Databases

01b – Information Systems

1. What is an Information System

(From: http://www.britannica.com/topic/information-system)

Information system: an integrated set of components for collecting,

storing, and processing data and for providing information, knowledge,
and digital products.
Business firms and other organizations to-business e-marketplace; and Google, a
rely on information systems to carry out search engine company that derives most
and manage their operations, interact of its revenue from keyword advertising
with their customers and suppliers, and on Internet searches.
compete in the marketplace. Information Governments deploy information systems
systems are used to run to provide services cost-effectively to
interorganizational supply chains and citizens.
electronic markets. For instance,
corporations use information systems to Digital goods—such as electronic books,
process financial accounts, to manage video products, and software—and online
their human resources, and to reach their services, such as gaming and social
potential customers with online networking, are delivered with
promotions. Many major companies are information systems.
built entirely around information systems. Individuals rely on information systems,
These include eBay, a largely auction generally Internet-based, for conducting
marketplace; Amazon, an expanding much of their personal lives: for socializing,
electronic mall and provider of cloud study, shopping, banking, and
computing services; Alibaba, a business- entertainment.

2. A bit of History of Information Systems…

As major new technologies for recording The first large-scale mechanical
and processing information were invented information system was Herman
over the millennia, new capabilities Hollerith’s census tabulator. Invented in
appeared, and people became time to process the 1890 U.S. census,
empowered. The invention of the printing Hollerith’s machine represented a major
press by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid- step in automation, as well as an
15th century and the invention of a inspiration to develop computerized
mechanical calculator by Blaise Pascal in information systems.
the 17th century are but two examples. One of the first computers used for such
These inventions led to a profound information processing was the UNIVAC I,
revolution in the ability to record, process, installed at the U.S. Bureau of the Census
disseminate, and reach for information in 1951 for administrative use and at
and knowledge. This led, in turn, to even General Electric in 1954 for commercial
deeper changes in individual lives, use. Beginning in the late 1970s, personal
business organization, and human computers brought some of the
governance.

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advantages of information systems to smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other
small businesses and to individuals. Early computer-based mobile devices, all of
in the same decade the Internet began its which are connected by wireless
expansion as the global network of communication networks, information
networks. In 1991 the World Wide Web, systems have been extended to support
invented by Tim Berners-Lee as a means mobility as the natural human condition.
to access the interlinked information As information systems enabled more
stored in the globally dispersed computers diverse human activities, they exerted a
connected by the Internet, began profound influence over society. These
operation and became the principal systems quickened the pace of daily
service delivered on the network. activities, enabled people to develop and
The global penetration of the Internet and maintain new and often more-rewarding
the Web has enabled access to relationships, affected the structure and
information and other resources and mix of organizations, changed the type of
facilitated the forming of relationships products bought, and influenced the
among people and organizations on an nature of work. Information and
unprecedented scale. The progress of knowledge became vital economic
electronic commerce over the Internet resources. Yet, along with new
has resulted in a dramatic growth in opportunities, the dependence on
digital interpersonal communications (via information systems brought new threats.
e-mail and social networks), distribution Intensive industry innovation and
of products (software, music, e-books, academic research continually develop
and movies), and business transactions new opportunities while aiming to contain
(buying, selling, and advertising on the the threats.
Web). With the worldwide spread of

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3. Components of information systems
The main components of information systems are computer hardware and
software, telecommunications, databases and data warehouses, human
resources, and procedures. The hardware, software, and telecommunications
constitute information technology (IT), which is now ingrained in the
operations and management of organizations.

Computer hardware
Today throughout the world even the input-output devices, and
smallest firms, as well as many telecommunications gear—these
households, own or lease computers. constitute the hardware of information
Individuals may own multiple computers systems.
in the form of smartphones, tablets, and The cost of hardware has steadily and
other wearable devices. Large rapidly decreased, while processing speed
organizations typically employ distributed and storage capacity have increased vastly.
computer systems, from powerful This development has been occurring
parallel-processing servers located in data under Moore’s law: the power of the
centres to widely dispersed personal microprocessors at the heart of
computers and mobile devices, integrated computing devices has been doubling
into the organizational information approximately every 18 to 24 months.
systems. Sensors are becoming ever more However, hardware’s use of electric
widely distributed throughout the physical power and its environmental impact are
and biological environment to gather data concerns being addressed by designers.
and, in many cases, to effect control via Increasingly, computer and storage
devices known as actuators. Together services are delivered from the cloud—
with the peripheral equipment—such as from shared facilities accessed over
magnetic or solid-state storage disks, telecommunications networks.
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Computer software
Computer software falls into two broad applications that serve a specific industry
classes: system software and application segment—for instance, an application
software. that schedules, routes, and tracks package
deliveries for an overnight carrier. Larger
The principal system software is the
firms use licensed applications developed
operating system. It manages the
and maintained by specialized software
hardware, data and program files, and
companies, customizing them to meet
other system resources and provides
their specific needs, and develop other
means for the user to control the
applications in-house or on an outsourced
computer, generally via a graphical user
basis. Companies may also use
interface (GUI).
applications delivered as software-as-a-
Application software is programs designed service (SaaS) from the cloud over the
to handle specific tasks for users. Web. Proprietary software, available from
Smartphone apps became a common way and supported by its vendors, is being
for individuals to access information challenged by open-source software
systems. Other examples include general- available on the Web for free use and
purpose application suites with their modification under a license that protects
spreadsheet and word-processing its future availability.
programs, as well as “vertical”

