CHAPTER THREE

3. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

3.1. Introduction

All computers are systems of input, processing, output, storage, and control
components. In this section, we discuss the history, trends, applications, and some
basic concepts of the many types of computer systems in use today, hardware and
software components of computer, people, procedure, communication technologies
and database management.

1.2 Hardware: Computing, Storing and communicating

Today we are witnessing rapid technological changes on a broad scale. However,

many centuries elapsed before technology was sufficiently advanced to develop
computers. Without computers, many technological achievements of the past
would not have been possible. To fully appreciate their contribution, we must
understand their history and evolution.

At the dawn of the human concept of numbers, humans used their fingers and toes
to perform basic mathematical activities. Then our ancestors realized that by using
some objects to represent digits, they could perform computations beyond the
limited scope of their own fingers and toes. Shells, chicken bones, or any number
of objects could have been used, but the fact that the word calculate is derived
from calculus, the Latin word for “small stone,” suggests that pebbles or beads
were arranged to form the familiar abacus, arguably the first human-made
computing device. By manipulating the beads, it was possible with some skill and
practice to make rapid calculations.

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Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician, invented what is believed to be the first
mechanical adding machine in 1642. The machine partially adopted the principles
of the abacus but did away with the use of the hand to move the beads or counters.
In-stead, Pascal used wheels to move counters. The principle of Pascal’s machine
is still being used today, such as in the counters of tape recorders and odometers. In
1674, Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz improved Pascal’s machine so that the
machine could divide and multiply as easily as it could add and subtract.

When the age of industrialization spread throughout Europe, machines became

fixtures in agricultural and production sites. An invention that made profound
changes in the history of industrialization, as well as in the history of computing,
was the mechanical loom, invented by a Frenchman named Joseph Jacquard. With
the use of cards punched with holes, it was possible for the Jacquard loom to
weave fabrics in a variety of patterns. Jacquard’s loom was controlled by a
program encoded into the punched cards. The operator created the program once
and was able to duplicate it many times over with consistency and accuracy.

The ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was the first
electronic digital computer. It was completed in 1946 at the Moore School of
Electrical Engineering of the University of Pennsylvania. With no moving parts,
ENIAC was programmable and had the capability to store problem calculations
using vacuum tubes (about 18,000).A computer that uses vacuum tube technology
is called a first-generation computer. The principal drawback of ENIAC was its
size and processing ability. It occupied more than 1,500 square feet of floor space
and could process only one program or problem at a time.

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In the 1950s, Remington Rand manufactured the UNIVAC I (Universal Automatic
Calculator). It could calculate at the rate of 10,000 additions per second. In 1957,
IBM developed the IBM 704, which could perform 100,000 calculations per
second.

In the late 1950s, transistors were invented and quickly replaced the thousands of
vacuum tubes used in electronic computers. A transistor-based computer could per-
form 200,000–250,000 calculations per second. The transistorized computer
represents the second generation of computer.

It was not until the mid-1960s that the third generation of computers came into
being. These were characterized by solid-state technology and integrated circuitry
coupled with extreme miniaturization.

In 1971, the fourth generation of computers was characterized by further

miniaturization of circuits, increased multi-programming, and virtual storage
memory. In the 1980s, the fifth generation of computers operated at speeds of 3–5
million calculations per second (for small-scale computers) and 10–15 million
instructions per second (for large-scale computers).

The age of microcomputers began in 1975 when a company called MITS

introduced the ALTAIR 8800. The computer was programmed by flicking
switches on the front. In 1977 both Commodore and Radio Shack announced that
they were going to make personal computers. They did, and trotting along right
beside them were Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, who invented their computer in a
garage while in college. Mass production of the Apple began in 1979, and by the
end of 1981, it was the fastest selling of all the personal computers. In August 1982
the IBM PC was born, and many would argue that the world changed forever as a
result.

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Computer Processing Speeds

After the history of computer the next important point is the processing speed. In
order to measure the speed of computer systems peoples use different techniques.
Early computer processing speeds were measured in milliseconds (thousandths of a
second) and microseconds (millionths of a second). Now computers operate in the
nanosecond (billionth of a second) range, with Picoseconds (trillionth of a second)
speed being attained by some computers.

