilizes information technology to capitalize on its ability to
provide improved agility and time and resource management for businesses.
Increasingly, businesses are shifting to the cloud to leverage its many benefits. It has been predicted that more
than $1 trillion will be impacted in IT spending by the transition of businesses to cloud computing by 2020.
“Cloud-first strategies are the foundation for staying relevant in a fast-paced world,” Ed Anderson, research VP
at the analyst firm, Gartner pointed out, “The market for cloud services has grown to such an extent that it is
now a notable percentage of total IT spending, helping to create a new generation of start-ups and “born in the
cloud” providers.”
A good Internet connection and a commendable Wi-Fi connectivity are important to accomplish this.
#2. Automation of Business Processes
The movement towards increased automation of business processes has gained traction over the years. It
improves efficiency and increases workflow considerably.
Information technology helps in developing automated processes for businesses. This not only helps in reducing
the cost of operation but also saves time. The time saved can be utilized to focus on other tasks, thus speeding
up business processes significantly.
Processes like billing, tracking metrics, collecting customer data, monitoring certain processes etc. can be
automated easily. There are numerous automation software that can be utilized for this purpose.
#3. Working Remotely
Implementation of information technology provides the ability to remotely access your company’s network. As
a result, it equips employees with the ability to get the work done even if they are not physically present at the
workplace.
Such agility has a number of benefits. Therefore, it has gained massive popularity. In fact, according to a U.S.
federal government resource, 47% of the employees are eligible to work remotely.
Ian Adams, head of strategic marketing development at the outsourcing company, Mitie pointed out, “We’re
seeing greater collaboration between HR, IT, property and facilities management and job titles like ‘workplace
director’ making this agile workplace happen.”
#4. Mobile Technology
Mobile technology has picked up momentum owing to its convenience, efficiency and speed. With the rise in
the popularity of information technology, implementation of mobile technology has gained ground quickly.
The trend of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) is on the rise owing to increased employee satisfaction. As many
as 74% of the organizations are already utilizing this trend or plan on doing so in the future. In fact, the BYOD
market is estimated to reach $181.39 billion by 2017.

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Mobile technology takes business communication to a whole new level. A mobile team can improve the
workplace productivity considerably. There are numerous ways to integrate mobile technology in the
workplace. In fact, chances are, your employees are already using it.
#5. Protecting Information
Every organization has a mammoth database comprising various information related to business transactions,
client details and so on. Such information is extremely valuable to a business and can cause a host of legal
issues if it is lost. This is where information technology becomes relevant. It provides the right resources to
store the information in a way that ensures maximum protection.
Virtual storage systems can keep information safe by allowing a limited number of users to access these.
Increased protection also ensures that these systems are not hacked and the information is not wiped out owing
to some problems. Therefore, information technology helps in upholding business integrity.
#6. Providing Customer Satisfaction
Customer experience and satisfaction are crucial aspects of all businesses. The key to customer satisfaction is a
strong customer support team and its availability to cater to the requirements of the customers.
Information technology provides the best tools for communicating with customers and solving their problems in
real time. It has unlocked the facilities like Email, social media and other messaging platforms for this purpose.
A happy customer-base is important for the growth of a business. Various cloud-based communication channels
have made customer experience more improved.
#7. Management of Resources
A business has a variety of resources. These may include financial resources, human resources and so on. For
large organizations, managing resources becomes quite difficult. Information technology plays a vital role in
managing these resources effortlessly by introducing a wide range of feasible solutions.
For example, the integration of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) has improved the efficiency of various
business processes. ERP is a business management software that enables an organization to use a series of
integrated applications that can manage and automate various business operations.
Information technology is at the core of such software. The implementation of ERP is progressing at a rapid rate
with more and more businesses implementing this efficient technology to make certain business processes
hassle-free.
#8. Open Source Software
Information technology has paved the way for various open source software that allow free usage of certain
tools for various organizations. The primary benefit of open source software is its flexible license. This allows
modifications to the source code. This means that you have the facility to customize its functions according to
your requirements.

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What Is IT Infrastructure?

Today’s CIOs are tasked with efficiently operating the technology infrastructure that supports overall enterprise
or corporate goals. Part of this responsibility includes increasing business value by streamlining information
retrieval and reporting, providing proactive and agile responses to leverage information and technology, and
quickly adapting to allow enhanced end user experiences. In order to accomplish this enormous undertaking, IT
leadership relies on the myriad of tangible and intangible elements that make up the technology backbone of an
organization, the IT infrastructure.

The IT infrastructure consists of all elements that support the management and usability of data and
information. These include the physical hardware and facilities (including data centers), data storage and
retrieval, network systems, legacy interfaces, and software to support the business goals of an enterprise. The
structure also includes hiring, training, policy, testing, process, upgrades, and repairs.

What Is Infrastructure Management?

The term infrastructure describes the structures required for the operation of a physical facility or business
operation. As mentioned earlier, infrastructure management has evolved to include the true backbone of
business, technology. This is referred to as IT infrastructure management. The purpose of IT infrastructure
management is to provide structure and control of the functions responsible for diverse technical operations
which generally involve hardware, software, and networking in both physical and virtual environments. The
main goal is to minimize downtime and maintain business productivity. Because of the complexity of IT
infrastructure, it is not uncommon for IT infrastructure management to be broken into substructures, such as
systems management, network management, and storage management.

Additionally, an enterprise IT infrastructure management team is typically responsible for the following
essential IT elements and services:

 Asset lifecycle
 Capacity monitoring/planning
 Storage
 Network utilization
 Availability
 Energy consumption
 Environmental issues
 Facilities (including data center infrastructure management)
 Physical and virtual assets
 Wireless and wired network operations
 Hardware
 Software
 Security (malware/virus protection)
 Mobile connectivity
 Maintenance/service updates

The services that the IT infrastructure management team delivers are typically behind the scenes. They maintain
the technology that supports the daily operations, such as Internet, email, and data accessibility. The team relies
heavily on real or near real-time management and monitoring solutions in order to maintain productivity.

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Components of IT Infrastructure Management

In addition to the three main categories of IT infrastructure management, it can also be useful to understand the
IT infrastructure as a composition of seven major components. IT infrastructure managers are responsible for
the design, implementation, maintenance and retirement of each of these IT infrastructure elements:

1. Computer Hardware Platforms - Computer hardware includes client machines such as laptops and desktop
computers along with server machines and mainframes.
2. Operating System Platforms - The operating systems that run on computer hardware platforms are the second
component of IT infrastructure. Common operating systems include Windows, UNIX, Linux and Mac OS X.
3. Software Applications - IT infrastructure management is mostly focused on managing the physical components
of IT infrastructure, but may exercise some oversight of the most important enterprise software applications. This
typically includes applications that are critical for managing service delivery at the enterprise level, such as SAP,
Oracle, Microsoft and others.
4. Data Management and Storage - Management and oversight of data storage components is one of the key
function of IT infrastructure management. IT organizations may be responsible for managing the physical
components of data storage, such as data servers, along with the software components used to organize databases
(MySQL, IBM DB2, Oracle, and others).
5. Networking and Telecommunications Platforms - The IT organization's internal network falls under the
purview of IT infrastructure management. It covers everything from virtual network software (Microsoft
Windows server, Cisco, etc.) to the physical telecommunications infrastructure (telephones, routers, wiring, etc.)
6. Internet - Internet-related infrastructure is closely tied to networking and telecommunications components of IT
infrastructure. Websites that are hosted on internal or external servers, cloud-based web applications, web
software development tools and web hosting services are all part of the IT infrastructure.
7. Consulting and System Integration Services - IT organizations in businesses that use legacy systems may be
engaged in implementing new IT infrastructure to update legacy systems with new applications that are more
powerful and robust for the modern technological setting.

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IT Infrastructure Management Challenges & Their Solutions
1. Lack of Powerful Computing Platforms
Challenge - The major challenge in growing processing power of computers has been the lack of energy
and space to power supercomputers. IT managers have always been on the lookout for better and faster
systems which will help in the faster processing of the large amounts of data available today.
Solution - A simple solution to this challenge would be to employ new general purpose graphical
processors or multi-core platforms. By using better systems, the existing software will have to be optimized
and adjusted to provide the best results. Many projects have been started to develop faster computers which
will be available at low costs and energy needs.
2. Data Acquisition Problems
Challenge - Firewalls which protect emails, applications and web browsing can cause important packet
losses in the TCP/IP networks. This can result in important data loss and reduce the network speeds
considerably, making the online collaboration impossible. Similar losses can occur due to the switches and
routers which do not have the required high-speed memory.
Solution - IT managers need to look out for high-performance computing resources with huge data sets and
a secure bridge to collaborate with dispersed scientific teams. They will also need to employ more
sophisticated means to collect, filter and store using high-speed networks.
3. Compute Management and Provisioning
Challenge - One of the biggest challenges for IT managers is the humongous amounts of data that is
available today. High-performance computing of these large data sets will require virtualization and
automation to avoid adding more people to these processes. The major challenge for IT managers is to
simplify these tasks and speed up the processing.
Solution - This challenge can be solved by using distributive systems. These systems divide complex tasks
into smaller independent bits which can be processed by individual computers which are connected to a
network. Grid computing consists of virtualization of resources and supports computations across multiple
administrative domains and helps in speeding up the processing of complex tasks.
4. Lack of Efficient Data Storage Architectures
Challenge - Cloud storage has taken over in most of the cases in the modern world. Though it is a cost-
effective and scalable alternative for data storage for IT managers, it does not provide the required data
storage architectures which can accommodate a variety of applications. The IT community needs something
more flexible which is beyond space and cost in cloud storage options.
Solution - It is important that the cloud storage options become more flexible to improve the IT
infrastructure. It should be easy to optimize the cloud storage architecture according to the application
which is being deployed. It needs to be more reliable, efficient and be able to handle a variety of
applications and needs of the user community. The cloud storage options need to serve as long-term and
archival instead of a short-term solution for the IT community.

