1. LEGO: EMBRACING CHANGE BY COMBINING BI WITH
A FLEXIBLE INFORMATION SYSTEM
By Khaled Masaud
p15D256F
Information System
Dr. Rusli Abdu Allah
2. INTRODUCTION
• The name 'LEGO' is an abbreviation of the two Danish words "leg
godt", meaning "play well".
• The LEGO Group was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen.
• It has come a long way over the past almost 80 years - from a small
carpenter’s workshop to a modern, global enterprise.
• The world’s third-largest manufacturer of toys.
3. QUESTION 1 : EXPLAIN THE ROLE OF THE
DATABASE IN SAP'S THREE-TIER SYSTEM
SAP’s business suite is based on a flexible three-tier client-server architecture
that can easily be adapted to the new Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)
available in the latest versions of the software.
In the first tier, a client interface-a browser-type graphical user interface (GUI)
running on either a laptop, desktop, or mobile device-submits users’ requests to
the application servers. The applications servers send the processed requests to
the database system-receive and process clients’ requests to the database
system-the third tier-which consists of one or more relational databases
The main role of the database is as an information storage system. The
relational database contains the tables that store data on LEGO’s products, daily
operations, the supply chain, and thousands of employees.
Using the SAP query tool, users are able to toggle and tabulate data and extract
reports from the database. Therefore the database’s role is also as a reports
generator.
4. QUESTION 2 : EXPLAIN WHY DISTRIBUTED
ARCHITECTURES ARE FLEXIBLE
A distributed architecture system is a software system in which
components located on networked computers communicate and
coordinate their actions by passing messages. The components
interact with each other in order to achieve a common goal. Data
may be stored in multiple computers, located in the same physical
location; or may be dispersed over a network of interconnected
computers. A distributed database can reside on network servers
on the Internet, on corporate intranets or extranets, or on other
company networks.
Because they store data across multiple computers, distributed
databases can improve performance at end-user worksites by
allowing transactions to be processed on many machines, instead
of being limited to one. Users from different parts of the world
may access the same data. Therefore they are more flexible in
terms of availability to users.
5. They also bank on an improved performance of the machines, as data
is located near the site of greatest demand, and the database systems
themselves are parallelized, allowing load on the databases to be
balanced among servers. A high load on one module of the database
won't affect other modules of the database in a distributed database
They are also more flexible for purposes of expansion of the database
and transparency, as the data can be monitored on site of the specific
computers as the data is potentially stored within the departments
they relate to. There is local autonomy or site autonomy, where a
department can control the data about them (as they are the ones
familiar with it).
They are economically flexible and may cost less to create a network
of smaller computers with the power of a single large
computer. Systems can be modified, added and removed from the
distributed database without affecting other modules (systems).
6. QUESTION 3 : IDENTIFY SOME OF THE BUSINESS
INTELLIGENCE FEATURES INCLUDED IN SAP'S BUSINESS
SOFTWARE SUITE.
Supply Chain Management (SCM):
Supply chain monitoring and analysis as well as
forecasting, planning and inventory optimization
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM):
Enable managers to optimize development process and
system.
Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP):
Include Human Capital Management (HCM) application
for personnel administration and development.
7. QUESTION 4 : WHAT ARE THE MAIN ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES OF HAVING MULTIPLE DATABASES IN A
DISTRIBUTED ARCHITECTURE? EXPLAIN.
Advantages:
Multiple database contains the tables that store data on
product, daily operation, supply chain and thousands of
employees
Managers can easily use the SAP query tool to obtain reports
from the database because it does not require any technical
skills
Distributed architecture enables authorized personnel to have
direct access to database system from the company’s various
location including in Europe, North America and Asia
8. DISADVANTAGES
The additional overhead of these transactions can be a
performance penalty when the total amount of data in the
network is small. Users also see slower performance when
accessing data that is not local
Increased the use of database space. Every table must exist in
every database. When the number of tables is very large, the
amount of space used can be significant. Administrators must
use database storage parameters to size tables and reduce
database space consumption.
Administrators must keep the schemas of all database
synchronized and ensure that the network is configured to take
optimal advantage of the distributed-database environment in
term of availability and performance. Although database
backups are more flexible in a distributed-database
environment, multiple databases add complexity to the backup
process.
