21CSIS01P

Introduction to Information Systems

Lecture 1
Information Systems Concepts
Building Blocks

Dr. Yasmine Afify

[email protected]
Why Learn About Information Systems in
Organizations?
• Information systems are used by almost every
imaginable profession
– Entrepreneurs and small business owners
– Sales representatives
– Managers
– Financial advisors
• Information systems:
– Essential tools to help you achieve your career
goals
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Data, Information, and Knowledge
• Data:
– Raw facts
• Information:
– Collection of facts organized and processed in
such a way that they have value beyond the
individual facts themselves
• Knowledge:
– Awareness and understanding of a set of
information
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Data Into Information

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What is Information?

What is information?
– Information is a collection of facts

– It can take many forms – text, numbers, images,

audio clips and video clips
– One of an organization’s most valuable resources

– Often confused with the term data

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Information System Features

• Information system (IS) is a set of interrelated

elements that:
– Collect (input)
– Manipulate (process)
– Store
– Disseminate (output) data and information
– Provide a corrective reaction (feedback
mechanism) to meet an objective
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Defining an Information System

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 Input, Processing, Output, Feedback
• Input:
– Activity of gathering and capturing raw data
• Processing:
– Converting data into useful outputs
• Output:
– Production of useful information, usually in the form of
documents and reports
• Feedback:
– Information from the system that is used to make changes
to input or processing activities
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The Value of Information
• Helps decision makers achieve their
organization’s goals
• Helps people and their organizations
perform tasks more efficiently and
effectively

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The Characteristics of Valuable Information

• To be useful to managers, information should

have some or possibly all of the following
characteristics:
– Accessible - Accurate
– Complete - Economical
– Flexible - Relevant
– Reliable - Secure
– Simple - Timely
– Verifiable

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12
Roles, Functions and Careers in IS

• Primary responsibilities in
information systems:
– Systems development:
• Focuses on specific development projects and
ongoing maintenance and review
– Operations:
• System operators primarily run and
maintain IS equipment

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Roles, Functions and Careers in IS

– Support:
• Provides user assistance in hardware and
software acquisition and use, data
administration, user training and assistance,
and Web administration

New and exciting careers have developed in IS

consulting, training, sales, repair, IS customer
service, and IS entrepreneurs

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Careers in Information Systems

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Computer-Based Information Systems (CBIS)

• Manual vs. Computer-based

• Computer-Based Information Systems (CBIS):
– Single set of hardware, software, databases,
telecommunications, people, and procedures:
• Configured to collect, manipulate, store, and
process
data into information

Examples??
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CBIS Business Cycle

CBIS No Paper Work

CBIS Building Blocks

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7
CBIS
Building Blocks
1. Hardware
Computer equipment used to perform input,
processing and output activities.
– Input devices: include keyboards, mice, automatic
scanning devices and Optical Character
Recognition (OCR).
– Processing devices: include computer chips that
contain the Central Processing Unit (CPU) and main
memory.
– Output devices: include computer screens, speakers
and printers. 19
2. Software
• Consists of the computer programs that manage
the operation of the computer
– Two types of software:
System Software – controls basic computer
operations, including start-up, input and output. An
example is Microsoft Windows.
Application Software – allow you to accomplish
specific tasks, including word processing and
drawing charts. An example is Microsoft Excel.
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3. Database

– A database is an organized collection of facts and

information, typically consisting of two or more
related data files
– An organization’s database can contain
information on customers, employees, inventory,
competitors’ sales, online purchases and much
more
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4. Telecommunications
• Telecommunication
– Electronic transmission of signals for communications,
which enables organizations to carry out their
processes and tasks through computer networks

• Networks
– Connect computers and equipment in a building,
around the country, or around the world
– The Internet is the world’s largest computer network,
actually consisting of thousands of interconnected
networks, all freely exchanging information
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Telecommunications
• Intranet:
– Internal network that allows people within an
organization/institution to exchange
information/resources and work on projects

• Extranet:
– Network that allows selected outsiders, such as business
partners and customers, to access authorized resources
of a company’s intranet

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Telecommunications
Network Types
Personal Area Network (PAN)
 The smallest network.
 It is made up of a wireless modem, a computer or two, phones, printers,
etc., and revolves around one person in one building.
 Typically found in small offices or residences.
 Managed by one person or organization from a single device.

Local Area Network (LAN)

 One of the most common types of networks. 
 It connects groups of computers and devices together across short
distances (within a building or between a group of two or three buildings
in close proximity to each other) to share information and resources.
 Enterprises typically manage and maintain LANs. 24
Telecommunications

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

A computer network that interconnects users with computer
resources in a geographic area or region larger than that
covered by even a large local area network (LAN) but smaller
than the area covered by a wide area network (WAN).

Wide Area Network (WAN)

Slightly more complex than a LAN, it connects computers
together across longer physical distances (miles apart).

The Internet is the most basic example of a WAN.

Cloud Computing

Computing environment in which the software and

storage are provided as an Internet service and
accessed with a Web browser.