Telecommunications
Telecommunications are used to connect, Various computer network configurations
or network, computer systems and are possible, depending on the needs of
portable and wearable devices and to an organization.
transmit information. Local area networks (LANs) join
Connections are established via wired or computers at a particular site, such as an
wireless media. Wired technologies office building or an academic campus.
include coaxial cable and fibre optics. Metropolitan area networks (MANs) cover
Wireless technologies, predominantly a limited densely populated area and are
based on the transmission of microwaves the electronic infrastructure of “smart
and radio waves, support mobile cities.”
computing. Pervasive information systems Wide area networks (WANs) connect
have arisen with the computing devices widely distributed data centres,
embedded in many different physical frequently run by different organizations.
objects. For example, sensors such as Peer-to-peer networks, without a
radio frequency identification devices centralized control, enable broad sharing
(RFIDs) can be attached to products of content. The Internet is a network of
moving through the supply chain to networks, connecting billions of
enable the tracking of their location and computers located on every continent.
the monitoring of their condition.
Wireless sensor networks that are Through networking, users gain access to
integrated into the Internet can produce information resources, such as large
massive amounts of data that can be used databases, and to other individuals, such
in seeking higher productivity or in as coworkers, clients, friends, or people
monitoring the environment. who share their professional or private
interests. Internet-type services can be
provided within an organization and for its

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exclusive use by various intranets that are of such information enables a rapid
accessible through a browser; for example, reaction when necessary as well as
an intranet may be deployed as an access sustained decision making based on
portal to a shared corporate document processing of the massive accumulated
base. To connect with business partners data.
over the Internet in a private and secure Extensive networking infrastructure
manner, extranets are established as so- supports the growing move to cloud
called virtual private networks (VPNs) by computing, with the information-system
encrypting the messages. resources shared among multiple
A massive “Internet of things” has companies, leading to utilization
emerged, as sensors and actuators have efficiencies and freedom in localization of
been widely distributed in the physical the data centres. Software-defined
environment and are supplying data, such networking affords flexible control of
as acidity of a square yard of soil, the telecommunications networks with
speed of a driving vehicle, or the blood algorithms that are responsive to real-
pressure of an individual. The availability time demands and resource availabilities.

Databases and data warehouses

Many information systems are primarily initiative known as “big data.” Many
delivery vehicles for data stored in benefits can arise from decisions based on
databases. the facts reflected by big data. Examples
include evidence-based medicine,
A database is a collection of interrelated
economy of resources as a result of
data organized so that individual records
avoiding waste, and recommendations of
or groups of records can be retrieved to
new products (such as books or movies)
satisfy various criteria. Typical examples of
based on a user’s interests. Big data
databases include employee records and
enables innovative business models. For
product catalogs. Databases support the
example, a commercial firm collects the
operations and management functions of
prices of goods by crowdsourcing
an enterprise.
(collecting from numerous independent
Data warehouses contain the archival data, individuals) via smartphones around the
collected over time, that can be mined for world. The aggregated data supplies early
information in order to develop and information on price movements,
market new products, serve the existing enabling more responsive decision making
customers better, or reach out to than was previously possible.
potential new customers. Anyone who has
The processing of textual data—such as
ever purchased something with a credit
reviews and opinions articulated by
card—in person, by mail order, or over
individuals on social networks, blogs, and
the Web—is included within such data
discussion boards—permits automated
collections.
sentiment analysis for marketing,
Massive collection and processing of the competitive intelligence, new product
quantitative, or structured, data, as well development, and other decision-making
as of the textual data often gathered on purposes.
the Web, has developed into a broad

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Human resources and procedures
Qualified people are a vital component of learning about information systems as
any information system. they use the Web.
Technical personnel include development Procedures for using, operating, and
and operations managers, business maintaining an information system are
analysts, systems analysts and designers, part of its documentation. For example,
database administrators, programmers, procedures need to be established to run
computer security specialists, and a payroll program, including when to run
computer operators. In addition, all it, who is authorized to run it, and who
workers in an organization must be has access to the output. In the
trained to utilize the capabilities of autonomous computing initiative, data
information systems as fully as possible. centres are increasingly run automatically,
Billions of people around the world are with the procedures embedded in the
software that controls those centres.

4. Life-cycle of an Information System

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