A management information system (MIS) is a system that provides information needed to manage organizations efficiently and effectively.

[1] Management information systems involve three primary resources: technology, information, and people. It's important to recognize that while all three resources are key components when studying management information systems, the most important resource is people[according to whom?] . Management information systems are regarded as a subset of the overall internal controls procedures in a business, which cover the application of people, documents, technologies, and procedures used by management accountants to solve business problems such as costing a product, service or a business-wide strategy. Management information systems are distinct from regular information systems in that they are used to analyze other information systems applied in operational activities in the organization.[2] Academically, the term is commonly used to refer to the group of information management methods tied to the automation or support of human decision making, e.g. decision support systems, expert systems, and executive information systems.[2] MIS is popularly known as the Management Information System. MIS is considered as one such method of generating information which is used by management of organization for decision Making, control of activities, operations etc. During the period 1940 to 1960 computers were commercially used for census and payroll work. This involved large amount of data and its processing. Since then the commercial application exceeded the scientific applications for which the computer were mainly intended for. MIS is an information System which helps in providing the management of an organization with information which is used by management for decision making. Objectives of MIS: Managers play a key role in any organization. They are responsible for taking decisions appropriate to the need of the market. Information systems have become the main tool used by managers in decision making. Managers perceive information as the driving force to achieve success in any business. Hence there is a need for MIS as: Support of its business process and operations Support of decision making by its employees and managers Support of its strategies for competitive advantage-Gaining a strategic advantage The major roles of the business applications of a Management Information System may be represented in the pyramid form as shown below:

Characteristics of MIS:

MIS is mainly designed to take care of the needs of the managers in the organization. MIS aids in integrating the information generated by various departments of the organization. MIS helps in identifying a proper mechanism of storage of data. MIS also helps in establishing mechanism to eliminate redundancies in data. MIS as a system can be broken down into sub systems. The role and significance of MIS in business and its classification is explained. It is possible to understand the various phases of development in MIS based on the type of system required in any organization. Overview Initially in businesses and other organizations, internal reporting was made manually and only periodically, as a by-product of the accounting system and with some additional statistic(s), and gave limited and delayed information on management performance. Previously, data had to be separated individually by the people as per the requirement and necessity of the organization. Later, data was distinguished from information, and so instead of the collection of mass of data, important and to the point data that is needed by the organization was stored. Earlier, business computers were mostly used for relatively simple operations such as tracking sales or payroll data, often without much detail. Over time, these applications became more complex and began to store increasing amount of information while also interlinking with previously separate information systems. As more and more data was stored and linked man began to analyze this information into further detail, creating entire management reports from the raw, stored data. The term "MIS" arose to describe these kinds of applications, which were developed to provide managers with information about sales, inventories, and other data that would help in managing the enterprise. Today, the term is used broadly in a number of contexts and includes (but is not limited to): decision support systems, resource and people management applications, enterprise resource planning (ERP), enterprise performance management (EPM), supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), project management and database retrieval applications. "The five eras are general-purpose mainframe and minicomputer computing, personal computers, client/server networks, enterprise computing, and cloud computing."(Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, 11th Edition. Prentice Hall/CourseSmart, 12/30/2008. p. 164). The first era was ruled by IBM and their mainframe computers, these computers would often take up whole rooms and require teams to run them, IBM supplied the hardware and the software. As technology advanced these computers were able to handle greater capacities and therefore reduce their cost. By 1965 microprocessors began to take the market away from mainframe computers. This technology allowed small desktop computers to do the same work that it previously would have taken a room full of computers. This also decentralized computing power from large data centers to smaller offices. In the late 1970s minicomputer technology gave way to personal computers. Now for a relatively low cost anyone could have a computer in his own home. This allowed for businesses to give their employees access to computing power that 10 years before would have cost tens of thousands of dollars. This proliferation of computers also helped create a need to connect these computers together on a