We have already mentioned the teraflop speeds of some supercomputers. However,

most computers can now process program instructions at million instructions per
second (MIPS) speeds. Another measure of processing speed is megahertz (MHz),
or millions of cycles per second, and gigahertz (GHz), or billions of cycles per
second. This rating is commonly called the clock speed of a microprocessor
because it is used to rate microprocessors by the speed of their timing circuits or
internal clock rather than by the number of specific instructions they can process in
one second.

However, such ratings can be misleading indicators of the effective processing

speed of microprocessors and their throughput, or ability to perform useful
computation or data processing assignments during a given period. That’s because
processing speed depends on a variety of factors, including the size of circuitry
paths, or buses, that interconnect microprocessor components; the capacity of
instruction-processing registers; the use of high-speed cache memory; and the use
of specialized microprocessors such as a math coprocessor to do arithmetic
calculations faster.

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Moore’s law

Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel Corporation, made his famous observation in

1965, just four years after the first integrated circuit was commercialized. The
press called it “Moore’s law,” and the name has stuck. In its form, Moore observed
an exponential growth (doubling every 18 to 24 months) in the number of
transistors per integrated circuit and predicted that this trend would continue.
Through a number of advances in technology, Moore’s law, the doubling of
transistors every couple of years, has been maintained and still holds true today.

Computer Peripherals: Input, Output, and Storage Technologies

Peripherals is the generic name given to all input, output, and secondary storage
devices that are part of a computer system but are not part of the CPU.The major
types of peripherals and media that can be part of a computer system are discussed
as follows.

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Input technologies

Input technologies now provide a more natural user interface for computer users.
You can enter data and commands directly and easily into a computer system
through pointing devices like electronic mice and touch pads and with
technologies like optical scanning, handwriting recognition, and voice
recognition.

Output technologies

Computers provide information in a variety of forms.Video displays and printed

documents have been, and still are, the most common forms of output from
computer systems. Yet other natural and attractive output technologies, such as
voice response systems and multimedia output, are increasingly found along
with video displays in business applications.

Storage technologies

Data and information must be stored until needed using a variety of storage
methods. For example, many people and organizations still rely on paper
documents stored in filing cabinets as a major form of storage media. However,
other computer users are more likely to depend on the memory circuits and
secondary storage devices of computer systems to meet your storage requirements.
Progress in very-large-scale integration (VLSI), which packs millions of memory
circuit elements on tiny semi-conductor memory chips (primary storage), is
responsible for continuing increases in the main-memory capacity of computers.
Secondary storage capacities are also escalating into the billions and trillions of
characters, due to advances in magnetic (floppy disk and hard disk drive)and
optical media.

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3.3. Software

Software is the general term for various kinds of programs used to operate and
manipulate computers and their peripheral devices. One common way of
describing hardware and software is to say that software can be thought of as the
variable part of a computer and hardware as the invariable part. There are many
types and categories of software. The two major categories of software are
application software and system software.

Application software includes a variety of programs that can be subdivided into

general-purpose and function-specific application categories. General-purpose
application programs are programs that perform common information processing
jobs for end users. For example, word processing, spreadsheet, database
management, and graphics programs are popular with microcomputer users for
home, education, business, scientific, and many other purposes. Function specific
application software packages are available to support specific applications of end
users in business and other fields. For example, business application software
supports the reengineering and automation of business processes with strategic e-
business applications like customer relationship management, enterprise re-source
planning, and supply chain management.

System software consists of programs that manage and support a computer system
and its information processing activities. We can group system software into two
major categories;

 System Management Programs: Programs that manage the hardware,

software, network, and data resources of computer systems during the
execution of the various information processing jobs of users. Examples
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 of important system management programs are operating systems,
network management programs, database management systems, and
system utilities.
 System Development Programs: Programs that help users develop
information system programs and procedures and prepare user programs
for computer processing. Major software development programs are
programming language translators and editors, and a variety of CASE
(computer-aided software engineering) and other programming tools.

3.4. Communication Technologies

When computers are networked, two industries - computing and communications

- converge, and the result is vastly more than the sum of the parts. Suddenly,
computing applications become available for business-to-business coordination
and commerce, and for small as well as large organizations. Network means an
interconnected or interrelated chain, group, or system.

Communications is the transmission of a signal by a way of particular medium

from a sender to a receiver. For example in human speech, the sender transmits a
signal through the transmission medium air.

