Monitoring Quarter

Data Gathering Quarter (hereinafter, the Quarter) is the first of four lectures of Operations Quadrivium (hereinafter, the Quadrivium):

• The Quarter is designed to introduce its learners to enterprise discovery, or, in other words, to concepts related to obtaining data needed to administer the enterprise effort; and
• The Quadrivium examines concepts of administering various types of enterprises known as enterprise administration as a whole.

The Quadrivium is the first of seven modules of Septem Artes Administrativi, which is a course designed to introduce its learners to general concepts in business administration, management, and organizational behavior.

Outline

The predecessor lecture is Chief Execution Quarter.

Concepts

1. Enterprise data. All data that has been gathered to support all of the enterprise efforts.
   • Data. Factual communications, raw documents, unprocessed measurements, and/or recorded observations collected for further analysis in order to create information.
2. Data source. A place, person, or thing from which data comes or can be obtained.
   • Human communications. Data generated by an informational exchange between two or more people.
   • Document data. Data that one or more pieces of written, printed, or electronic matter contains.
   • Media data. Data that one or more pieces of audio- and/or visual matter contains.
   • Measurement data. Data that is obtained by one or more datapoint devices.
   • Reconnaissance data. Data generated by observations.
3. Market research. The activity of gathering information about both or either consumers' needs and preferences and/or sellers' products on the market. Sometimes, the research is considered being the first phase of the market analysis.
   • Environmental scanning. Screening information to detect emerging trends.
   • Benchmarking. The search for the best practices among competitors or noncompetitors that lead to their superior performance.
   • Benchmark. The standard of excellence against which to measure and compare.

Methods

1. Data-gathering technique. An established procedure for carrying out gathering of data.
   • Interview. A data-gathering technique that represents an arranged meeting of people face-to-face, especially for consultation or other informational exchange.
   • Observation. The data-gathering technique that is based on watching something or someone; an observation can also be a statement based on something one has seen, heard, or noticed.
   • Document research. The data-gathering technique that is based on a systematic study of documents in order to gather data.
   • Media research. The data-gathering technique that is based on a systematic study of audio- and visual- materials in order to gather data.
   • Event-based research. The data-gathering technique that is based on a systematic study of behavior of people at arranged events such as pooling, sampling, and/or querying, either virtual or physical, undertaken in order to gather data primarily of the results of their behavior.
   • Inspection. The data-gathering technique that is based on careful examination of something in order to either learn about its features or check whether its features confirm its specifications.
   • Testing. The data-gathering technique that is based on taking measures to check the performance and/or reliability of somebody, especially before making agreements, or something, especially before putting it into widespread use or practice.
2. Workshop. An event and/or space at which one person or more people engage in working on a particular subject or subjects; if two or more people engage, the workshop can serve as a data-gathering technique.
3. Meeting. An occasional or arranged gathering of people for informational, emotional, or physical exchanges; particularly, this gathering can serve as a data-gathering technique.
   • Town hall meeting. An informal public meeting where information can be relayed, issues can be discussed, or employees can be brought together to celebrate accomplishments.

Instruments

1. Data-gathering tool. An tangible or software implement used to carry out gathering of data.
   • Questionnaire. The data-gathering tool that represents a set of questions composed for the purposes of conducting of one or more event-based researches.
   • Datapoint device. Any data-gathering tool that counts, detects, gauges, meters, records, scales, scores, senses, surveys, and/or tests somebody or something and is located at some point where relevant data can be gathered.
2. Search engine. A software system that is designed to search for data on corporate networks or, as a web search engine, on World Wide Web.
3. Prototype. A preliminary conceptual model of a deliverable to be developed; this model is used as a reference, publicity artifact, or data-gathering tool.

Practices

• Assumption. The factor that, for planning purposes, is considered to be true, real, or certain. Assumptions affect all aspects of project planning, and are part of the progressive elaboration of the project. Project teams frequently identify, document, and validate assumptions as part of their planning process. Assumptions generally involve a degree of risk.
• Information gathering. The stage of creative behavior when possible solutions to a problem incubate in an individual's mind.

1. Enterprise effort. A determined attempt or a set of attempts undertaken in order to create outcomes of a work package, task, activity, project, operations, and/or enterprise.
   • Work package.
   • Task.
   • Activity.
   • Project. One or more enterprise efforts undertaken in order to create a unique deliverable, most features of which can be identified before the development starts.
   • Operations (or Ongoing operations). Repetitive enterprise efforts undertaken in order to create a specified deliverable or a batch of specified deliverables using already designed process.
   • DevOps. Practice and a set of concepts, based on that practice, that define culture of unifying software development (Dev) and software operations (Ops). Its signature toolchain represents a chain of tools that fit one of the following categories: (a) Code, (b) Build, (c) Test, (d) Package, (e) Release, (f) Configure, and (e) Monitor.
2. Enterprise discovery. All activities resulted in obtaining of any data relevant to further effort development undertaken in order to achieve the effort goal or goals.
   • Activity. The smallest portion of an enterprise effort that has its own name, input, description, timeframe, and measurable result.
   • Goal (objective). Desired outcome or target.
   • Enterprise goal. A desired outcome towards which the enterprise effort is directed.
   • Enterprise objective. A measureable step taken in order to achieve the enterprise goal.
   • Means-end chain. An integrated network of goals in which the accomplishment of goals at one level serves as the means for achieving the goals, or ends, at the next level.
   • Problem formulation. The stage of creative behavior that involves identifying a problem or opportunity requiring a solution that is as yet unknown.
   • Problem. A discrepancy between the current state of affairs and some desired state or, in other words, an obstacle that makes it difficult to achieve a desired goal or purpose.

The successor lecture is Business Analysis Quarter.