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Introduction to Information Technology

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 Information
 Data –
Processed, Organised and integrated
 To help –
Analyze data and take decisions
 May not know ahead, what
information you want and what data to
collect ?

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The Old Economy – Taking Photo’s
1. Buy film in a store
2. Load your camera
3. Take pictures
4. Take roll of film to store for processing
5. Pickup the film when ready
6. Select specific photos for enlargement
7. Mail to family and friends

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The New Economy – Taking Photo’s
 1st Generation Digital Photography
 Old economy except 6 and 7 were replaced
by using a scanner and emailing ie. Taking
care of Selection and Mailing.
 2nd Generation Digital Photography
 Use a Digital Camera, no film, no processing.
 3rd Generation Digital Photography
 Your Digital Camera is now your mobile
phone, in your binoculars or a palmtop
computer.

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Digital Economy – “New” Economy
 E-Business:
The use of electronic technologies to
transact business.
 Collaboration:
People and Organizations interact,
communicate, collaborate and search
for information
 Information Exchange:
Storing, processing and transmission of
information.
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 Digital Business
Telecommunications Networks
Thin Client
PC E- Com m e r ce Se r ve r STARS
On-line Bu sin e ss t o Bu sin e ss
Single-station Store O ffi ce Su it e Se r ve r
Linux SSL
Appliance Vi d e o Co n fe r e n cin g
Lin u x SCO Unix
Se r ve r Un ix
Sybase ASE Database
Appliance Tarentella
Server Net Cold Fusion
Appliance Win d o w s 2 0 0 0
Store 3 Beacon Hill's Stars
Store 1 Apache Server
On-line Multi-station Store
IP Ad d r e s s 2 Apache Server
Linux
Credit Card Approval
IP Ad d r e ss 3
IP Ad d r e ss 1
On-line
Salesperson POS

Field Sales Yo u r Dom a in / URL

Commercial
In t e r n e t
Hu b

Internet
PC

E-commerce
In-house operations

PC
PC
STARS
Accounting
Phone Orders
Mail Orders
On-line Customers Order Fulfillment
Consumer & Business Purchasing Thin Client

Consumer
Thin Client

In-office
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Business Models
 A business model is a method of doing
business by which a company can
generate revenue to sustain itself. The
model spells out how the company adds
value to create a product or service.
(Value Chain)
 Nokia makes and sells cell phones
 A TV station provides free broadcasting. Its
survival depends on a complex model involving
advertisers and content providers.
 Internet portals, such as Yahoo, also use a
complex business model.

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Digital Age Business Models

 Name-Your-Own Price
 Reverse Auctions
 Affiliate Marketing
 E-Marketplaces and Exchanges
 Electronic aggregation (buying
groups)

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 Drivers Forcing Changes In Business
Models
Business Pressures
 Environmental, organizational, and technological
factors are creating a highly competitive business
environment these factors or forces can change
quickly, sometimes in an unpredictable manner.
Business Critical Response Activities
 Therefore, companies need to react frequently
and quickly to both the threats and the
opportunities resulting from this new business
environment. A response can be a reaction to a
pressure already in existence, an initiative
intended to defend an organization against future
pressures, or an activity that exploits an
opportunity created by changing conditions.

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 The Drivers of change
 Business Pressures on an Organization that
force change.
Technology

Market Society

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 The Drivers of change Continued
 Business Pressures on an Organization.

Society Market

Technology
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 Organizational Response to these
Drivers
Strategic Systems
 Continuous Improvement – Operational Efficiency
 Restructuring business processes
 Manufacturer to order
 Customer Focus Strategy
 Employ E-business tools
 Business Alliances

Technology is required to
effectively implement
these critical responses.

