Introduction to Information

Systems
What is an Information
System?
An information system can be defined
technically as a set of interrelated
components that collect (or retrieve),
process, store, and distribute
information to support decision making
and control in an organization.
What is an Information
System?
In addition to supporting decision making,
coordination, and control, information systems
may also help managers and workers analyze
problems, visualize complex subjects, and
create new products.
Business firms and other organizations rely on
Information systems to carry out and manage
their operations, interact with their customers
and suppliers, and compete in the market place.
What is an Information
System?
Information systems contain information
about significant people, places, and things
within the organization or in the
environment surrounding it.
Information and Data
Information means data that have been
shaped into a form that is meaningful and
useful to human beings.
Data are streams of raw facts representing
events occurring in organizations or the
physical environment before they have been
organized and arranged into a form that
people can understand and use.
Information and Data
A brief example contrasting information and
data may prove useful. Supermarket
checkout counters scan millions of pieces of
data from barcodes, which describe each
product.
Information and Data
Such pieces of data can be totaled and
analyzed to provide meaningful
information, such as the total number of
bottles of dish detergent sold at a particular
store, which brands of dish detergent were
selling the most rapidly at that store or
sales territory, or the total amount spent on
that brand of dish detergent at that store or
sales region
Basic activities in Information
System
There three activities in an information
system produce the information that
organizations need to make decisions,
control operations, analyze problems,
and create new products or services.
These activities are input, processing, and
output.
Basic activities in Information
System
Input captures or collects raw data from within the
organization or from its meaningful form. external
environment.
Processing converts this raw input into a
Output transfers the processed information to the people
who will use it or to the activities for which it will be used.
Information systems also require feedback, which is
output that is returned to appropriate members of the
organization to help them evaluate or correct the input
stage.
Basic activities in Information
System
An information system contains information
about an organization and its surrounding
environment.
Three basic activities—input, processing, and
output—produce the information
organizations need.
Basic activities in Information
System
Feedback is output returned to appropriate
people or activities in the organization to
evaluate and refine the input.
Environmental actors, such as customers,
suppliers, competitors, stockholders, and
regulatory agencies, interact with the
organization and its information systems.
Components of Information
System
The following are components of Information
System:
Resources of people: (end users and IS specialists,
system analyst, programmers, data administrators etc.).
Hardware: (Physical computer equipment's and
associate device, machines and media).
Software: (programs and procedures).
Data: (data and knowledge bases),
Networks: (communications media and network
support).
People Resources
End users: (also called users or clients)
are people who use an information
system or the information it produces.
They can be accountants, salespersons,
engineers, clerks, customers, or
managers.
Most of us are information system end
users.
People Resources
IS Specialists: people who actually
develop and operate information systems.
They include systems analysts,
programmers, testers, computer
operators, and other managerial,
technical, and clerical IS personnel.
People Resources
Briefly, systems analysts design information
systems based on the information
requirements of end uses, programmers
prepare computer programs based on the
specifications of systems analysts, and
computer operators operate large
computer systems.
Hardware Resources
Machines: as computers and other
equipment along with all data media,
objects on which data is recorded and
saved.
Computer systems: consist of variety of
interconnected peripheral devices.
The hardware part includes input, output,
storage and processing devices such as
keyboard, mouse etc..
Software Resources
Software Resources includes all sets of
information processing instructions.
This generic concept of software includes
not only the programs, which direct and
control computers but also the sets of
information processing (procedures).
Software Resources
Software Resources includes:
System software, such as an operating system
Application software, which are programs that direct
processing for a particular use of computers by end
users.
Procedures, which are operating instructions for the
people, who will use an information system.
Examples are instructions for filling out a paper form
or using a particular software package.
Data Resources
Data resources include data (which is raw
material of information systems) and
database. Data can take many forms,
including traditional alphanumeric data,
composed of numbers and alphabetical and
other characters that describe business
transactions and other events and entities.
Data Resources
Text data, consisting of sentences and
paragraphs used in written
communications; image data, such as
graphic shapes and figures; and audio data,
the human voice and other sounds, are also
important forms of data.
Data Resources
Data resources must meet the following criteria:
Comprehensiveness: means that all the data
about the subject are actually present in the
database.
Non-redundancy: means that each individual
piece of data exists only once in the database.
Appropriate structure: means that the data are
stored in such a way as to minimize the cost of
expected processing and storage.
Network Resources
Telecommunications networks like the
Internet, intranets, and extranets have
become essential to the successful
operations of all types of organizations and
their computer-based information systems.
Telecommunications networks consist of
computers, communications processors,
and other devices interconnected by
communications media and controlled by
communications software.
Network Resources
The concept of Network Resources
emphasizes that communications networks
are a fundamental resource component of all
information systems. Network resources
include:
Communications media: such as twisted pair
wire, coaxial cable, fiber-optic cable,
microwave systems, and communication
satellite systems.
Network Resources
Network support: This generic category
includes all of the people, hardware,
software, and data resources that directly
support the operation and use of a
communications network.
Examples include communications control
software such as network operating
systems and Internet packages.
Group Assignment
1. Identify various Information
Systems used in Procurement
and Supply Chain Management
2. Discuss on the features of the
identified information systems
above