network giving birth to the Internet. As technology has increased and cheapened the need to share information across a large company had also grown, this gave way to the client/server era. With this era computers on a common network were able to access shared information on a server. This allows for large amounts of data to be accessed by thousands and even millions of people simultaneously. The latest evolution of Information Systems is cloud computing a recent development, cloud computing lets users access data stored on a server, where they can not only see the data but also edit, save, download or upload. This along with high speed networks has led to a much more mobile view of MIS. In cloud computing the manager does not have to be at a desk to see what their employees are working on but instead can be on a laptop, tablet pc, or even smartphone. An 'MIS' is a planned system of the collection, processing, storage and dissemination of data in the form of information needed to carry out the management functions. In a way, it is a documented report of the activities that were planned and executed. According to Philip Kotler "A marketing information system consists of people, equipment, and procedures to gather, sort, analyze, evaluate, and distribute needed, timely, and accurate information to marketing decision makers."[3] The terms MIS and information system are often confused. Information systems include systems that are not intended for decision making. The area of study called MIS is sometimes referred to, in a restrictive sense, as information technology management. That area of study should not be confused with computer science. IT service management is a practitioner-focused discipline. MIS has also some differences with ERP which incorporates elements that are not necessarily focused on decision support. The successful MIS must support a business's Five Year Plan or its equivalent. It must provide for reports based upon performance analysis in areas critical to that plan, with feedback loops that allow for titivation of every aspect of the business, including recruitment and training regimens. In effect, MIS must not only indicate how things are going, but why they are not going as well as planned where that is the case. These reports would include performance relative to cost centers and projects that drive profit or loss, and do so in such a way that identifies individual accountability, and in virtual real-time. Any time a business is looking at implementing a new business system it is very important to use a system development method such as system development life cycle. The life cycle includes analysis, requirements, design, development, testing and implementation. Types of information management systems There are many types of information management systems in the market that provide a wide range of benefits for companies.

Transaction processing systems (TPS) collect and record the routine transactions of an organization. Examples of such systems are sales order entry, hotel reservations, payroll, employee record keeping, and shipping. Management information systems (MIS) produce fixed, regularly scheduled reports based on data extracted and summarized from the firms underlying transaction processing systems (TPS) to middle and operational level managers to provide answers to structured and semi-structured decision problems. Decision-support systems (DSS) are computer program applications used by middle management to compile information from a wide range of sources to solve problems and make decisions.

Executive support systems (ESS) is a reporting tool that provides quick access to summarized reports coming from all company levels and departments such as accounting, human resources and operations.

Advantages of information management systems The following are some of the benefits that can be attained for different types of information management systems.[4]

The company is able to highlight their strength and weaknesses due to the presence of revenue reports, employee performance records etc. The identification of these aspects can help the company to improve their business processes and operations. Giving an overall picture of the company and acting as a communication and planning tool. The availability of the customer data and feedback can help the company to align their business processes according to the needs of the customers. The effective management of customer data can help the company to perform direct marketing and promotion activities. Information is considered to be an important asset for any company in the modern competitive world. The consumer buying trends and behaviors can be predicted by the analysis of sales and revenue reports from each operating region of the company.

This is an emerging science which sets its the main task of it is to strengthen the information management of enterprises by taking advantage of modern computer and network communication technology to the largest extent, and set up the correct data based on the research of human resource, financial resource, equipments, technology, etc. owned by enterprises, and provide timely various of processed and systemized information data to the manager so as to make correct decisions and improve continuously the management level and economic benefits of enterprises. MIS is generally used for system decision-making. For instance, enterprise employee can make use of MIS to find out problems that need to be solved urgently and feedback in time to the upper managers in order to make them understand the current progress and its shortages. Some of the functions can be listed as below, 1. data processing It includes the collection, transmission, storage, processing and output of data. It simplifies the statistics and reduces to the lowest cost by supplying an unified format. 2. function of prediction It predicts the future situation by applying modern mathematics, statistics or simulation. 3. function of plan It arranges reasonably the plans of each functional department in accordance with the restrictions afforded by enterprises and provides the appropriate planning reports according to different management. 4. function of control It monitors and inspects the operation of plans and comprises with the differences between operation and plan in accordance with the data afforded by every functional department, and be assistant to managers to control timely each method by analyzing the reasons why the differences comes into being. 5. function of assistance It derives instantly the best answers of related problems by applying to various of mathematics' mode and analyzing a plentiful data stored in computers in the hope of using rationally human resource, financial resource, material resource and information resource for relative abundant economic benefits.

Enterprise applications

Enterprise systems, also known as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems provide an organization with integrated software modules and a unified database which enable efficient planning, managing, and controlling of all core business processes across multiple locations. Modules of ERP systems may include finance, accounting, marketing, human resources, production, inventory management and distribution. Supply chain management (SCM) systems enable more efficient management of the supply chain by integrating the links in a supply chain. This may include suppliers, manufacturer, wholesalers, retailers and final customers. Customer relationship management (CRM) systems help businesses manage relationships with potential and current customers and business partners across marketing, sales, and service. Knowledge Management System (KMS) helps organizations facilitate the collection, recording, organization, retrieval, and dissemination of knowledge. This may include documents, accounting records, and unrecorded procedures, practices and skills.