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5. Dearth of Ways to Improve Data Analytics
Challenge - Currently there are not many methods in place which can be used by IT managers to separate
quality data from the humongous data sets. It is important to identify patterns in the data and correctly
analyze it and use it to take business decisions in infrastructure management.
Solution - The best solution to solve this problem would be to have an ideal system which would consist of
a standards-based framework facilitating easy data transfer between different tools and layers. This will help
in faster data transfer and hence better data analysis. This analytics would be used for industrial control
systems and for network and IT monitoring.
6. Improper Networks and Connectivity
Challenge - For any organization to work smoothly, it is important that there is a good and reliable network
in place. Without a reliable network connection, IT infrastructure management can be a difficult task for any
IT manager of the organization. New software-based methods and network architecture design are required
for the optimization of data.
Solution - The ability to migrate the IP address would help to allow application services to be migrated to
other hardware. Another solution to this challenge would be to add intelligence to the wired as well as Wi-
Fi network connections. This will help the networks to optimize the traffic delivery to contain costs and
improve the service.

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 Unit-2
Literal Meaning of Multimedia
In this section, we will understand the literal meaning of multimedia.
 Multi − it means more than one
 Medium − it is singular and it means intermediary or mean
 Media − it is plural and it means conveying the information
Likewise, Multimedia is the field of Computer Science that integrates different forms of information and
represents in the form of audio, video, and animation along with the traditional media, i.e., text,
graphics/drawings, images, etc.

Multimedia Computer System

Multimedia computer system has high capacity to integrate different media including text, image, graphics,
audio, and video.
The multimedia computer system stores, represents, processes, manipulates, and makes available to users.

Significant Features of Multimedia Computer System

Following are the major features multimedia computer system −

 Its Central Processing Unit (CPU) is very fast, as it needs to process large amount of data.
 It has huge storage capacity.
 It has huge memory power that helps in running heavy data programs.
 It has high capacity graphic card that helps in displaying graphics, animation, video, etc.
 The sound system makes it easy to listen to audio.
 With all these features (discussed above), a computer system is known as high end multimedia
computer system.
 However, all the features listed above are not essentially required for every multimedia computer
system, but rather the features of a multimedia computer system are configured as per the need of
respective user.

Multimedia Components
Following are the major components of a multimedia computer system −

Text
It contains alphanumeric and some other special characters. Keyboard is usually used for input of text;
however, there are some internal (inbuilt) features to include such text.
Graphics
It is technology to generate, represent, process, manipulate, and display pictures. It is one of the most important
components of multimedia application. The development of graphics is supported by a different software.
Animation
Computer animation is a modern technology, which helps in creating, developing, sequencing, and displaying
a set of images (technically known as ‘frames’). Animation gives visual effects or motion very similar to that
of a video file (see image given below).

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Audio
This technology records, synthesizes, and plays audio (sound). There are many learning courses and different
instructions that can be delivered through this medium appropriately.
Video
This technology records, synthesizes, and displays images (known as frames) in such sequences (at a fixed
speed) that makes the creation appear as moving; this is how we see a completely developed video. In order to
watch a video without any interruption, video device must display 25 to 30 frames/second.
Multimedia Application
Let us now see the different fields where multimedia is applied. The fields are described in brief below −
Presentation
With the help of multimedia, presentation can be made effective.
E-books
Today, books are digitized and easily available on the Internet.
Digital Library
The need to be physically present at a library is no more necessary. Libraries can be accessed from the Internet
also. Digitization has helped libraries to come to this level of development.
E-learning
Today, most of the institutions (public as well as private both) are using such technology to education people.
Movie making
Most of the special effects that we see in any movie, is only because of multimedia technology.
Video games
Video games are one of the most interesting creations of multimedia technology. Video games fascinate not
only the children but adults too.
Multimedia conferencing
People can arrange personal as well as business meetings online with the help of multimedia conferencing
technology.
E-shopping
Multimedia technology has created a virtual arena for the e-commerce.
Advertising
Advertising has changed a lot over the past couple of decades, and this is mainly due to the increased use of the
internet in business. Multimedia plays a great and a vital role in the field of advertising. As whatever it is
whether print or electronic advertisement, they first are prepared on the computer by using professionals'
software's and then it is brought in front of the target audiences.
Some of different types of advertising are:
Print advertising
Radio (audio) advertising
Television (video) advertising
Digital advertising
Display Ads
Remarketing
Video

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 What is HTML
HTML is an acronym which stands for Hyper Text Markup Language which is used for creating web pages
and web applications. Let's see what is meant by Hypertext Markup Language, and Web page.
Hyper Text: HyperText simply means "Text within Text." A text has a link within it, is a hypertext. Whenever
you click on a link which brings you to a new webpage, you have clicked on a hypertext. HyperText is a way to
link two or more web pages (HTML documents) with each other.
Markup language: A markup language is a computer language that is used to apply layout and formatting
conventions to a text document. Markup language makes text more interactive and dynamic. It can turn text into
images, tables, links, etc.
Web Page: A web page is a document which is commonly written in HTML and translated by a web browser.
A web page can be identified by entering an URL. A Web page can be of the static or dynamic type.
With the help of HTML only, we can create static web pages.
Hence, HTML is a markup language which is used for creating attractive web pages with the help of styling,
and which looks in a nice format on a web browser. An HTML document is made of many HTML tags and
each HTML tag contains different content.
Let's see a simple example of HTML.
<!DOCTYPE>
<html>
<head>
<title>Web page title</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Write Your First Heading</h1>
<p>Write Your First Paragraph.</p>
</body>
</html>
HTML Tags
HTML tags are like keywords which defines that how web browser will format and display the content. With
the help of tags, a web browser can distinguish between an HTML content and a simple content. HTML tags
contain three main parts: opening tag, content and closing tag. But some HTML tags are unclosed tags.
When a web browser reads an HTML document, browser reads it from top to bottom and left to right. HTML
tags are used to create HTML documents and render their properties. Each HTML tags have different
properties.
An HTML file must have some essential tags so that web browser can differentiate between a simple text and
HTML text. You can use as many tags you want as per your code requirement.
All HTML tags must enclosed within < > these brackets.
Every tag in HTML perform different tasks.
If you have used an open tag <tag>, then you must use a close tag </tag> (except some tags)
Syntax
<tag> content </tag>

HTML Tag Examples

<p> Paragraph Tag </p>
<h2> Heading Tag </h2>
<b> Bold Tag </b>
<i> Italic Tag </i>
<u> Underline Tag</u>
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Unclosed HTML Tags
Some HTML tags are not closed, for example br and hr.
<br> Tag: br stands for break line, it breaks the line of the code.
<hr> Tag: hr stands for Horizontal Rule. This tag is used to put a line across the webpage.

HTML Meta Tags

DOCTYPE, title, link, meta and style

HTML Text Tags

<p>, <h1>, <h2>, <h3>, <h4>, <h5>, <h6>, <strong>, <em>, <abbr>, <acronym>, <address>, <bdo>,
<blockquote>, <cite>, <q>, <code>, <ins>, <del>, <dfn>, <kbd>, <pre>, <samp>, <var> and <br>

HTML Link Tags

<a> and <base>

HTML Image and Object Tags

<img>, <area>, <map>, <param> and <object>

HTML List Tags

<ul>, <ol>, <li>, <dl>, <dt> and <dd>

HTML Table Tags

table, tr, td, th, tbody, thead, tfoot, col, colgroup and caption

HTML Form Tags

form, input, textarea, select, option, optgroup, button, label, fieldset and legend

HTML Scripting Tags

script and noscript

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Tag name Description

<!-- --> This tag is used to apply comment in an HTML document.

<!DOCTYPE> This tag is used to specify the version of HTML

<a> It is termed as anchor tag and it creates a hyperlink or link.

<abbr> It defines an abbreviation for a phrase or longer word.

<acronym> It defines acronym for a word. (Not supported in HTML5)

<address> It defines the author's contact information of the HTML article

<applet> It defines an embedded Java applet. (Not supported in HTML5)

<area> It defines the area of an image map.

It defines the self-contained content.

<article>

It defines content aside from main content. Mainly represented as sidebar.

<aside>

It is used to embed sound content in HTML document.

<audio>

<b> It is used to make a text bold.

<base> This tag defines the base URL for all relative URL within the document.

<basefont> This tag is used to set default font, size and color for all elements of document. (Not supported
in HTML5)

This tag is used to provide isolation for that part of text which may be formatted in different
<bdi> directions from its surrounding text.

<bdo> It is used to override the current text direction.

<big> This tag is used to make font size one level larger than its surrounding content. (Not supported
in HTML5)

<blockquote> It is used to define a content which is taken from another source.

<body> It is used to define the body section of an HTML document.

<br> It is used to apply single line break.

<button> It is used to represent a clickable button

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C

It is used to provide a graphics space within a web document.

<canvas>

<caption> It is used to define a caption for a table.

<center> It is used to align the content in center. (Not supported in HTML5)

<cite> It is used to define the title of the work, book, website, etc.

<code> It is used to display a part of programming code in an HTML document.

<col> It defines a column within a table which represent common properties of columns and used
with the <colgroup> element.

<colgroup> It is used to define group of columns in a table.

It is used to link the content with the machine-readable translation.

<data>

It is used to provide a predefined list for input option.

<datalist>

<dd> It is used to provide definition/description of a term in description list.

<del> It defines a text which has been deleted from the document.

It defines additional details which user can either view or hide.

<details>

<dfn> It is used to indicate a term which is defined within a sentence/phrase.

It defines a dialog box or other interactive components.

<dialog>

<dir> It is used as container for directory list of files. (Not supported in HTML5)

<div> It defines a division or section within HTML document.

<dl> It is sued to define a description list.

<dt> It is used to define a term in description list.

<em> It is used to emphasis the content applied within this element.

It is used as embedded container for external file/application/media, etc.

<embed>

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<fieldset> It is used to group related elements/labels within a web form.

<figcaption> It is used to add a caption or explanation for the <figure> element.

It is used to define the self-contained content, and s mostly refer as single unit.
<figure>

<font> It defines the font, size, color, and face for the content. (Not supported in HTML5)

It defines the footer section of a webpage.

<footer>

<form> It is used to define an HTML form.