Telecommunications is the exchange of information in any form (voice, data, text,

images, audio, and video) over networks. The Internet is the most widely visible
form of telecommunications in our daily lives. Early telecommunications networks
did not use computers to route traffic and, as such, were much slower than today’s
computer based networks. Major trends occurring in the field of
telecommunications have a significant impact on management decisions in this
area. You should thus be aware of major trends in telecommunications industries,

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technologies, and applications that significantly increase the decision alternatives
confronting business managers and professionals.

Industry trends: Toward more competitive vendors, carriers, alliances, and

network services, accelerated by deregulation and the growth of the Internet and
the World Wide Web.

Application trends: Toward the pervasive use of the Internet, enterprise intranets,
and inter organizational extranets to support electronic business and commerce,
enterprise collaboration, and strategic advantage in local and global markets.

Technology trends: Toward extensive use of Internet, digital fiber-optic, and

wireless technologies to create high-speed local and global internetworks for voice,
data, images, audio, and video communications.

Generally, a communications network is any arrangement in which a sender

transmits a message to a receiver over a channel consisting of some type of
medium. It consists of five basic categories of components:

Terminals: such as networked personal computers, network computers, net boxes,

or information appliances. Any input/output device that uses telecommunications
networks to transmit or receive data is a terminal, including telephones and the
various computer terminals.

Telecommunications processors: support data transmission and reception

between terminals and computers. These devices, such as modems, switches, and
routers, perform a variety of control and support functions in a telecommunications
network.

Telecommunications channels: over which data are transmitted and received.

Telecommunications channels may use combinations of media, such as copper

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wires, coaxial cables, or fiber-optic cables, or use wireless systems like microwave,
communications satellite, radio, and cellular systems to interconnect the other
components of a telecommunications network. Summary of the different channels
is given in the table below.

Computers: of all sizes and types are interconnected by telecommunications

networks so that they can carry out their information processing assignments.

Telecommunications control software: consists of programs that control

telecommunications activities and manage the functions of telecommunications
networks.

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Figure 3.2: summary of the five basic components of telecommunication network.

Many different types of networks serve as the telecommunications infrastructure

for the Internet and the intranets and extranets of inter-networked enterprises.
However, from an end user’s point of view, there are only a few basic types, such
as wide area and local area networks and client/server, network computing, and
peer-to-peer networks.

Wide Area Networks: Telecommunications networks covering a large geographic

area are called wide area networks (WANs). Networks that cover a large city or
metropolitan area (metropolitan area networks) can also be included in this
category.

Metropolitan Area Network: When a wide area network optimized a specific

geographical area, it is referred to as a metropolitan area network (MAN). Such
networks can range from several blocks of buildings to entire cities.

Local Area Networks: connect computers and other information processing

devices within a limited physical area, such as an office, classroom, building,
manufacturing plant, or other worksite.

Virtual Private Networks: Many organizations use virtual private networks

(VPNs) to establish secure intranets and extranets.

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Client/Server Networks: have become the predominant information architecture
of enterprise wide computing. In a client/server network, end-user PC or NC
workstations are the clients. They are interconnected by local area networks and
share application processing with network servers, which also manage the
networks.

Peer-to-Peer Networks: The emergence of peer-to-peer (P2P) networking

technologies and applications for the Internet is being hailed as a development that
will have a major impact on e-business and e-commerce and the Internet itself.
Whatever the merits of such claims, it is clear that peer-to-peer networks are a
powerful telecommunications networking tool for many business applications.

Network Topologies

There are several basic types of network topologies, or structures, in

telecommunications networks. The three basic topologies that are used in wide
area and local area networks are;

i. A star network topology ties end-user computers to a central computer.

ii. A ring network topology ties local computer processors together in a
ring on a more equal basis.
iii. A bus network topology is a network in which local processors share the
same bus, or communications channel.

3.5. Database Management (DBM)

An effective information system provides users with timely, accurate, and relevant
information. This information is stored in computer files. When the files are
properly arranged and maintained, users can easily access and retrieve the
information they need.

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Well-managed, carefully arranged files make it easy to obtain data for business
decisions whereas poorly managed files lead to chaos in information processing,
high costs, poor performance, and little, if any flexibility. Despite the use of
excellent hard ware and software, many organizations have inefficient information
system because of poor file management.