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 Information Systems - Components

 Input

 Process

 Output

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 Information System Types

 Strategy

 Tactics

 Operations

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Information System
 An information system (IS) collects, processes, stores,
analyzes, and disseminates information for a specific
purpose. Like any other system, an information system
includes inputs (data, instructions) and outputs (reports,
calculations). It processes the inputs by using technology
such as PCs and produces outputs that are sent to users
or to other systems via electronic networks and a
feedback mechanism that controls the operation.

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Information System Is A System

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Computer Based Information System
 Hardware
 Software Hardware
 Data Software

 Network Application
Data
People
 Procedures
 People
More than hardware
and software

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Applications and Operations
 Retail operations
 Wholesale
 Manufacturing
 Human Resources
 Marketing
 Content management
 …

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Information Systems

Marketing
 Identify customers
 Determine what they want
 Planning products
 Advertising and promoting products
 Determine prices for products

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Information Systems

Sales
 Contact customers
 Sell the product
 Take the order
 Follow-up on the sale
 5 year sales forecast

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Information Systems
 Manufacturing
 Control Equipment and machinery
 Design new products
 When and quantity of products to produce
 New production facilities
 Generate the work order

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Information Systems
 Functional Perspective
Purchasing
 Which vendors
 Quantity to purchase
 Coop, rebate tracking
 Handle delivery discrepancies
 Generate the purchase order

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Information Systems
 Functional Perspective
Finance
 Financial Assets
 Investment management
 Banking
 Long term budgets

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Information Systems
 Accounting
 Accounts Receivable
 Disbursements
 Payroll
 Depreciation
 Earned Coop and Rebates

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Information Systems
 Human Resources
 Employee wages, salaries & benefits
 Long term labor requirements
 Tracking vacation, sick,
 Track employee skills
 Interview and review employees

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 PROBLEMS FACED IN
INFORMATION SYSTEM
 Processing Over Load
 System Slow Down
 Data Accuracy
 Insufficient Storage
 Data Not Recd in Time
 Timely output

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Trends in Technology
 Cost-performance ratio of chips keeps improving.
Moore’s Law, his prediction was that the processing
power of silicon chips would double every 18 months.
 According to McGarvey & tenornetworks.com, states
that the performance of optical communication
networks is growing by a factor of 10 every three
years
 Several new devices and methods to increase storage
capacity price performance
 Object technology enables the development of self-
contained units of software that can be shared
 Networked and distributed computing is emerging
rapidly Metcalfe’s Law.
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Trends in Technology (continued)

 Internet
 Mobile Computing and M-Commerce
 Wireless networks
 Pervasive Computing
 Smart Devices

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Trends in Technology (continued)

The Networked Enterprise

 Optical Networks

 Storage Area Networks

 Intranets & Extranets

 The Internet

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 MANAGERIAL ISSUES
 Recognizing opportunities for using IT and Web-based systems.
 Who will build, operate, and maintain the information systems. This is a
critical issue because management wants to minimize the cost of IT while
maximizing its benefits. Some alternatives are to outsource portions, or even all, of
the IT activities, and to divide the remaining work between the IS department and
the end users.
 How much IT? This is a critical issue related to IT planning. IT does not come free,
but not having it may be much costlier.
 How important is IT? In some cases, IT is the only approach that can help
organizations. As time passes, the comparative advantage of IT increases.
 Is the situation going to change? Yes, the pressures will be stronger as time
passes. Therefore, the IT role will be even more important.
 Globalization. Global competition will have an impact on many companies.
However, globalization opens many opportunities, ranging from selling and buying
products and services online in foreign markets, to conducting joint ventures or
investing in them. IT supports communications, collaboration, and discovery of
information regarding all the above.

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 MANAGERIAL ISSUES Continued
 Ethics and social issues. The implementation of IT involves many ethical and
social issues that are constantly changing due to new developments in technologies
and environments. These topics should be examined any time an IT project is
undertaken.
 Transforming the organization to the digital economy. The transformation can
be done on several fronts. Management should study the opportunities, consider
alternatives and prioritize them.

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