<frame> It defines a particular area of webpage which can contain another HTML file. (Not supported
in HTML5)

<frameset> It defines group of Frames. (Not supported in HTML5)

<h1> to <h6> It defines headings for an HTML document from level 1 to level 6.

<head> It defines the head section of an HTML document.

It defines the header of a section or webpage.

<header>

<hr> It is used to apply thematic break between paragraph-level elements.

<html> It represents root of an HTML document.

<i> It is used to represent a text in some different voice.

<iframe> It defines an inline frame which can embed other content.

<img> It is used to insert an image within an HTML document.

<input> It defines an input field within an HTML form.

<ins> It represent text that has been inserted within an HTML document.

<isindex> It is used to display search string for current document. (Not supported in HTML5)

<kbd> It is used to define keyboard input.

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L

<label> It defines a text label for the input field of form.

<legend> It defines a caption for content of <fieldset>

<li> It is used to represent items in list.

<link> It represents a relationship between current document and an external resource.

It represents the main content of an HTML document.

<main>

<map> It defines an image map with active areas.

It represents a highlighted text.

<mark>

<marquee> It is used to insert the scrolling text or an image either horizontally or vertically. (Not supported
in HTML5)

<menu> It is used for creating a menu list of commands.

<meta> It defines metadata of an HTML document.

<meter> It defines scalar measurement with known range or fractional value.

It represents section of page to represent navigation links.

<nav>

<noframes> It provides alternate content to represent in browser which does not support the <frame>
elements. (Not supported in HTML5)

<noscript> It provides an alternative content if a script type is not supported in browser.

<object> It is used to embed an object in HTML file.

<ol> It defines an ordered list of items.

<optgroup> It is used to group the options of a drop-down list.

<option> It is used to define options or items in a drop-down list.

<output> It is used as container element which can show result of a calculation.

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P

<p> It represents a paragraph in an HTML document.

<param> It defines parameter for an <object> element

It defines more than one source element and one image element.
<picture>

<pre> It defines preformatted text in an HTML document.

<progress> It defines the progress of a task within HTML document.

<q> It defines short inline quotation.

It defines an alternative content if browser does not supports ruby annotations.

<rp>

<rt> It defines explanations and pronunciations in ruby annotations.

<ruby> It is used to represent ruby annotations.

<s> It render text which is no longer correct or relevant.

<samp> It is used to represent sample output of a computer program.

<script> It is used to declare the JavaScript within HTML document.

It defines a generic section for a document.

<section>

<select> It represents a control which provides a menu of options.

<small> It is used to make text font one size smaller than document?s base font size.

It defines multiple media recourses for different media element such as <picture>, <video>,
<source>> and <audio> element.

<span> It is used for styling and grouping inline.

<strike> It is used to render strike through the text. (Not supported in HTML5)

<strong> It is used to define important text.

<style> It is used to contain style information for an HTML document.

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<sub> It defines a text which displays as a subscript text.

<summary> It defines summary which can be used with <details> tag.

<sup> It defines a text which represent as superscript text.

<svg> It is used as container of SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics).

<table> It is used to present data in tabular form or to create a table within HTML document.

<tbody> It represents the body content of an HTML table and used along with <thead> and <tfoot>.

<td> It is used to define cells of an HTML table which contains table data

<template> It is used to contain the client side content which will not display at time of page load and may
render later using JavaScript.

<textarea> It is used to define multiple line input, such as comment, feedback, and review, etc.

<tfoot> It defines the footer content of an HTML table.

<th> It defines the head cell of an HTML table.

<thead> It defines the header of an HTML table. It is used along with <tbody> and <tfoot> tags.

It is used to define data/time within an HTML document.

<time>

<title> It defines the title or name of an HTML document.

<tr> It defines the row cells in an HTML table

<track> It is used to define text tracks for <audio> and <video> elements.

<tt> It is used to define teletype text. (Not supported in HTML5)

<u> It is used to render enclosed text with an underline.

<ul> It defines unordered list of items.

<var> It defines variable name used in mathematical or programming context.

It is used to embed a video content with an HTML document

<video>

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W

<wbr> It defines a position within text where break line is possible.

HTML Document Structure

A typical HTML document will have the following structure:

Document declaration tag

<html>
<head>
Document header related tags
</head>
<body>
Document body related tags
</body>
</html>

HTML Image
HTML img tag is used to display image on the web page. HTML img tag is an empty tag that contains attributes
only, closing tags are not used in HTML image element.
Let's see an example of HTML image.
<h2>HTML Image Example</h2>
<img src="good_morning.jpg" alt="Good Morning Friends"/>

Attributes of HTML img tag

The src and alt are important attributes of HTML img tag. All attributes of HTML image tag are given below.
1) src
It is a necessary attribute that describes the source or path of the image. It instructs the browser where to look
for the image on the server.
The location of image may be on the same directory or another server.
2) alt
The alt attribute defines an alternate text for the image, if it can't be displayed. The value of the alt attribute
describe the image in words. The alt attribute is considered good for SEO prospective.
3) width
It is an optional attribute which is used to specify the width to display the image. It is not recommended now.
You should apply CSS in place of width attribute.
4) height
It h3 the height of the image. The HTML height attribute also supports iframe, image and object elements. It is
not recommended now. You should apply CSS in place of height attribute.

Use of height and width attribute with img tag

You have learnt about how to insert an image in your web page, now if we want to give some height and width
to display image according to our requirement, then we can set it with height and width attributes of image.
Example:
<img src="animal.jpg" height="180" width="300" alt="animal image">

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HTML Links
Links are found in nearly all web pages. Links allow users to click their way from page to page.
HTML Links - Hyperlinks
HTML links are hyperlinks.
You can click on a link and jump to another document.
When you move the mouse over a link, the mouse arrow will turn into a little hand.
Note: A link does not have to be text. It can be an image or any other HTML element.

HTML Links - Syntax

Hyperlinks are defined with the HTML <a> tag:
<a href="url">link text</a>
Example
<a href="https://www.w3schools.com/html/">Visit our HTML tutorial</a>
The href attribute specifies the destination address (https://www.w3schools.com/html/) of the link.
The link text is the visible part (Visit our HTML tutorial).
Clicking on the link text will send you to the specified address.
Note: Without a forward slash at the end of subfolder addresses, you might generate two requests to the server.
Many servers will automatically add a forward slash to the end of the address, and then create a new request.
Local Links
The example above used an absolute URL (a full web address).
A local link (link to the same web site) is specified with a relative URL (without https://www....).
Example
<a href="html_images.asp">HTML Images</a>

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HTML Links - The target Attribute
The target attribute specifies where to open the linked document.
The target attribute can have one of the following values:
_blank - Opens the linked document in a new window or tab
_self - Opens the linked document in the same window/tab as it was clicked (this is default)
_parent - Opens the linked document in the parent frame
_top - Opens the linked document in the full body of the window
framename - Opens the linked document in a named frame
This example will open the linked document in a new browser window/tab:
Example
<a href="https://www.w3schools.com/" target="_blank">Visit W3Schools!</a>
Tip: If your webpage is locked in a frame, you can use target="_top" to break out of the frame:
Example
<a href="https://www.w3schools.com/html/" target="_top">HTML5 tutorial!</a>
HTML Links - Image as a Link
It is common to use images as links:
Example
<a href="default.asp">
<img src="smiley.gif" alt="HTMLtutorial" style="width:42px;height:42px;border:0;">
</a>
HTML Anchor
The HTML anchor tag defines a hyperlink that links one page to another page. It can create hyperlink to other
web page as well as files, location, or any URL. The "href" attribute is the most important attribute of the
HTML a tag. and which links to destination page or URL.
href attribute of HTML anchor tag
The href attribute is used to define the address of the file to be linked. In other words, it points out the
destination page.
The syntax of HTML anchor tag is given below.
<a href = "..........."> Link Text </a>
Let's see an example of HTML anchor tag.
<a href="second.html">Click for Second Page</a>

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HTML Form
An HTML form is a section of a document which contains controls such as text fields, password fields,
checkboxes, radio buttons, submit button, menus etc.
An HTML form facilitates the user to enter data that is to be sent to the server for processing such as name,
email address, password, phone number, etc. .

Why use HTML Form

HTML forms are required if you want to collect some data from of the site visitor.
For example: If a user want to purchase some items on internet, he/she must fill the form such as shipping
address and credit/debit card details so that item can be sent to the given address.

HTML Form Syntax

<form action="server url" method="get|post">
//input controls e.g. textfield, textarea, radiobutton, button
</form>

HTML Form Tags

Let's see the list of HTML 5 form tags.
Tag Description

<form> It defines an HTML form to enter inputs by the used side.

<input> It defines an input control.

<textarea> It defines a multi-line input control.

<label> It defines a label for an input element.

<fieldset> It groups the related element in a form.

<legend> It defines a caption for a <fieldset> element.

<select> It defines a drop-down list.

<optgroup> It defines a group of related options in a drop-down list.

<option> It defines an option in a drop-down list.

<button> It defines a clickable button.

