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SaaSSoftware as a Service. This is a way of software delivery, whereby software is not installed on location at the customer, but where it runs on a server of the supplier. The customer gains access to certain functionalities of the software via the internet. This saves the customer on costs for hardware and management. In this way, it becomes possible …
Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002. Also known as: Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002. The most commonly used abbreviation is SOX, but SOA or Sarbox also occur. This US law was passed in response to a number of major corporate accounting scandals. US law to protect shareholders and the public from fraudulent practices in an organization. …
ScalabilityThe scalability of a solution says something about the growth possibilities in size, not so much in functionality. Growth in size is an important aspect in data warehousing. A lot of data is collected and stored over time. The databases in which this data is stored must therefore be scalable.
ScheduleThe schedule according to which something must be executed. For example, starting an ETL process at a specific time or sending a report.
SchemaA diagram of the structure of an object. For example, the logical and physical description of data elements, physical characteristics and relationships.
ScopeThe frameworks within which something must be performed. Defining a good scope is important to keep work to be carried out and the like manageable and verifiable.
ScorecardThe physical presentation of balanced scorecarding results. The scores of the various indicators are, as it were, kept up to date on this virtual map.
Secondary keyA set of one or more attributes used to uniquely identify an entity in a data model when that is not possible using the primary key.
SecuritySecurity in the general sense. A lot of data and information is stored and made available in BI, including confidential information. In addition, security must ensure that the integrity of that information and data remains intact.
SELECTBy far the most used and most important SQL statement. SELECT is used to select data based on one or more criteria.
Semantic mappingReferring to data by the meaning of that data.
Semi-additive measuresSemi-additive measures cannot be summed across all dimensions. For example, “Budget staffing in FTE” can be added up over the dimension “Organizational unit”, but not over “Employee”.
Sequential fileA file in which the records are stored in order of a key field
Serial fileA file in which the data is stored according to the order of entry and the records are physically placed next to each other.
Service oriented architecture (SOA)A collection of independent and self-managing services and systems that can communicate with each other. The services are so generic that they can be used for and by different applications and systems.
Shared business vocabulary (SBV)Definitions of entities, attributes, relationships between entities and integrity rules agreed in the organization. Metadata of the organization.
Six sigmaAn organization-wide data-driven quality methodology that identifies deviations in business processes and thus improves business processes. Often used as a simple defect control system (DCS).
Slicing-and-dicingSlice and Dice is a term in ICT that refers to the representation of data in a certain way. This way of arranging data is often used in a multidimensional database. The term is a combination of two words joined together from two concepts, namely Data slicing and Data dicing. Data slicing is synonymous with rotation. One takes, as it …
Slowly changing dimensions (SCD)“In general, dimensions change according to a certain pattern. Gradually values in the dimensions change, the so-called” Slowly Changing “of the dimensions. Ralph Kimball distinguishes a number of Slowly Changing Dimension type changes: Type 1, where the old values are overwritten with the new values. An ordinary update on the existing row. Type 2, adding a row to the table …
Snowflake schemaA variant of the star scheme. In this variant, however, the dimension is not stored in a table but in two or more sub-tables. Splits can be made to support aggregate tables or because part of the dimension is highly subject to change and another part is not.
SourceWhen moving copying data, there is always a source (source) and a target (target). There is also a source for a selection. The source is the origin of the data.
SparseTerm used to describe ‘information density’. This means the extent to which a collection of data contains relevant data. Sparse means a low ‘information density’ Opposite of ‘dense’.
Staging area (STA)Part in a data warehouse architecture where preparatory work is carried out. This can be a database, but also a location on a disk where files are stored.
Star modelThe logical description, often in diagram form, of a star scheme
Star schemaA modeling technique used in dimensional modeling. A relational design in which from one central table (fact table) there are references to one or more other tables (dimension tables). Descriptive characteristics: qualities. Analysis variables (measured values): quantities. All joins are only 1 level deep. The analysis variables can be found in the fact table (below the line). The fact table …
Starflake schemeA combination of both the star (star) and snowflake (snowflake) schemes. In this model, the different levels of dimensions are implemented in both ways: in the table itself in a denormalized way and as separate tables to avoid redundancy.
Static queryA fixed, predefined query that can be used to make standard selections from the data warehouse.
Structured query language (SQL)The most commonly used query language for querying and managing data in relational databases
Subject oriented databaseThe idea of deploying and implementing BI aimed at a specific topic, area of interest, department or division. Leads to decentralization of data warehousing, but often makes implementation, management and use faster and easier.
Summarization tablesTables specially made for speeding up queries. It is usually a table with aggregated data
Supply chainThe chain of organizations and / or departments involved in the creation of a product up to and including its actual arrival at the end user. Frequently occurring links in such a chain are: supplier of raw materials or partial products, producer, distributor, retailer and ultimately the consumer.
Supply chain analyticsThe process of extracting and presenting information from the chain for monitoring, measuring, forecasting and managing the chain.
Surrogate key (SK)A surrogate key is a substitute for a primary key. It is nothing more than a unique number for a record in a table. The only requirement for a surrogate key is that it is unique for every row in a table. It is often generated by a number generator.
SyntaxThe rules that program rules must meet in order to run. In analogy with ordinary language, it therefore only says something about the correct spelling, not about the meaning.
System of recordThe original source system. It sometimes happens that data is extracted from ‘pseudo’ source systems that have received the sometimes already transformed data via EAI from the original source systems.