Systems Development Life Cycle

Model of the Systems Development Life Cycle The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC), or Software Development Life Cycle in systems engineering, information systems and software engineering, is a process of creating or altering information systems, and the models and methodologies that people use to develop these systems. In software engineering the SDLC concept underpins many kinds of software development methodologies. These methodologies form the framework for planning and controlling the creation of an information system[1]: the software development process.

Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is a process used by a systems analyst to develop an information system, including requirements, validation, training, and user (stakeholder) ownership. Any SDLC should result in a high quality system that meets or exceeds customer expectations, reaches completion within time and cost estimates, works effectively and efficiently in the current and planned Information Technology infrastructure, and is inexpensive to maintain and cost-effective to enhance.[2] Computer systems are complex and often (especially with the recent rise of Service-Oriented Architecture) link multiple traditional systems potentially supplied by different software vendors. To manage this level of complexity, a number of SDLC models or methodologies have been created, such as "waterfall"; "spiral"; "Agile software development"; "rapid prototyping"; "incremental"; and "synchronize and stabilize".[3] SDLC models can be described along a spectrum of agile to iterative to sequential. Agile methodologies, such as XP and Scrum, focus on lightweight processes which allow for rapid changes along the development cycle. Iterative methodologies, such as Rational Unified Process and Dynamic Systems Development Method, focus on limited project scope and expanding or improving products by multiple iterations. Sequential or bigdesign-up-front (BDUF) models, such as Waterfall, focus on complete and correct planning to guide large projects and risks to successful and predictable results[citation needed]. Other models, such as Anamorphic Development, tend to focus on a form of development that is guided by project scope and adaptive iterations of feature development. In project management a project can be defined both with a project life cycle (PLC) and an SDLC, during which slightly different activities occur. According to Taylor (2004) "the project life cycle encompasses all the activities of the project, while the systems development life cycle focuses on realizing the product requirements".[4] Systems development phases The System Development Life Cycle framework provides a sequence of activities for system designers and developers to follow. It consists of a set of steps or phases in which each phase of the SDLC uses the results of the previous one. A Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) adheres to important phases that are essential for developers, such as planning, analysis, design, and implementation, and are explained in the section below. A number of system development life cycle (SDLC) models have been created: waterfall, fountain, spiral, build and fix, rapid prototyping, incremental, and synchronize and stabilize. The oldest of these, and the best known, is the waterfall model: a sequence of stages in which the output of each stage becomes the input for the next. These stages can be characterized and divided up in different ways, including the following[6]:

Project planning, feasibility study: Establishes a high-level view of the intended project and determines its goals. Systems analysis, requirements definition: Defines project goals into defined functions and operation of the intended application. Analyzes end-user information needs. Systems design: Describes desired features and operations in detail, including screen layouts, business rules, process diagrams, pseudocode and other documentation.

Implementation: The real code is written here. Integration and testing: Brings all the pieces together into a special testing environment, then checks for errors, bugs and interoperability. Acceptance, installation, deployment: The final stage of initial development, where the software is put into production and runs actual business. Maintenance: What happens during the rest of the software's life: changes, correction, additions, moves to a different computing platform and more. This, the least glamorous and perhaps most important step of all, goes on seemingly forever.

In the following example (see picture) these stage of the Systems Development Life Cycle are divided in ten steps from definition to creation and modification of IT work products:

The tenth phase occurs when the system is disposed of and the task performed is either eliminated or transferred to other systems. The tasks and work products for each phase are described in subsequent chapters.[7] Not every project will require that the phases be sequentially executed. However, the phases are interdependent. Depending upon the size and complexity of the project, phases may be combined or may overlap.[7] System analysis The goal of system analysis is to determine where the problem is in an attempt to fix the system. This step involves breaking down the system in different pieces to analyze the situation, analyzing project goals, breaking down what needs to be created and attempting to engage users so that definite requirements can be defined. Requirements analysis sometimes requires individuals/teams from client as well as service provider sides to get detailed and accurate requirements; often there has to be a lot of communication to and from to understand these requirements. Requirement gathering is the most crucial aspect as many times communication gaps arise in this phase and this leads to validation errors and bugs in the software program. Design In systems design the design functions and operations are described in detail, including screen layouts, business rules, process diagrams and other documentation. The output of this stage will describe the new system as a collection of modules or subsystems.