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HTML iframes
HTML Iframe is used to display a nested webpage (a webpage within a webpage). The HTML <iframe> tag
defines an inline frame, hence it is also called as an Inline frame.
An HTML iframe embeds another document within the current HTML document in the rectangular region.
The webpage content and iframe contents can interact with each other using JavaScript.
Iframe Syntax
An HTML iframe is defined with the <iframe> tag:
<iframe src="URL"></iframe>
Here, "src" attribute specifies the web address (URL) of the inline frame page.
Set Width and Height of iframe
You can set the width and height of iframe by using "width" and "height" attributes. By default, the attributes
values are specified in pixels but you can also set them in percent. i.e. 50%, 60% etc.
Example: (Pixels)
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<h2>HTML Iframes example</h2>
<p>Use the height and width attributes to specify the size of the iframe:</p>
<iframe src="https://www.javatpoint.com/" height="300" width="400"></iframe>
</body>
</html>

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 Unit-3
Requirements of an intelligent website

1. Attracts the Right Audience

The right audience is a qualified audience. And a qualified audience generates better conversions.
2. Data-Driven Design
Using both qualitative and quantitative research data informs more accurate design decisions.
In other words...
When it comes to websites, designers have two types of data to use when making decisions:
Qualitative - non-numerical data that shows the why and the how (e.g. user interviews, surveys)
Quantitative - numerical data that shows the who, what, when and where (e.g. traffic metrics, A/B testing)
3. Creates Visibility & Grows Awareness
Nearly 90% of people use search engines to find information on products, services, or businesses. A website
that is visible is a website that is viable.
4. Outsmarts its Competitors
Either you, or your competitor, is going to engage your potential customer first. A smart content strategy is the
key to winning this race.
A content strategy helps a business reach its ideal prospect faster (and more effectively) than traditional
outbound marketing tactics.
5. Reduces Costs
Solid website usability and automation reduces the money needed for frivolous customer support.
The formula for reducing customer support includes: great website usability (people find what they're looking
for because there's few common website errors)
automation (using a systematic approach, like automatic triggers when a call-to-action is completed)
6. Educates & Inspires Action
Helpful content at every stage of the buying cycle, paired with calls-to-action, inspires people to take action —
the vital metric for determining ROI.
7. Increases Leads for More Sales
Better than your best salesperson by communicating faster and more convincingly, while maintaining a unified
voice.
8. Possesses a Long-term Roadmap
A documented plan in how content and features will grow, be supported, and routinely be measured.
9. Retains Customer Loyalty
An intelligent website doesn’t stop working once the initial sale is made. It continues to think about ways to
engage existing customers or clients.

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10. Helps Companies Become Digitally Empowered
Prevents the Web from feeling too big, too powerful and too competitive. Knowledge is the antidote to fear.
Website Development Process
Website Development Life Cycle

Step 1. Gathering Information: Purpose, Main Goals, and Target Audience

This stage, the stage of discovering and researching, determines how the subsequent steps will look like. The
most important task at this point is to get a clear understanding of your future website purposes, the main goals
you wish to get, and the target audience you want to attract to your site. Such kind of a website development
questionnaire helps to develop the best strategy for further project management.

News portal differs from the entertainment websites, and online resources for teenagers looks different than
sites for adults. Different types of websites provide visitors with different functionality, which means that
different technologies should be used according to purposes. A well described and detailed plan based on this
pre-development data can protect you from spending extra resources on solving the unexpected issues such as
design changing or adding the functionality that wasn’t initially planned.

Estimated time: from 1 to 2 weeks

Step 2. Planning: Sitemap and Wireframe Creation

At this stage of the website development cycle, the developer creates the data that allow a customer to judge
how the entire site will look like.

Based on the information that was gathered together in the previous phase, the sitemap is created. Here is the
sitemap of the XB Software website:

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The sitemap should describe the relations between the main areas of your website. Such representation could
help understand how usable the final product will be. It can show you the “relationship” between the different
pages of a website, so you can judge how easy it will be for the end-user to find the required information or
service if he starts from the main page. The main reason behind the sitemap creation is to build a user-friendly
and easy to navigate website.

The sitemap allows you to understand how the inner structure of a website looks like but doesn’t describe the
user interface. Sometimes, before you start to code or even work on a design, there’s a necessity to get approval
from a customer that everything looks fine so you can begin the next phase of developing. In this case,
a wireframe or mock-up is created. A wireframe is a visual representation of the user interface that you’re going

26
to create. But it doesn’t contain any design elements such as colors, logos, etc. It only describes the elements
that will be added to the page and their location. It’s artless and cheap in production sketch.

Step 3. Design: Page Layouts, Review, and Approval Cycle

During the design phase, your website takes shape. All the visual content, such as images, photos, and videos is
created at this step. Once again, all the info that was gathered through the first phase is crucial. The customer
and target audience must be kept in mind while you work on a design.

The website layout is the result of a designer’s work. It can be a graphic sketch or an actual graphic design. The
primary function of the layout is to represent the information structure, visualize the content, and demonstrate
the basic functionality. Layouts contain colors, logos, images and can give a general understanding of the future
product.

After that, the customer can review the layout and send you his feedback. If the client is not sure about some
aspects of your design, you should change the layout and send it back to him. This cycle should be repeated
until the customer is completely satisfied.

Estimated time: from 4 to 12 weeks

Step 4. Content Writing and Assembly

Content writing and compiling usually overlaps with other stages of website creation, and its role can’t be
underestimated. At this step, it is necessary to put in writing the very essence you’d like to communicate to the
audience of your website and add calls-to-action. Content writing also involves the creation of catching
headlines, text editing, writing new text, compiling the existing text, etc., which takes time and effort. As a rule,
the client undertakes to provide website content ready to migrate to the site. It is better when all website content
is provided before or during website coding.

Estimated time: from 5 to 15 weeks

Step 5. Coding

At this step, you can finally start creating the website itself. Graphic elements that have been designed during
the previous stages should be used to create an actual website. Usually, the home page is created first, and then
all sub-pages are added, according to the website hierarchy that was previously created in the form of a sitemap.
Frameworks and CMS should be implemented to make sure that the server can handle the installation and set-
up smoothly.

All static web page elements that were designed during the mock-up and layout creation should be created and
tested. Then, special features and interactivity should be added. A deep understanding of every website
development technology that you’re going to use is crucial at this phase.

When you use CMS for site creation, you can also install CMS plugins at this step if there’s a need. The other
important step is SEO (Search Engine Optimization). SEO is the optimization of website elements ( e.g., title,
description, keyword) that can help your site achieve higher rankings in the search engines. And, once again,
valid code is pretty important for SEO.

Estimated time: from 6 to 15 weeks

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Step 6. Testing, Review, and Launch

Testing is probably the most routine part of a process. Every single link should be tested to make sure that there
are no broken ones among them. You should check every form, every script, run a spell-checking software to
find possible typos. Use code validators to check if your code follows the current web standards. Valid code is
necessary, for example, if cross-browser compatibility is crucial for you.

After you check and re-check your website, it’s time to upload it to a server. An FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
software is used for that purpose. After you deployed the files, you should run yet another, final test to be sure
that all your files have been installed correctly.

Estimated time: from 2 to 4 weeks

Step 7. Maintenance: Opinion Monitoring and Regular Updating

What’s important to remember is that a website is more of a service than a product. It’s not enough to “deliver”
a website to a user. You should also make sure that everything works fine, and everybody is satisfied and
always be prepared to make changes in another case.

Feedback system added to the site will allow you to detect possible problems the end-users face. The highest
priority task, in this case, is to fix the problem as fast as you can. If you won’t, you may find one day that your
users prefer to use another website rather than put up with the inconvenience.

The other important thing is keeping your website up to date. If you use a CMS, regular updates will prevent
you from bugs and decrease security risks.

Estimated time: ongoing

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Useful and attractive web pages

1. Create an overload-free home page that encourages exploration.

A cluttered home page that is overwhelmed with too much text or too many graphics can chase away potential
donors. The homepage is often the first impression the user will have to your structure. It should never be
designed at random just to have a presence on the web. Network for Good, a not-for-profit organization that
provides fundraising ideas for other non-profit organizations, recommends “… for simplicity and clarity in
design. Must be attractive, captivating, but uncluttered. ”

2. Create recognition of your structure with a logo.

Having a logo that strengthens the spirit of your structure or serves as a reminder for the cause helps make a site
memorable. Visual identification through a logo is part of the emotional experience that users experience when
they come into contact with your organization. The creation of a logo is an investment and must be a budget
item with high priority. Ideally, the logo referring to a non-profit organization should be immediately
recognizable, evoke and transmit your non-profit or your mission, and remain effective in a variety of colors or
presentation modes.

3. Create a coherent graphic chart.

The maintenance of recurring visual elements on a website makes it possible to unify the site and make
navigation easier. Help establish consistency by choosing colors and fonts that complement the identity of your
association or foundation and ensure that they are maintained on all pages. Maintaining this visual coherence on
the site and mirroring it in all your other information and communication media will strengthen the identity of
your organization. The visual theme should reflect the culture of the organization and at the same time be
targeted to attract donors, volunteers, and supporters that you want to reach.

4. Create an audiovisual presence.

A compelling video that tells a story helps to attract the attention of Internet users. Even if your site can exist
without the video, this will bring him a definite asset. Creating such a video can be costly if performed
professionally. But, it can also be done using a simple camera with a minimum of editing, certainly a look less
polished but that will fulfill very well the function sought: tell your missions in pictures. The gain will not be
measured solely by the number of visits to the website. A well-made video can extend its usefulness beyond the
site itself as a centerpiece of the communication efforts of your nonprofit.
5. Create an emotional bond by using photographs to tell a story.
Using static or rotating photographs helps put faces on volunteers, recipients, and donors. Avoid photographs
that could be used elsewhere because your photos need to reinforce your image and not just anyone. Unlike
video, still, images allow the user to focus on a specific moment in time, allowing contemplation and creating a
lasting link.

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Web development tools
Web development tools helps the developer to test and debug the web sites. Now a days the web development
tool come with the web browsers as add-ons. All web browsers have built in tools for this purpose.
These tools allow the web developer to use HTML, CSS and JavaScript etc.. These are accessed by hovering
over an item on a web page and selecting the “Inspect Element” from the context menu.
HTML and the DOM
HTML and DOM viewer and editor is commonly included in the built-in web development tools. The
difference between the HTML and DOM viewer, and the view source feature in web browsers is that the HTML
and DOM viewer allows you to see the DOM as it was rendered in addition to allowing you to make changes to
the HTML and DOM and see the change reflected in the page after the change is made.
In addition to selecting and editing, the HTML elements panels will usually also display properties of the DOM
object, such as display dimension, and CSS properties.
Web page assets, resources and network information
Web pages typically load and require additional content in the form of images, scripts, font and other external
files. Web development tools also allow developers to inspect resources that are loaded and available on the
web page in a tree-structure listing.
Web development tools also allow developers to view information about the network usage, such as viewing
what the loading time and bandwidth usage are and which HTTP headers are being sent and received.
Profiling and auditing
Profiling allows developers to capture information about the performance of a web page or web application.
With this information developers can improve the performance of their scripts. Auditing features may provide
developers suggestions, after analyzing a page, for optimizations to decrease page load time and increase
responsiveness. Web development tools typically also provide a timeline features provides a record of the time
it takes to render the page, memory usage, and the types of events which are taking place.
These features allow developers to optimize their web page or web application.
JavaScript debugging
JavaScript is commonly used in web browsers. Web development tools commonly include a panel to debug
scripts by allowing developers to add watch expressions, breakpoints, view the call stack, and pause, step over,
step into, and step out of functions while debugging JavaScript.
A JavaScript console is commonly included. The consoles allow developers to type in JavaScript commands
and call functions, or view errors that may have been encountered during the execution of a script

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Web Testing
Web testing is a software testing practice to test websites or web applications for potential bugs. It's a complete
testing of web-based applications before making live.

