About Data GovernanceData Glossary - A
Access Management
A discipline that focuses on ensuring that only approved roles are able to create, read, update, or delete data - and only using appropriate and controlled methods. Data Governance programs often focus on supporting Access Management by aligning the requirements and constraints posed by Governance, Risk Management, Compliance, Security, and Privacy efforts.
Accessibility
A characteristic of data. It means that the data should be easily obtainable.
Accuracy
A characteristic of data. It means that the data has the correct value, is valid, and is attached to the correct record.
Accuracy
A characteristic of data. It describes the closeness or agreement of a data value to the truth or an expected range of values.
Action Item
In a Project Management context, a unit in a list that has been assigned to an individual or team to be completed.
Activity
In a Project Management context, a sequence of instructions treated as a basic unit of work.
Activity Diagram
Use Cases represented in diagram form
Actor
In a Use Case context, an entity (someone or something) outside the system or business that interacts with the system or business.
Additive Fact
A measurement in a fact table that can be meaningfully summed across all dimensions.
Address cleansing
A type of data cleansing. Address cleansing is the conversion of street addresses to a standard format established by the United States Postal Service® (USPS). See also Data Cleansing.
Aggregates
Precalculated and presorted summaries that are stored ina data warehouse to improve query performance.
Aggregation
Summarizing rows of a fact table according to a specific dimension.
AIA
see Application Integration Architecture
Alert
Notification via email, portal or wireless device of an event or trend that requires immediate attention.
Algorithm
A precise rule (or set of rules) specifying how to solve some problem.
Alternate Key
Column or combination of columns, that are not the primary key columns, whose values uniquelyentify a row in a table.
American Society for Quality (ASQ)
A professional, not-forprofit association that develops, promotes and applies quality related information and technology for the private sector, government and academia. ASQ serves more than 108,000 individuals and 1,100 corporate members in the United States and 108 other countries. (ASQ definition)
Analytics / Report Developer
A software developer responsible for creating reporting and analytical application solutions.
Anomaly
see data anomaly
Anonymization
The process of removing information from a data source (e.g. file) that can be used to backtrack to an actual person. Once anonymized, the data cannot be linked to any source. Unlike filtering and encryption, this technique and encrypting is that the original field layout (position, size, and data type) can remain the same, and look realistic in test data environments.
ANSI
American National Standards Institute.
Application Architect
A software developer responsible for integrating application systems.
Application Architecture
A discipline, process, and program focusing on integrating software applications. One of the four Enterprise Architectures (with Business Architecture, Data Architecture, and System Architecture).
Application Development
A functional group responsible for developing, customizing and maintaining application systems. Also known as Software Engineering, Software Development and Systems Development.
Application Management
The process responsible for managing software systems throughout their Lifecycle. Application Management deals with a single system at a time, while Portfolio Management looks at the collection of applications.
Application Portfolio
A collection of software applications and systems. Organizations generally cannot consider the value of a single software application in isolation; they must evaluate how it fits into the overal Application Portfolio.
Architecture Document
A document that describes how pieces of a system fit together. It should include high-level information easily understood by all stakeholders, then will also include increasingly technical information.
Archive
To store a copy
Artifact
A piece of information produced, modified, or used by a process. Documents are often refered to as artifacts.
Ascending
Sorting of the selected information from a lower to a higher level.
ASQ
see American Society for Quality
Assumption
Statements that are assumed to be true and from which a conclusion can be drawn, even though the truth may or may not have been verified.
Assurance
Activities designed to reach a measure of confidence. Assurance is different from audit, which is more concerned with compliance to formal standards or requirements.
Atomic data
A piece of information that cannot be subdivided.
Attribute
A data element stored in a database or file not part of the primary key. For a NAME field, "John" (which represents the First Name) is an attribute - just one of several attributes that are all part of the entire entity (data field).
Attribute
An attribute holds a specific, atomic (cannot be subdivided) piece of information about an entity. For example, if a PERSON is an entity, then that person's NAME is an attribute. A PROJECT has a START DATE. See also Entity.
Audit
An independent examination of an effort to determine its compliance with a set of requirements. An audit may be carried out by internal or external groups.
Audit Report
Statement of the accounting firm's assessment of the validity and accuracy of a company's financial information and conformity with accepted accounting practices.
Audit Trail
A record that can be interpreted by auditors to establish that an activity has taken place. Often, a chronological record of system activities to enable the reconstruction and examination of the sequence of events and/or changes in an event. An audit trail of system resource usage may include user login, file access, and triggers that indicate whether any actual or attempted security violations occurred.
Authorization
A process ensuring that correctly authenticated users can access only those resources for which the owner has given them approval.
Availability
Relates to the accuracy and completeness of information as well as to its validity in accordance with business values and expectations. (COBIT definition) The ability of a product to be in a state to perform its designated function under stated conditions at a given time. (ASQ definition)
Availability Management
The Process responsible for defining, analysing, Planning, measuring and improving all aspects of the Availability of IT services. Availability Management is responsible for ensuring that all IT Infrastructure, Processes, Tools, Roles etc are appropriate for the agreed Service Level Targets for Availability. (Baseline ITIL definition)
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