Database technology can cut through many of the problems created by traditional
file organization. A more rigorous definition of a database is a collection of data
organized to serve many applications efficiently by centralizing the data and
minimizing redundant data. Rather than storing data in separate files for each
application, data are stored physically to appear to users as being stored in only one
location. A single data base services multiple applications.

File Organization Terms and Concept

A computer system organizes data in a hierarchy that starts with bits and bytes and
progresses to fields, records, files, and database. A bit represents the smaller unit of
data a computer can handle.

A group of bits, called a byte, represent a single character, which can be a letter, a
number or another symbol. A grouping of characters into a word, a group of words,
or a complete number (such as a person's name or age), is called a field. A group of
related fields, such as the student's name, the course taken, the date and the grade
make up a record. A group of records of the same time is called a file. A group of
related files make up a database.

A record describes an entity. An entity is a person, place, thing, or event on which

we maintain information. An order is a typical entity in a sales order file, which
maintains information on a firm's sales orders. Each characteristic or quality
describing a particular entity is called an attribute. For example, order number,
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order date, order amount, item number, and item quantity would each be an
attribute of the entity order.

Every record in a file should contain at least one field that uniquely identifies that
record so that the record can be retrieved, updated or sorted. This identifier field is
called a key field.

A computer system organizes data in a hierarchy that starts with the bit, which
represents either a 0 or a 1. Bits can be grouped to form a byte to represent one
character, number of symbol. Bytes can be grouped to form a field and related
fields can be grouped to form a record. Related records can be collected to form a
file and related files can be organized into a database.

Entities and Attributes

Entity = Orders Attributes

Order Number Order Date Item Number Quantity Amount

1400 04/11/04 1540 10 150

The above record describes the entity called order and its attributes. The specific
vales for order number, order date, item number, quantity, and amount for this

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particular order are the fields for this record. Order number is the key field because
each order is assigned a unique identification number.

Accessing Records from Compute Files

Computer system store files on a secondary storage devices. Records can be

arranged in several ways on storage media, and the arrangement determines the
manner in which individual records can be accessed or retrieved.

One way to organize records is sequentially. In sequential file organization, data

records must be retrieved in the same physical sequence in which they are stored.
In contrast, direct or random file organization allows users to access records in any
sequence they desire without regard to actual physical order on the storage media.

Although records may be stored sequentially on direct access storage devices,

individual records can be accessed directly using the Indexed Sequential Access
Method (ISAM). This access method relies on an index of key fields to locate
individual records. An index to a file is similar to the index of a book, as it lists the
key field of each record and where that record is physically located in storage to
expedite location of that record. Records are stored on disk in their key sequence.
ISAM is employed in applications that require sequential processing of large
numbers of records but that occasionally require direct access of individual
records.

The direct file access method is used with direct file organization. This method
employs a key field to locate the physical address of a record. However, the
process is accomplishing using a mathematical formula called a transform
algorithm to translate the key field directly into the record's physical storage

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location on disk. The algorithm performs some mathematical computation on the
record key, and the result of that calculation is the records physical address.

This access method is most appropriate for applications where individual's records
must be located directly and rapidly for immediate processing only. A few records
in the file need to be retrieved at one time, and the required records are found in no
particular sequence, i.e., on line hotel reservation system.

Problems with the Traditional File Environment

Most organizations began information processing on a small scale automating one

application at a time. Typically, each division of a multi-division company
developed its own applications. Within each division, each functional area tended
to develop systems in isolation from other functional areas. Accounting, finance,
manufacturing, and marketing all developed their own systems and data files.

In the company as a whole, this process led to multiple master files created,
maintained and operated by separate divisions or departments. The traditional file
environment is a way of collecting and maintaining data in an organization that
leads to each functional area or division creating and maintaining its own data files
and programs.

Under this file environment, there is no central listing of data files, data elements
or definition of data. The organization is collecting the same information on far too
many documents. The resulting problems are data redundancy, program data
dependence, inflexibility, poor data security, and inability to share data among
applications.