A web-based system needs to be checked completely from end-to-end before it goes live for end users.

By performing website testing, an organization can make sure that the web-based system is functioning properly
and can be accepted by real-time users.

The UI design and functionality are the captains of website testing.

Web Testing Checklists
1) Functionality Testing
2) Usability testing
3) Interface testing
4) Compatibility testing
5) Performance testing
6) Security testing
#1) Functionality Testing
Test for – all the links in web pages, database connection, forms used for submitting or getting information from
the user in the web pages, Cookie testing, etc.
Check all the links:
 Test the outgoing links from all the pages to the specific domain under test.
 Test all internal links.
 Test links jumping on the same pages.
 Test links used to send email to admin or other users from web pages.
 Test to check if there are any orphan pages.
 Finally, link checking includes, check for broken links in all the above-mentioned links.
2) Usability Testing
Usability testing is the process by which the human-computer interaction characteristics of a system are
measured, and weaknesses are identified for correction.

• Ease of learning
• Navigation
• Subjective user satisfaction
• General appearance

Test for Navigation:

Navigation means how a user surfs the web pages, different controls like buttons, boxes or how the user uses
the links on the pages to surf different pages.

Usability Testing includes the following:

 The website should be easy to use.
 The instructions provided should be very clear.
 Check if the instructions provided are perfect to satisfy its purpose.
 The main menu should be provided on each page.
 It should be consistent enough.
3) Interface Testing
In web testing, the server-side interface should be tested. This is done by verifying that communication is done
properly. Compatibility of the server with software, hardware, network, and the database should be tested.

31
The main interfaces are:
 Web server and application server interface
 Application server and Database server interface.
4) Compatibility Testing
The compatibility of your website is a very important testing aspect. See which compatibility test to be
executed:

 Browser compatibility
 Operating system compatibility
 Mobile browsing
 Printing options
5) Performance Testing
The web application should sustain to heavy load. Web performance testing should include:

 Web Load Testing

 Web Stress Testing
Test application performance on different internet connection speeds.

6) Security Testing
Following are some of the test cases for web security testing:

 Test by pasting the internal URL directly into the browser address bar without login. Internal pages
should not open.
 If you are logged in using username and password and browsing internal pages then try changing URL
options directly. I.e. If you are checking some publisher site statistics with publisher site ID= 123. Try
directly changing the URL site ID parameter to different site ID which is not related to the logged-in
user. Access should be denied for this user to view other's stats.
 Try some invalid inputs in input fields like login username, password, input text boxes, etc. Check the
system's reaction to all invalid inputs.
 Web directories or files should not be accessible directly unless they are given download option.
 Test the CAPTCHA for automating script logins.
 Test if SSL is used for security measures. If it is used, the proper message should get displayed when
users switch from non-secure HTTP:// pages to secure HTTPS:// pages and vice versa.
 All transactions, error messages, security breach attempts should get logged in log files somewhere on
the webserver.
The primary reason for testing the security of a web is to identify potential vulnerabilities and subsequently
repair them.

 Network Scanning
 Vulnerability Scanning
 Password Cracking
 Log Review
 Integrity Checkers
 Virus Detection

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 Why is Website Maintenance Important?
 With regular website maintenance your site will run smoothly. No disgruntled visitors because
something on the site didn’t work or a link you provided is broken.
 Regular visitors are looking for what is new, so provide them with new and exciting information,
products or features.
 Website are subject to being hacked. Using a proper website maintenance program you can try and
avoid being hacked by keeping everything up to date.
 There are all kinds of things that need to be done when maintaining a website. Whether you decide to do
these yourself or hire out the work, it still needs to be done.

Website Updates
1.Website Content
 Product Updates

Product updates are really important if your site has an ecommerce element to it.

1. New products added announced.

Don’t forget to update your navigation, to add a page for the new product and add it to your site
map.

If you have a design that has a side navigation (called a sidebar in a blog) the updates can be added
to it so no matter what page a visitor arrives on, they see the new product announcement.

2. Discontinuation of a product. Like the announcement of new products, if you are discontinuing a
product, including an announcement in the side navigation will make the information available on
all your pages.
3. Upcoming price changes would be another thing to announce. It might even spur some rush
purchases too.
 Company News

Did you get a mention in the newpaper? Someone did a review of your site or product? This is all what is
called social proof and you need to show visitors what others are saying about you.

Growing so much you need new staff? Announce and introduce your new staff members.

 Giveaways

Having a giveaway or a contest periodically is a good way to create some buzz about your site.

Updating old content should be on your website maintenance list also. Information becomes out dated so keep
your content up to date to show your visitors you are on top of the subject.

2. Feature Addition

If at the time you created the website there was something that got left out because of budget constraints, maybe
the budget can afford it now?

Take a look at your website/blog every once in a while and see if there is some kind of improvement that can be
made. Something that you didn’t think of previously.

Maybe you have some feed back from visitors that needs to be implemented?

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  Fix a usability issue that has been mentioned.
 Time to add a blog if you have a regular website and do not have one already?
 Did you join a social networking site or two? Add the appropriate button(s) and links to your social
profiles.
 Add a frequently asked question section to cut down on emails and phone calls aske these regular
questions.
Regular Website Maintenance Tasks

There are some regular website maintenance tasks you should perform on a scheduled basis. Scheduling at least
monthly would be the timeline to start with.

3. Backing Up Your Website

Backing up your website is something you should do all the time, especially if you are the type that uses the
online interface of your store or blog to make changes. Things happen. Even though the web hosting company
says they backup the sites on their servers, their last backup could have been before your last edit. If the server
crashes for some reason or your site gets hacked, your edits will be gone if the web hosting company restores
what they had backed up. Image loosing a whole day’s work, just because you didn’t take a few minutes to
backup the site.
Monitor Website Outages

If your site goes down, you want to be the first to know and not receive an email from someone else they can
not access your site.

SiteUp is a small program that runs on your computer in the background checking your site on a regular basis.
It will notify you when the site is down with a popup. Obviously though, your computer has to be on for it
work.
4. Check Domain Registration Information

Look up in the WHOIS records what information is recorded for your domain name. Make sure it is correct.
Sometimes when you initially sign up for your domain you would have used an email address that is no longer
vaild. This needs to be updated as when there is a problem with your domain or an expiry notice is sent out you
won’t get the emails. They are sent to the email address on record.

5. Test Website Speed

Testing the download speed of your site regularly is important. Especially if you have added a new feature.
Web surfer have a very short attention span. If your site is slow to load, they are not going to wait. You need to
do everything you can to improve the download speed of your site or blog so visitors stay to read your content
and hopefully provide you with organic incoming links by spreading the word for you what a wonderful site
you have.
6. Link Check

Links become broken over time. With changes within the site and if you referenced someone in one of your
articles or somewhere else within the site links could have changed or are broken.

The task to find broken links isn’t too hard. Just use a link checker to test your external links and internal links
at least once a month.

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7. Software Updates

Third party software, like your ecommerce software, WordPress and Joomla for example, are always updating
their software. You need to keep on top these updates and install them as soon as they come out. The updates
won’t just be new features, they will include security updates too.

Analyze Your Stats

Analyze not just your sales stats but your website stats too.

8. Traffic Stats
Look at your web server stats to determine your website traffic. If your web hosting account doesn’t have
website stats then get one installed. Something like Awstats that provides:
 Pages entered on and left on
 Time spent on the site
 Bounce rate
 Referring sites
 Countries your visitors are from
 Keywords/phrase that were used to find you
Google Analytics will provide some of this information. It may not be as complete as a website stats program
that is run from your actual server.

One thing a website stats program installed on your server will do that Google Analytics doesn’t is show you
who is hotlinking (linking directly to your images on your site) . e.g. your images, PDFs, reports, etc.. These
people are stealing your content and your bandwidth if they do not have your permission to do so. With this
information your can stop the hotlink.

9. Search Engine Results

Are you showing up on the first page for the keywords/phrase you want to? If you have given it some time, e.g.
a few months, to get onto the first page of the search results naturally then maybe it is time to look at your
content and revise it.

10. Reputation Management

Using Google Alerts, you can monitor your website name, your name, your brand and your content on the web.

You will know who is talking about you. This gives you an opportunity to jump into the conversation. Thank
those who are praising you. Fix a problem that is being discussed related to your business.

Tracking your website address with Google Alerts is 2 fold.

1. You see who is linking to you and can pop over there and say thanks.
2. You can catch the use of your content without your permission.

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Evaluating website performance

1. Time to title#
The amount of time between the instant a visitor requests your website and the moment your site’s title shows
up in their browser tab is called the time to title. Seeing a title right away lets the user know that your website is
legitimate, which makes them more likely to wait for the page to finish loading. Time to title is determined by
the speed of delivery from your origin server to the user’s browser. As shown in the results below, the time to
title for our test site was 464ms.

2. Time to start render#

The time elapsed between a user’s request and the moment when content appears in their browser is called time
to start render. This is also a very important metric to analyze as the sooner a visitor sees content appear, the
more likely they will be to stay for the rest of the page to load. The time to start render, in this case, was
1019ms.

3. Time to interact#

The time between a request and the moment when a user can click on links, type in text fields or scroll the page
is called time to interact. Some elements such as scripts and trackers may continue to load during this period.

4. DNS lookup time#

The amount of time it takes for your DNS provider to translate a domain name into an IP address. Services such
as Pingdom or WebPageTest can quickly calculate your website’s DNS lookup times for each domain it must
lookup.