Types:
- Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
- Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)
- Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
Advantages of Cloud Computing
• No software to install or upgrades to maintain.
• Available from any computer that has access to the
Internet.
• Can scale to a large number of users easily.
• New applications can be up and running very quickly.
• Services can be leased for a limited time on an as-
needed basis.
• Your information is not lost if your hard disk crashes or
your laptop is stolen.
5. People

– People are the most important element in most

computer-based information systems
– The people involved include users of the system
and information systems personnel, including all
the people who manage, run, program, and
maintain the system

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6. Procedures

– Procedures include the strategies, methods, and

rules for using the CBIS, including the operation,
maintenance and security of the computer
– Good procedures can help companies take
advantage
of new opportunities and avoid potential disasters
– Poorly developed and inadequately implemented
procedures can cause people to waste their time or
result in inadequate responses to disasters 29
 Evaluating IS
• How successful the IS has been in achieving
its goals.
• Some approaches to evaluating IS include:
– Productivity – examine how output has changed since
implementation
– Return on Investment – examine how profits have
increased
– Market Share – examine the change in market share
since implementation
– Customer Awareness and Satisfaction – possibly
qualitative measure of satisfaction
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Measuring Success of an IS
Effectiveness vs. Efficiency

Effectiveness is doing the objective correctly.

Efficiency can be defined as, using the

resources optimally where resources could
be memory, CPU, time, files, connections,
databases etc.
Competing with Information Technology

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Competitive Forces and Strategies

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Competitive Forces
If a business wants to succeed, it must
develop strategies to counter these forces:
 Challenge of competitors within its industry
 Threat of new entrants into an industry and its
markets
 Threat posed by substitute products which might
capture market share
 Bargaining power of customers
 Bargaining power of suppliers

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 Five Competitive Strategies
1. Cost Leadership
 Become low-cost producers
 Help suppliers or customers reduce costs
 Increase cost to competitors
Example, Priceline uses online seller bidding, so buyer sets the
price

2. Differentiation Strategy
 Develop ways to differentiate a firm’s products from its
competitors
 Can focus on particular segment or role of market
Example, Moen uses online customer design
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 Competitive Strategies (cont.)
3. Innovation Strategy
Find new ways of doing business
 Unique products or services
 Unique markets
 Radical changes to business processes to alter the
fundamental structure of an industry
Example, Amazon uses online full-service customer systems

4. Growth Strategy
 Expand company’s capacity to produce
 Expand into global markets
 Diversify into new products or services
Example, Wal-Mart uses merchandise ordering by global
satellite tracking
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 Competitive Strategies (cont.)
5. Alliance Strategy
Establish linkages and associations with customers,
suppliers, competitors, consultants and other companies
Includes merges, acquisitions, joint ventures, virtual
companies

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Other Competitive Strategies
1. Lock in customers and suppliers
 Prevent them from switching to competitors
 And lock out competitors
 Build in switching costs
 Make customers and suppliers dependent on the use of
innovative IS

2. Barriers to entry
 Discourage or delay other companies from entering market
 Increase the technology or investment needed to enter

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 Using These Strategies

• The strategies are not mutually exclusive

• Organizations use one, some or all

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 Business Process Reengineering
• One of the most important implementations of
competitive strategies is called BPR or Reengineering:
Fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business
processes to achieve improvements in cost, quality, speed
and service
• BPR combines a strategy of promoting business
innovation with a strategy of making major
improvements to business processes so that a company
can become a much stronger and more successful
competitor in the marketplace
• Potential payback is high
• Risk of failure is also high 40
Global Challenges in Information Systems

• Cultural and language challenges

• Time and distance challenges
• Infrastructure challenges
• Currency challenges
• Product and service challenges
• Technology transfer issues
• State, regional, and national laws
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Differentiate

• Data and information

• Characteristics: accessible and verifiable
• Feedback and knowledge
• Intranet and extranet
• PAN and LAN
• Effectiveness and efficiency
• SaaS and IaaS
List

• Components of information systems

• 4 characteristics of valuable information
• Features of information systems
• Network types
• Competitive strategies
• Advantages of cloud computing
 Replace with Scientific Term
• Converting data into useful outputs.
• Collection of facts organized and processed in such a
way that they have value beyond the individual facts
themselves.
• Awareness and understanding of a set of information.
• Single set of hardware, software, databases,
telecommunications, people, and procedures.
• Information from the system that is used to make
changes to input or processing activities.
• Raw facts.
• Information is delivered when it is needed.
Replace with Keyword(s)

 Fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of

business processes to achieve improvements in
cost, quality, speed and service.
 Using the resources optimally where resources
could be memory, CPU, time and databases.
 A computer network that is covers an area larger
than LAN but smaller than WAN.
 A competitive strategy that establishes linkages and
associations with customers, suppliers,
competitors, and companies to include mergers
and acquisitions. 46
 Complete
 Expand company’s capacity to produce and expand into
global markets are examples of ----- competitive strategy.
 Single set of hardware, software, databases,
telecommunications, people, and procedures configured to
collect, manipulate, store, and process data into information
is called -----.
 ----- is doing the objective correctly.
 Lock in customers and suppliers is considered -----.
 Becoming low-cost producers or increasing cost to
competitors are examples of ----- competitive strategy.
 Internet is an example of a ----- network.
 Productivity, return on Investment and market Share are
approaches to evaluate -----.
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