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 i) Data redundancy

It is the presence of duplicate data in multiple data files. Data redundancy occurs
when different divisions, functional areas, and groups in an organization
independently collect the same piece of information.

ii) Program data dependence

It is the tight relationship between data stored in files and the specific programs
required to update and maintain those files. Every computer program has to
describe the location and nature of the data with which it works. These data
declarations can be longer than the substantive part of the program. In a traditional
file environment, any change in data requires a change in all of the programs that
access the data.

iii) Lack of flexibility

A traditional file system can deliver routine scheduled reports after extensive
programming efforts, but it cannot deliver ad hoc reports or respond to
unanticipated information requirements in a timely fashion. The information
required by ad hoc requests is "somewhat in the system" but is too expensive to
retrieve. Several programmers would have to work for weeks to put together the
required data items in a new file.

iv) Poor security

Because there is little control or management of data, access to and dissemination

of information are virtually out of control. What limits on access exist tend to be
the result of habit and tradition, as well as of the sheer difficulty of finding
information.

v) Lack of data sharing and availability

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The lack of control over access to data in this confused environment does not make
it easy for people to obtain information. Because pieces of information in different
files and different parts of the organization cannot be related to one another, it is
virtually impossible for information to be shared or accessed in a timely manner.
The following figure illustrates the traditional file processing.

Management System (DBMs)

A database management system (DBMS) is simply the software that permits an

organization, to centralize data, manage them efficiently, and provide access to the
stored data by application programs.

The DBMs acts as an interface between application programs and the physical data
files. When the application program calls for data item such as gross pay, the
DBMs finds this item in the database and presents it to the application program.
Using traditional data files, the programmer would have to define the data and then
tell the computer when they are. The following figure illustrates the elements of a
database management system.

A database management system has three components:

 A data definition language

 A data manipulation language

 A data directory

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 Data definition language: the data definition language is the formal language
used by programmers to structure of the database. The data definition language
defines each data element as it appears in the database before that data element
is translated into the forms required by the application programs.

 Data manipulation language: most DBMs have a specialized language called a

data manipulation language that is used in conjunction with some conventional
third or fourth generation programming languages to manipulate the data in the
database. This language contains commands that permit end users and
programming specialists to extracts data from the database to satisfy
information requests and develop applications. The most prominent data
manipulation language today is SQL, or structured Query language.

 Data dictionary: the third element of DBMs is a data dictionary. This is an

automated or manual file that stores definitions of data elements and data
characteristics such as usage, physical representation, ownership (who in the
organization is responsible for maintaining the data), authorization, and
security. Many data dictionaries can produce lists and reports of data
utilization, groupings, program locations, and so on.

Advantages of Database Management System

The advantages of a DBMS are as follows:

 Complexity of the organization's information system environment can be

reduced by central management of data, access, utilization, and security

 Data redundancy and inconsistency can be reduced by eliminating all of the

isolated files in which the same data elements are repeated

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 Data confusion can be eliminated by providing central control of data creation
and definitions

 Program data dependence can be reduced by separating the logical view of data
from its physical arrangement

 Program development and maintenance costs can be radically reduced

 Flexibility of information systems can be greatly enhanced/by permitting rapid

and inexpensive ad hoc queries of very large pools of information

 Access and availability of information can be increased

Designing Database

There are alternative ways of organizing data and representing relationship among
data in a database. Conventional DBMS uses one of three principal logical
database models for keeping track of entities, attributes, and relationships. The
three principal logical database models are hierarchical, network, and relational.
Each logical model has certain processing advantages and certain business
disadvantages.

i) Hierarchical Data Model

The hierarchical data model presents data to users in a tree like structure. Within
each record, data elements are organized into pieces of records called segments. To
the user, each record looks like an organizations chart with one top level segment
called the root. An upper segment is connected logically to a lower segment in a
parent-child, but a child can have only one parent. Consider the following figure.

The Hierarchical Data Base

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 Employee
1st Child

Compensation Job Assignment Benefits

Salary History Performance Rating Life Insurance Health

2nd Child

Pension

ii) Network Data Model

The network data model is a variation of the hierarchical data model. Indeed data
bases can be translated from hierarchical to network and vice versa in order to
optimize processing speed and convenience. Whereas, hierarchical structures,
despite one-to-many relationships, network structures depict data logically as many
to many relationships. In other words, parents have multiple "children" and a child
can have more than one parent. A typical many to many relationships in which
network DBMS excels in performance is the student course relationship (See the
following Figure).