5. Connection time#

The time between a request and when a connection is established between the user’s browser and your origin
server is called the connection time.

Identifying challenges to connection time can be difficult because it depends on many factors. Too much server
traffic, whether it be from users or bots, can cause connection times to spike. Users in different geographic
regions are likely to experience longer connection times. Simply monitoring your website performance metrics
over time may not give you enough information to address problems; you can experiment with load testing tools
such as LoadStorm or JMeter to simulate heavy server usage. To ensure better connection time, you may need
to upgrade your infrastructure. Alternatively, you could offload some assets onto a CDN or caching server.

6. Time to first byte#

The time it takes for the very first byte of information to reach a user’s browser after a connection to the server
has been established is called time to first byte or TTFB. The order in which users receive information is
important, and some slight alterations in your code can boost this website performance metric.

Static content that appears the same to all users should be separated from dynamic content that is specific to the
individual visitor. This way, users will receive your content right away while waiting for slower personalized
36
content to load. Rigorous metric monitoring and load testing can help developers identify time to first byte
issues. You can also use the KeyCDN’s Performance Test tool to view the TTFB of a domain, or single asset,
from 14 different locations.

7. Time to last byte#

When the user’s browser finally receives each and every byte of your website, the last byte time is recorded.
The quality of your code and database queries play a big role in this metric. Other factors that may be affecting
your TTLB include a misconfigured webserver, or if the origin server has reached its capacity.

Content complexity and website performance metrics#

Keeping track of website performance metrics involving time isn’t very useful if you don’t understand all of the
other factors at play. Information about your website’s content complexity can help you find ways to improve
all of the previously discussed metrics.

8. Overall weight#

The total number of bytes the user receives is referred to as the overall weight of your website. More important
than the overall weight is the relationship between each asset since one heavy asset can slow down everything
else. Furthermore, the growth of web page size has continued to expand year after year, therefore it’s
important to sometimes step back and see which assets are truly necessary.

By separating individual metrics such as JavaScript weight, CSS weight, image weight and total asset weight,
you can pick out which categories are too heavy, and then you can perform a waterfall analysis to identify the
asset that needs to be altered or removed.

9. Overall asset count#

The number of assets you have obviously affects your website’s overall weight, but it’s important
to differentiate between asset count and weight. Every asset, no matter how small or compressed, has the
potential to add more time to the loading process. Your overall asset count includes your total JavaScript, CSS
and image counts.

See how we improved WordPress performance and went from a 532ms load time to 167ms by reducing the
amount of HTTP requests made.

10. Third party domains#

The majority of your website’s content is hosted on your domain, but many sites also include third party content
such as embedded videos or social media widgets. Because these items originate from other domains, you
have limited control over their functionality. Therefore, the potential for problems rises with each domain
that’s in play. Only rely on other domains that can guarantee impeccable performance, or else a third party
could compromise your users’ experience.

User behavior and website performance metrics#

Now that we’ve covered the technical aspects of website performance, let’s discuss what visitors actually do
after clicking a link to your website.

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11. Error rate#

The first important non-speed related metric to keep an eye on is your website’s error rate. The average number
of problem requests compared to total requests is your error rate. This metric is likely affected by your number
of concurrent users; test your website’s performance under different loads to check.

For example, you may notice that your error rate starts to increase at a specific point during a load test, such as
when a certain number of concurrent users are attempting the same action. If you’re expecting a sudden surge in
traffic due to a special promotion or event, this information can help you prepare. Some errors are inevitable,
but keeping an eye on the number of errors your website is encountering can help minimize larger issues down
the road.

If you’re using KeyCDN, you can use the Reporting section to see how many client errors your Zone(s) have
encountered over a specific period of time.

12. Bounce rate#

If your bounce rate is high, that means something is making users turn away without thoroughly exploring
your site. Google calls such visits “single-page sessions,” and too many of them can impact your SEO. Possible
causes of high bounce rates might include poorly targeted keywords, slow load times or unpleasant graphic
design.

If you make changes and your bounce rate starts declining, then you’re doing something right. Check out our
detailed post about 21 ways to help reduce bounce rate on your website.

13. Top pages#

You can find out which of your pages draws the most traffic by simply checking under the Behavior section of
Google Analytics. Knowing where users focus their attention can give you an idea of which content is helping
you retain an audience. Keep in mind that the number of views a page receives isn’t the only measure of its
relevancy; the number of shares a page receives via social media is also important.

14. Conversion rate#

Perhaps the most important of all your performance metrics, the conversion rate is the most intimately
connected with your bottom line. When it comes to optimizing user experience, your conversion rate is more
important than your overall conversion numbers because it lets you know if users are doing what you want them
to do when they visit your site. A Conversion rate is calculated by simply dividing your number of unique
visitors by your number of conversions. Google Analytics can track this information over time, but defining a
“conversion” is up to you.

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 Unit-4
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

There are various ways in defining an Enterprise Resource Planning System. This is how it has been defined by
American Inventory and Production Control System (APICS) dictionary:

“Enterprise Resource Planning: An accounting oriented information system for identifying and planning
the enterprise-wide resources to make, ship and account for customer orders.”

Again in Internet encyclopedia, it has defined as “An enterprise planning system is an integrated computer-
based application used to manage internal and external resources, including tangible assets, financial resources,
material and human resources”.

Basically, an ERP combines several traditional management functions into a logically integrated system and
facilitate the flow of information across these functions. It is designed to model and automate basic processes
across the organization over a centralized database and eliminates the need of disparate systems maintained by
various units of the organization.

39
Need for Enterprise Resource Planning - Why ERP ?

Separate systems were being maintained during 1960/70 for traditional business functions like Sales &
Marketing, Finance, Human Resources, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain Management. These systems were
often incongruent, hosted in different databases and required batch updates. It was difficult to manage business
processes across business functions e.g. procurement to pay and sales to cash functions. ERP system grew to
replace the islands of information by integrating these traditional business functions.

The successful implementation of an ERP system will have many advantages, as indicated below:

 Business Integration and Improved Data Accuracy: ERP system is composed of various modules/
submodules where a module represents a particular business component. If data is entered in one module
such as receiving, it automatically updates other related modules such as accounts payable and
inventory. This updating occurs at real time i.e. at the time a transaction occurs. Since, data needs to be
entered only once at the origin of the transaction, the need for multiple entries of the same data is
eliminated. Likelihood of duplicate/ erroneous data is, therefore, minimized. The centralized structure of
the database also enables better administration and security provisions, which minimizes loss of
sensitive data.
 Planning and MIS: The various decision support tools like planning engines and simulations functions,
form an integral part of an ERP system that helps in proper utilization of resources like materials, human
resources, and tools. Constrained based planning help in drawing appropriate production schedules,
thereby improving the operation of plant and equipment. As a part of MIS, an ERP system, contains
many inbuilt standard reports and also a report writer that produce ad hoc reports, as and when needed.
 Improved Efficiency and Productivity: In addition to provision of improved planning, ERP system
provides a tremendous boost to the efficiency of day to day and routine transactions such as order
fulfillment, on time shipment, vendor performance, quality management, invoice reconciliation, sales
realization, and cash management. Cycle time is reduced for sales to cash and procurement to pay
sequences.
 Establishment of Standardized Procedures: ERP system is based on processes of international best
practices, which are adopted by the organizations during implementation. Department silos are purged,
and maverick practices are done away with. Because of top-down view available to management,
chances of theft, fraud and obsolescence are minimized.
 Flexibility and technology: Due to the globalized environment, where production units, distribution
centers, and corporate offices reside in different countries, organizations need multi-currency, multi-
language and multi-accounting modes, in an integrated manner. These provisions are available in most
of the ERP systems, particularly in products offered by tier 1 and tier 2 vendors. ERP vendors are also
quick to adopt latest technologies, from mainframe to client server to the internet. Unlike a bespoke
system, Upgrading to latest technology for a running ERP system is uncomplicated, involving mostly
adoption of service packs and patches.

40
Benefits

 ERP creates a more agile company that adapts better to change. It also makes a company more flexible and
less rigidly structured so organization components operate more cohesively, enhancing the business—
internally and externally.
 ERP can improve data security in a closed environment. A common control system, such as the kind offered
by ERP systems, allows organizations the ability to more easily ensure key company data is not
compromised. This changes, however, with a more open environment, requiring further scrutiny of ERP
security features and internal company policies regarding security.
 ERP provides increased opportunities for collaboration. Data takes many forms in the modern enterprise,
including documents, files, forms, audio and video, and emails. Often, each data medium has its own
mechanism for allowing collaboration. ERP provides a collaborative platform that lets employees spend
more time collaborating on content rather than mastering the learning curve of communicating in various
formats across distributed systems.
 ERP offers many benefits such as standardization of common processes, one integrated system,
standardized reporting, improved key performance indicators (KPI), and access to common data. One of the
key benefits of ERP; the concept of integrated system, is often misinterpreted by the business. ERP is a
centralized system that provides tight integration with all major enterprise functions be it HR, planning,
procurement, sales, customer relations, finance or analytics, as well to other connected application
functions. In that sense ERP could be described as "Centralized Integrated Enterprise System (CIES)"
Advantages
The most fundamental advantage of ERP is that the integration of a myriad of business processes saves time and
expense. Management can make decisions faster and with fewer errors. Data becomes visible across the
organization. Tasks that benefit from this integration include: [58]

 Sales forecasting, which allows inventory optimization.

 Chronological history of every transaction through relevant data compilation in every area of operation.
 Order tracking, from acceptance through fulfillment
 Revenue tracking, from invoice through cash receipt
 Matching purchase orders (what was ordered), inventory receipts (what arrived), and costing (what the
vendor invoiced)
ERP systems centralize business data, which:

 Eliminates the need to synchronize changes between multiple systems—consolidation of finance,

marketing, sales, human resource, and manufacturing applications
 Brings legitimacy and transparency to each bit of statistical data
 Facilitates standard product naming/coding
 Provides a comprehensive enterprise view (no "islands of information"), making real–time information
available to management anywhere, anytime to make proper decisions
 Protects sensitive data by consolidating multiple security systems into a single structure.