The design stage takes as its initial input the requirements identified in the approved requirements document. For each requirement, a set of one or more design elements will be produced as a result of interviews, workshops, and/or prototype efforts. Design elements describe the desired software features in detail, and generally include functional hierarchy diagrams, screen layout diagrams, tables of business rules, business process diagrams, pseudocode, and a complete entity-relationship diagram with a full data dictionary. These design elements are intended to describe the software in sufficient detail that skilled programmers may develop the software with minimal additional input design. Testing The code is tested at various levels in software testing. Unit, system and user acceptance testings are often performed. This is a grey area as many different opinions exist as to what the stages of testing are and how much if any iteration occurs. Iteration is not generally part of the waterfall model, but usually some occur at this stage. In the testing the whole system is test one by one Following are the types of testing:

Defect testing the failed scenarios, including defect tracking Path testing Data set testing Unit testing System testing Integration testing Black-box testing White-box testing Regression testing Automation testing User acceptance testing Performance testing

Operations and maintenance The deployment of the system includes changes and enhancements before the decommissioning or sunset of the system. Maintaining the system is an important aspect of SDLC. As key personnel change positions in the organization, new changes will be implemented, which will require system updates. Systems Analysis and Design The Systems Analysis and Design (SAD) is the process of developing Information Systems (IS) that effectively use hardware, software, data, processes, and people to support the companys business objectives. Systems development life cycle Management and control

Introduction to System Analysis and Design

29.1 INTRODUCTION Systems are created to solve problems. One can think of the systems approach as an organized way of dealing with a problem. In this dynamic world, The subject System Analysis and Design, mainly deals with the software development activities. 29.2 OBJECTIVES After going through this lesson, you should be able to:

understand a system understand the different phases of system developments life cycle know the components of system analysis know the components of system designing

29.3 Defining A System A collection of components that work together to realize some objective forms a system. Basically there are three major components in every system, namely input, processing and output.

In a system the different components are connected with each other and they are interdependent. For example, Human body represents a complete natural system. We are also bound by many national systems such as political system, economic system, educational system and so forth. The objective of the system demand that some output is produced as a result of processing the suitable inputs. 29.4 SYSTEM LIFE CYCLE System life cycle is an organisational process of developing and maintaining systems. It helps in establishing a system project plan, because it gives overall list of processes and sub-processes required developing a system.

System development life cycle means combination of various activities. In other words we can say that various activities put together are referred as system development life cycle. In the System Analysis and Design terminology, the system development life cycle means software development life cycle. Following are the different phases of software development cycle:

System study Feasibility study System analysis System design Coding Testing Implementation Maintenance

The different phases of software development life cycle is shown in Fig.29.1

Fig. 29.1 Different phases of Software development Life Cycle

29.5 PHASES OF SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE Let us now describe the different phases and the related activities of system development life cycle in detail. (a) System Study System study is the first stage of system development life cycle. This gives a clear picture of what actually the physical system is? In practice, the system study is done in two phases. In the first phase, the preliminary survey of the system is done which helps in identifying the scope of the system. The second phase of the system study is more detailed and in-depth study in which the identification of users requirement and the limitations and problems of the present system are studied. After completing the system study, a system proposal is prepared by the System Analyst (who studies the system) and placed before the user. The

proposed system contains the findings of the present system and recommendations to overcome the limitations and problems of the present system in the light of the users requirements. To describe the system study phase more analytically, we would say that system study phase passes through the following steps:

problem identification and project initiation background analysis inference or findings

(b) Feasibility Study On the basis of result of the initial study, feasibility study takes place. The feasibility study is basically the test of the proposed system in the light of its workability, meeting users requirements, effective use of resources and .of course, the cost effectiveness. The main goal of feasibility study is not to solve the problem but to achieve the scope. In the process of feasibility study, the cost and benefits are estimated with greater accuracy. (c) System Analysis Assuming that a new system is to be developed, the next phase is system analysis. Analysis involved a detailed study of the current system, leading to specifications of a new system. Analysis is a detailed study of various operations performed by a system and their relationships within and outside the system. During analysis, data are collected on the available files, decision points and transactions handled by the present system. Interviews, on-site observation and questionnaire are the tools used for system analysis. Using the following steps it becomes easy to draw the exact boundary of the new system under consideration:

Keeping in view the problems and new requirements Workout the pros and cons including new areas of the system

All procedures, requirements must be analysed and documented in the form of detailed data flow diagrams (DFDs), data dictionary, logical data structures and miniature specifications. System Analysis also includes sub-dividing of complex process involving the entire system, identification of data store and manual processes. The main points to be discussed in system analysis are:

Specification of what the new system is to accomplish based on the user requirements. Functional hierarchy showing the functions to be performed by the new system and their relationship with each other. Function network which are similar to function hierarchy but they highlight the those functions which are common to more than one procedure. List of attributes of the entities - these are the data items which need to be held about each entity (record)

(d) System Design Based on the user requirements and the detailed analysis of a new system, the new system must be designed. This is the phase of system designing. It is a most crucial phase in the development of a system. Normally, the design proceeds in two stages :

preliminary or general design Structure or detailed design

Preliminary or general design: In the preliminary or general design, the features of the new system are specified. The costs of implementing these features and the benefits to be derived are estimated. If the project is still considered to be feasible, we move to the detailed design stage. Structure or Detailed design: In the detailed design stage, computer oriented work begins in earnest. At this stage, the design of the system becomes more structured. Structure design is a blue print of a computer system solution to a given problem having the same components and inter-relationship among the same components as the original problem. Input, output and processing specifications are drawn up in detail. In the design stage, the programming language and the platform in which the new system will run are also decided. There are several tools and techniques used for designing. These tools and techniques are:

Flowchart Data flow diagram (DFDs) Data dictionary Structured English Decision table Decision tree

Each of the above tools for designing will be discussed in detailed in the next lesson. (e) Coding After designing the new system, the whole system is required to be converted into computer understanding language. Coding the new system into computer programming language does this. It is an important stage where the defined procedure are transformed into control specifications by the help of a computer language. This is also called the programming phase in which the programmer converts the program specifications into computer instructions, which we refer as programs. The programs coordinate the data movements and control the entire process in a system. It is generally felt that the programs must be modular in nature. This helps in fast development, maintenance and future change, if required. (f) Testing Before actually implementing the new system into operations, a test run of the system is done removing all the bugs, if any. It is an important phase of a successful system. After codifying the whole programs of the system, a test plan should be developed and run on a given set of test data. The output of the test run should match the expected results. Using the test data following test run are carried out:

Unit test System test

Unit test: When the programs have been coded and compiled and brought to working conditions, they must be individually tested with the prepared test data. Any undesirable happening must be noted and debugged (error corrections). System Test: After carrying out the unit test for each of the programs of the system and when errors are removed, then system test is done. At this stage the test is done on actual data. The complete system is executed on the actual data. At each stage of the execution, the results or output of the system is analysed. During the result analysis, it may be found that the outputs are not matching the expected out of the system. In such case, the errors in the particular programs are identified and are fixed and further tested for the expected output. When it is ensured that the system is running error-free, the users are called with their own actual data so that the system could be shown running as per their requirements. (g) Implementation After having the user acceptance of the new system developed, the implementation phase begins. Implementation is the stage of a project during which theory is turned into practice. During this phase, all the programs of the system are loaded onto the user's computer. After loading the system, training of the users starts. Main topics of such type of training are:

How to execute the package How to enter the data How to process the data (processing details) How to take out the reports

After the users are trained about the computerised system, manual working has to shift from manual to computerised working. The following two strategies are followed for running the system:
i.

Parallel run: In such run for a certain defined period, both the systems i.e. computerised and manual are executed in parallel. This strategy is helpful because of the following:
o o

Manual results can be compared with the results of the computerised system. Failure of the computerised system at the early stage, does not affect the working of the organisation, because the manual system continues to work, as it used to do.

i.

Pilot run: In this type of run, the new system is installed in parts. Some part of the new system is installed first and executed successfully for considerable time period. When the results are found satisfactory then only other parts are implemented. This strategy builds the confidence and the errors are traced easily.

(h) Maintenance Maintenance is necessary to eliminate errors in the system during its working life and to tune the system to any variations in its working environment. It has been seen that there are always some errors found in the system that must be noted and corrected. It also means the review of the system from time to time. The review of the system is done for:

knowing the full capabilities of the system

knowing the required changes or the additional requirements studying the performance

If a major change to a system is needed, a new project may have to be set up to carry out the change. The new project will then proceed through all the above life cycle phases.