Network Data Model

Course 1 Course 2 Course 3

Student 1 Student 2 Student 3 Student 4 Student 5

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 iii) Related Data Model

The relational data model, the most recent of these three database models,
overcomes some of the limitations of the other two models. The relational model
represents all data in the database as simple two dimensional tables called
relations. The tables appear similar to flat files, but the information is more than
one file can be easily extracted and combined. Sometimes the tables are referred to
as files. Consider the following figure.

Relational Data Model

Table (Relation)
Column (Fields)

Order Number Order Date Delivery Date Part Amount Order Total

Order 1230 04/11/04 24/11/04 3 240

1231 04/11/04 24/11/04 2 150
1232 04/11/04 24/11/04 4 125

Part Part Unit Unit

Number Description Price Price

Part 1230 Compressor 50 4025

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 Supplier Supplier Supplier Address
Number Name
Supplier 1200
ABC Co. P.O.BOX 2040 A.A
2040
XYZ Co. P.O.BOX 1200 A.A

Advantages and Disadvantage of the Models

The principal advantage of the hierarchical and network database models is

processing efficiency. For instance, a hierarchical model is appropriate for airline
reservation transactions processing systems, which must handle millions of
structured routine requests each day for reservation information.

Hierarchical and network structures have several disadvantages. All of the access
paths, directories, and indices must be specified in advance. Once specified, they
are not easily changed without a major programming effort. Therefore, these
designs have low flexibility.

Both hierarchical and network systems are programming – intensive, time

consuming, difficult to install, and difficult to remedy if design error occurs. They
do not support ad hoc, English languages – like inquiries for information.

The strengths of relational DBMS are great flexibility in regard to ad hoc queries,
power to combine information from difficult sources, simplicity of design and

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maintenance, and the ability to add new data and records without disturbing
existing programs and applications.

The weaknesses of relational DBMS are their relatively low processing efficiency.
These systems are somewhat slower because they typically require many accesses
to the data stored on disk to carry out the select, join, and project commands.
Selecting one part number from among millions, one record at a time, can take a
long time. Of course, the database can be indicated and "turned" to speed up pre-
specified queries. Relational systems do not have the large number of pointers
carried by hierarchical systems.

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Requirements of Database System

Much more is required for the development of database systems than simply
selecting a logical database model. Indeed, this selection may be among the last
decision. The database is an organizational discipline, a method, rather than a tool
or technology. It requires organizational and conceptual change.

Without management support and understanding, database efforts fail. The critical
elements in a database environment are (1) data administration, (2) data planning
and modeling methodology, (3) database technology and management, and (4)
users.

1) Data Administration

Database systems require that the organization recognize the strategic role of
information and begin actively to manage and plan for information as a corporate
resource. This means that the organization must develop a data administration
function with the power to define information requirements for the entire company
and with direct access to senior management.

Data administration is responsible for the specific policies and procedures through
which data can be managed as an organizational resource. These responsibilities
include developing information policy, planning for data, overseeing logical
database design and data dictionary development, and monitoring the usage of data
by information system specialists and end users groups.

An organization needs to formulate an information policy that specified its rules

for sharing, disseminating, acquiring, standardizing, classifying, and inventorying
information throughout the organization.

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2) Data Planning and Modeling Methodology

Because the organizational interests served by the DBMS are much broader than
those in the traditional file environment, the organization requires enterprise-wide
planning for data. Enterprise analysis, which addresses the information
requirements of the entire organization (as opposed to the requirements of
individual applications), is needed to develop databases. The purpose of enterprise
analysis is to identify the key entities, and relationships that constitute the
organization's data.

3) Database Technology and Management

Database requires new software and a new staff specially trained in DBMS
techniques as well as new management structures. Most corporations develop a
database design and management group within the corporate information system
division that is responsible for the more technical and operational aspects of
managing data. The functions it performs are called database administration. This
group does the following:

 Defines and organizes database structure and content

 Develops security procedures to safeguard the database
 Develop database documentation
 Maintains the database management software: in close cooperation with users,
the design group establishes the physical database, the logical relations among
elements, and the access rules and procedures.
 Users: a database serves a wider community of users than traditional systems.
Relational systems with fourth-generation query languages permit employees
who are not computer specialist to access large databases. In addition, users
include trained computer specialists.

Management Information System by: Abdulwehab

J. (MBA) Page 26