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Disadvantages
 Customization can be problematic. Compared to the best-of-breed approach, ERP can be seen as meeting an
organization’s lowest common denominator needs, forcing the organization to find workarounds to meet
unique demands.
 Re-engineering business processes to fit the ERP system may damage competitiveness or divert focus from
other critical activities.
 ERP can cost more than less integrated or less comprehensive solutions.
 High ERP switching costs can increase the ERP vendor's negotiating power, which can increase support,
maintenance, and upgrade expenses.
 Overcoming resistance to sharing sensitive information between departments can divert management
attention.
 Integration of truly independent businesses can create unnecessary dependencies.
 Extensive training requirements take resources from daily operations.
 Harmonization of ERP systems can be a mammoth task (especially for big companies) and requires a lot of
time, planning, and money.
 Critical challenges include disbanding the project team very quickly after implementation, interface issues,
lack of proper testing, time zone limitations, stress, offshoring, people's resistance to change, a short hyper-
care period, and data cleansing.

Enterprise Resource Planning Applications

1. Deployment on-premise, cloud or accessed via any mobile device

SYSPRO ERP software can be deployed on-premise or in the cloud. In addition, our mobile product
offering, SYSPRO Espresso, provides you with access to your business information at any time, from your
preferred mobile device, as easily as if you were in your office.

2. Technology and Innovation

Ongoing feedback from our existing customers, together with constant evaluation of business and technology
trends, enables us to continually improve the system. This ensures your business has access to the latest
advancements in technology when you need them.

3. Customization
Customization capabilities are extensive throughout the product, with the product menu and user interface being
fully customizable and configurable per user.

4. Security
Your data is the lifeblood of your organization and the integrity and security of that data is a top priority.
SYSPRO ERP applications incorporate system-wide facilities aimed at securing the system from unauthorized
access. Over and above this, security can be set throughout the system by operator or by role. Securities can also
be set per operator against transactions, activities and even fields.

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Supply Chain Management Concepts

Shortly after your alarm clock goes off and the coffee maker kicks on, the aroma of your favorite coffee fills the
air. The supply chain is responsible for getting those coffee beans across the world and to your kitchen.
Something so common in every household, takes a great deal of planning, demand forecasting, procurement,
and logistical expertise to move those beans to local sellers while still fresh. Without a strong supply chain in
place, your caffeine-fix options would be severely limited.

SCM involves a series of key activities and processes that must be completed in an efficient (fuel-conserving,
cost-reducing, etc.) and timely manner. Otherwise, product will not be available when needed by consumers
like you.

The Seven Rights of Fulfillment

The ability to meet customer requirements, for everything from coffee beans to Crocs, is built upon the
expectation that everything is done correctly in the supply chain. And that means doing it right the first time –
no mulligans, no mistakes are allowed. In the quest to provide quality service and satisfy customers, world-class
companies along the supply chain are guided by the Seven Rights of Fulfillment.

If you think about it, every order needs to be executed according to these seven goals. You must attempt to
deliver a “perfect order” to every customer every time. Doing it right the first time makes the customer happy,
saves the cost of fixing errors, and doesn't require extra use of assets. Thus, every part of the organization has a
vested interest in pursuing perfection.

A “perfect order” delivery is only attained when all Seven Rights of Fulfillment are achieved. To accomplish a
perfect order fulfillment, the seller has to have your preferred product available for order, process your order
correctly, ship the entire order via the means that you request, provide you with an advanced shipping
notification and tracking number, deliver the complete order on time and without damage, and bill you
correctly. A seller’s ultimate goal is to make the customer happy by doing the job right, which gives them a
good reason to use the seller’s services again in the future.

SCM Flows
If the goal of SCM is to provide high product availability through efficient and timely fulfillment of customer
demand, then how is the goal accomplished?

Obviously, you need effective flows of products from the point of origin to the point of consumption. But
there’s more to it. Consider the diagram of the fresh food supply chain. A two-way flow of information and data
between the supply chain participants creates visibility of demand and fast detection of problems. Both are
needed by supply chain managers to make good decisions regarding what to buy, make, and move.

Other flows are also important. In their roles as suppliers, companies have a vested interest in financial flows;
suppliers want to get paid for their products and services as soon as possible and with minimal hassle.
Sometimes, it is also necessary to move products back through the supply chain for returns, repairs, recycling,
or disposal.

43
Because of all the processes that have to take place at different types of participating companies, each company
needs supply chain managers to help improve their flows of product, information, and money. This opens the
door of opportunity to you to to a wide variety of SCM career options for you!

SCM Processes
Supply chain activities aren't the responsibility of one person or one company. Multiple people need to be
actively involved in a number of different processes to make it work.

It's kind of like baseball. While all the participants are called baseball players, they don't do whatever they want.
Each person has a role – pitcher, catcher, shortstop, etc. – and must perform well at their assigned duties –
fielding, throwing, and/or hitting – for the team to be successful.

Of course, these players need to work well together. A hit-and-run play will only be successful if the base
runner gets the signal and takes off running, while the batter makes solid contact with the ball. The team also
needs a manager to develop a game plan, put people in the right positions, and monitor success.

Winning the SCM “game” requires supply chain professionals to play similar roles. Each supply chain player
must understand his or her role, develop winning strategies, and collaborate with their supply chain teammates.
By doing so, the SCM team can flawlessly execute the following processes:

 Planning – the plan process seeks to create effective long- and short-range supply chain strategies. From
the design of the supply chain network to the prediction of customer demand, supply chain leaders need
to develop integrated supply chain strategies.
 Procurement – the buy process focuses on the purchase of required raw materials, components, and
goods. As a consumer, you're pretty familiar with buying stuff!
 Production – the make process involves the manufacture, conversion, or assembly of materials into
finished goods or parts for other products. Supply chain managers provide production support and
ensure that key materials are available when needed.
 Distribution – the move process manages the logistical flow of goods across the supply chain.
Transportation companies, third party logistics firms, and others ensure that goods are flowing quickly
and safely toward the point of demand.
 Customer Interface – the demand process revolves around all the issues that are related to planning
customer interactions, satisfying their needs, and fulfilling orders perfectly.

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Seven Principles of SCM
More than ten years ago, a research study of 100+ manufacturers, distributors, and retailers uncovered some
widely used supply chain strategies and initiatives. These ideas and practices were distilled down to seven
principles and presented in an article in Supply Chain Management Review, a magazine widely read by SCM
professionals.

 Principle 1: Segment customers based on the service needs of distinct groups and adapt the supply chain
to serve these segments profitably.

 Principle 2: Customize the logistics network to the service requirements and profitability of customer
segments.

 Principle 3: Listen to market signals and align demand planning accordingly across the supply chain,
ensuring consistent forecasts and optimal resource allocation.

 Principle 4: Differentiate product closer to the customer and speed conversation across the supply
chain.

 Principle 5: Manage sources of supply strategically to reduce the total cost of owning materials and
services.

 Principle 6: Develop a supply chain-wide technology strategy that supports multiple levels of decision
making and gives clear view of the flow of products, services, and information.

 Principle 7: Adopt channel-spanning performance measures to gauge collective success in reaching the
end-user effectively and efficiently.

45
Supply Chain Management - Decision Phases
Decision phases can be defined as the different stages involved in supply chain management for taking an
action or decision related to some product or services. Successful supply chain management requires decisions
on the flow of information, product, and funds that fall into three decision phases.
Here we will be discussing the three main decision phases involved in the entire process of supply chain. The
three phases are described below −

Supply Chain Strategy

In this phase, decision is taken by the management mostly. The decision to be made considers the sections like
long term prediction and involves price of goods that are very expensive if it goes wrong. It is very important
to study the market conditions at this stage.
These decisions consider the prevailing and future conditions of the market. They comprise the structural
layout of supply chain. After the layout is prepared, the tasks and duties of each is laid out.
All the strategic decisions are taken by the higher authority or the senior management. These decisions include
deciding manufacturing the material, factory location, which should be easy for transporters to load material
and to dispatch at their mentioned location, location of warehouses for storage of completed product or goods
and many more.

Supply Chain Planning

Supply chain planning should be done according to the demand and supply view. In order to understand
customers’ demands, a market research should be done. The second thing to consider is awareness and updated
information about the competitors and strategies used by them to satisfy their customer demands and
requirements. As we know, different markets have different demands and should be dealt with a different
approach.

46
This phase includes it all, starting from predicting the market demand to which market will be provided the
finished goods to which plant is planned in this stage. All the participants or employees involved with the
company should make efforts to make the entire process as flexible as they can. A supply chain design phase is
considered successful if it performs well in short-term planning.

Supply Chain Operations

The third and last decision phase consists of the various functional decisions that are to be made instantly
within minutes, hours or days. The objective behind this decisional phase is minimizing uncertainty and
performance optimization. Starting from handling the customer order to supplying the customer with that
product, everything is included in this phase.
For example, imagine a customer demanding an item manufactured by your company. Initially, the marketing
department is responsible for taking the order and forwarding it to production department and inventory
department. The production department then responds to the customer demand by sending the demanded item
to the warehouse through a proper medium and the distributor sends it to the customer within a time frame. All
the departments engaged in this process need to work with an aim of improving the performance and
minimizing uncertainty.

Data Warehousing
Data warehousing is the process of constructing and using a data warehouse. A data warehouse is constructed
by integrating data from multiple heterogeneous sources that support analytical reporting, structured and/or ad
hoc queries, and decision making. Data warehousing involves data cleaning, data integration, and data
consolidations.

Using Data Warehouse Information

There are decision support technologies that help utilize the data available in a data warehouse. These
technologies help executives to use the warehouse quickly and effectively. They can gather data, analyze it,
and take decisions based on the information present in the warehouse. The information gathered in a
warehouse can be used in any of the following domains −
 Tuning Production Strategies − The product strategies can be well tuned by repositioning the products
and managing the product portfolios by comparing the sales quarterly or yearly.
 Customer Analysis − Customer analysis is done by analyzing the customer's buying preferences,
buying time, budget cycles, etc.
 Operations Analysis − Data warehousing also helps in customer relationship management, and making
environmental corrections. The information also allows us to analyze business operations.

Integrating Heterogeneous Databases

To integrate heterogeneous databases, we have two approaches −

 Query-driven Approach
 Update-driven Approach

Query-Driven Approach
This is the traditional approach to integrate heterogeneous databases. This approach was used to build
wrappers and integrators on top of multiple heterogeneous databases. These integrators are also known as
mediators.

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Process of Query-Driven Approach

 When a query is issued to a client side, a metadata dictionary translates the query into an appropriate
form for individual heterogeneous sites involved.
 Now these queries are mapped and sent to the local query processor.
 The results from heterogeneous sites are integrated into a global answer set.

Disadvantages

 Query-driven approach needs complex integration and filtering processes.

 This approach is very inefficient.
 It is very expensive for frequent queries.
 This approach is also very expensive for queries that require aggregations.

Update-Driven Approach
This is an alternative to the traditional approach. Today's data warehouse systems follow update-driven
approach rather than the traditional approach discussed earlier. In update-driven approach, the information
from multiple heterogeneous sources are integrated in advance and are stored in a warehouse. This information
is available for direct querying and analysis.

Advantages

This approach has the following advantages −

 This approach provide high performance.
 The data is copied, processed, integrated, annotated, summarized and restructured in semantic data store
in advance.
 Query processing does not require an interface to process data at local sources.

Functions of Data Warehouse Tools and Utilities

The following are the functions of data warehouse tools and utilities −
 Data Extraction − Involves gathering data from multiple heterogeneous sources.
 Data Cleaning − Involves finding and correcting the errors in data.
 Data Transformation − Involves converting the data from legacy format to warehouse format.
 Data Loading − Involves sorting, summarizing, consolidating, checking integrity, and building indices
and partitions.
 Refreshing − Involves updating from data sources to warehouse.

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 Data Warehousing - Architecture
Business Analysis Framework
The business analyst get the information from the data warehouses to measure the performance and make
critical adjustments in order to win over other business holders in the market. Having a data warehouse offers
the following advantages −
 Since a data warehouse can gather information quickly and efficiently, it can enhance business
productivity.
 A data warehouse provides us a consistent view of customers and items, hence, it helps us manage
customer relationship.
 A data warehouse also helps in bringing down the costs by tracking trends, patterns over a long period
in a consistent and reliable manner.
To design an effective and efficient data warehouse, we need to understand and analyze the business needs and
construct a business analysis framework. Each person has different views regarding the design of a data
warehouse. These views are as follows −
 The top-down view − This view allows the selection of relevant information needed for a data
warehouse.
 The data source view − This view presents the information being captured, stored, and managed by the
operational system.
 The data warehouse view − This view includes the fact tables and dimension tables. It represents the
information stored inside the data warehouse.
 The business query view − It is the view of the data from the viewpoint of the end-user.

Three-Tier Data Warehouse Architecture

Generally a data warehouses adopts a three-tier architecture. Following are the three tiers of the data
warehouse architecture.
 Bottom Tier − The bottom tier of the architecture is the data warehouse database server. It is the
relational database system. We use the back end tools and utilities to feed data into the bottom tier.
These back end tools and utilities perform the Extract, Clean, Load, and refresh functions.
 Middle Tier − In the middle tier, we have the OLAP Server that can be implemented in either of the
following ways.
o By Relational OLAP (ROLAP), which is an extended relational database management system.
The ROLAP maps the operations on multidimensional data to standard relational operations.
o By Multidimensional OLAP (MOLAP) model, which directly implements the multidimensional
data and operations.
 Top-Tier − This tier is the front-end client layer. This layer holds the query tools and reporting tools,
analysis tools and data mining tools.

49
The following diagram depicts the three-tier architecture of data warehouse −

Data Warehouse Models

From the perspective of data warehouse architecture, we have the following data warehouse models −

 Virtual Warehouse
 Data mart
 Enterprise Warehouse

Virtual Warehouse

The view over an operational data warehouse is known as a virtual warehouse. It is easy to build a virtual
warehouse. Building a virtual warehouse requires excess capacity on operational database servers.

Data Mart

Data mart contains a subset of organization-wide data. This subset of data is valuable to specific groups of an
organization.
In other words, we can claim that data marts contain data specific to a particular group. For example, the
marketing data mart may contain data related to items, customers, and sales. Data marts are confined to
subjects.

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Points to remember about data marts −
 Window-based or Unix/Linux-based servers are used to implement data marts. They are implemented
on low-cost servers.
 The implementation data mart cycles is measured in short periods of time, i.e., in weeks rather than
months or years.
 The life cycle of a data mart may be complex in long run, if its planning and design are not
organization-wide.
 Data marts are small in size.
 Data marts are customized by department.
 The source of a data mart is departmentally structured data warehouse.
 Data mart are flexible.

Enterprise Warehouse

 An enterprise warehouse collects all the information and the subjects spanning an entire organization
 It provides us enterprise-wide data integration.
 The data is integrated from operational systems and external information providers.
 This information can vary from a few gigabytes to hundreds of gigabytes, terabytes or beyond.

Load Manager
This component performs the operations required to extract and load process.
The size and complexity of the load manager varies between specific solutions from one data warehouse to
other.

Load Manager Architecture

The load manager performs the following functions −

 Extract the data from source system.
 Fast Load the extracted data into temporary data store.
 Perform simple transformations into structure similar to the one in the data warehouse.

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Extract Data from Source

The data is extracted from the operational databases or the external information providers. Gateways is the
application programs that are used to extract data. It is supported by underlying DBMS and allows client
program to generate SQL to be executed at a server. Open Database Connection(ODBC), Java Database
Connection (JDBC), are examples of gateway.

Fast Load

 In order to minimize the total load window the data need to be loaded into the warehouse in the fastest
possible time.
 The transformations affects the speed of data processing.
 It is more effective to load the data into relational database prior to applying transformations and
checks.
 Gateway technology proves to be not suitable, since they tend not be performant when large data
volumes are involved.

Simple Transformations

While loading it may be required to perform simple transformations. After this has been completed we are in
position to do the complex checks. Suppose we are loading the EPOS sales transaction we need to perform the
following checks:

 Strip out all the columns that are not required within the warehouse.
 Convert all the values to required data types.

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Warehouse Manager
A warehouse manager is responsible for the warehouse management process. It consists of third-party system
software, C programs, and shell scripts.
The size and complexity of warehouse managers varies between specific solutions.

Warehouse Manager Architecture

A warehouse manager includes the following −

 The controlling process

 Stored procedures or C with SQL
 Backup/Recovery tool
 SQL Scripts

Operations Performed by Warehouse Manager

 A warehouse manager analyzes the data to perform consistency and referential integrity checks.
 Creates indexes, business views, partition views against the base data.
 Generates new aggregations and updates existing aggregations. Generates normalizations.
 Transforms and merges the source data into the published data warehouse.
 Backup the data in the data warehouse.
 Archives the data that has reached the end of its captured life.
Note − A warehouse Manager also analyzes query profiles to determine index and aggregations are
appropriate.

Query Manager
 Query manager is responsible for directing the queries to the suitable tables.
 By directing the queries to appropriate tables, the speed of querying and response generation can be
increased.
 Query manager is responsible for scheduling the execution of the queries posed by the user.

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Query Manager Architecture

The following screenshot shows the architecture of a query manager. It includes the following:

 Query redirection via C tool or RDBMS

 Stored procedures
 Query management tool
 Query scheduling via C tool or RDBMS
 Query scheduling via third-party software

Detailed Information
Detailed information is not kept online, rather it is aggregated to the next level of detail and then archived to
tape. The detailed information part of data warehouse keeps the detailed information in the starflake schema.
Detailed information is loaded into the data warehouse to supplement the aggregated data.

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The following diagram shows a pictorial impression of where detailed information is stored and how it is used.

Note − If detailed information is held offline to minimize disk storage, we should make sure that the data has
been extracted, cleaned up, and transformed into starflake schema before it is archived.

Summary Information
Summary Information is a part of data warehouse that stores predefined aggregations. These aggregations are
generated by the warehouse manager. Summary Information must be treated as transient. It changes on-the-go
in order to respond to the changing query profiles.
The points to note about summary information are as follows −
 Summary information speeds up the performance of common queries.
 It increases the operational cost.
 It needs to be updated whenever new data is loaded into the data warehouse.
 It may not have been backed up, since it can be generated fresh from the detailed information.

Applications of a Data Warehouse

Banking Finance
Identify the potential risk of default and
manage and control collections Evaluation of customer expenses trends
Performance analysis of each product,
service, interchange, and exchange rates Maintain transparency in transactions
Track performance of accounts and user Predict/spot defaulters and act
data accordingly
Provide feedback to bankers regarding Analyze and forecast different aspects
customer relationships and profitability of business, stock, and bond performance

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 4. Education Healthcare

Store and analyze information about faculty Generate patient, employee, and
and students financial records
Share data with other entities, like
Maintain student portals to facilitate student insurance companies, NGOs, and medical aid
activities services
Extract information for research grants and Use data mining to identify patient
assess student demographics trends
Integrate information from different sources
into a single repository for analysis and strategic Provide feedback to physicians on
decision-making procedures and tests
Manufacturing Retail
Predict market changes and analyze current Maintain records of producers and
business trends consumers
Track items, their promotion strategies,
Analyze previous and current market data and consumer buying trends (trend analysis)
Track customer feedback and identify
opportunities for improvement Analyze sales to determine shelf space
Gather, standardize, and store data from Understanding the patterns of
various internal and external sources complaints, claims, and returns
Identify profitable product lines and
required product features
Government
Maintain and analyze tax records, health policy records, and their respective providers

Prediction of criminal activities from patterns and trends

Searching terrorist profile

Threat assessment and fraud detection

Insurance
Analyze data patterns and customer trends – Maintain records of all internal and external
sources, including existing participants

Design customized offers and promotions for customers

Predict and analyze changes in the industry

Services
Maintenance of financial and employee records
Customer profiling and screening
Resource allocation and management
Revenue patterns and profitability

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