The Basics of Information Systems

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The Basics of Information Systems
Andrea Carlin Computing
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What is an Information System?

• An Information System is a set of interrelated
  components that Collect, Manipulate, and Organise
  data and information and also to provide a
  feedback mechanism to meet an objective.

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Data versus Information

• Data Consists of raw facts, such as an
  employees name and number of hours worked in a
  week, or sales orders.
• Information A collection of facts(or data)
  organised in such a way that they have additional
  value beyond the value of the facts themselves.
• Process Turning Data into Information.

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The Process of Transforming Data into Information
The Transformation Process (applying Knowledge
by selecting Organising and Manipulating Data)
Data
Information
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The Components of an information System
As mentioned previously, an Information System
(IS) is a set of Interrelated elements or
components that collect (input), Manipulate
(process) and Disseminate (output) data
Information And provide a feedback mechanism to
meet an objective.
Processing
Input
Output
feedback
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Types of Information Systems

• 1 Manual Information Systems
• Eg. Some investment analysts manually draw charts
  and trend lines to assist them in making
  investment decisions.
• 2 Computerised Information Systems
• The majority of Information Systems now are
  Computer based.

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Computer Based Information Systems

• Computer based information systems (CBIS) consist
  of
• Hardware
• Software
• Databases
• Telecommunicatios
• People
• Eg. Payroll Systems, stock control systems.

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Types of Computer Based Information Systems

• The most common types of Information
• Systems used in Business Organisations are
• 1. Electronic Commerce Systems
• 2. Transaction Processing Systems
• 3. Decision Support Systems
• 4. Management Information Systems
• 5. Expert Information Systems

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1. Electronic Commerce Systems

• E-commerce involves any business transaction
  executed electronically between parties such as
  companies (business-to- business), companies to
  consumers (business-to-consumers)
• Eg. on-line shopping (fastest growing segment as
  consumers are becoming more confident with the
  use of the internet

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2. Transaction Processing Systems

• A Transaction is any business-related exchange
  such as payments to employees, sales to
  customers.
• A Transaction Processing System (TPS), is an
  organised collection of people, procedures,
  software, databases and devices used to record
  completed business transactions.

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Transaction Processing Systems

• One of the first business systems to be
  computerised was the payroll system. The primary
  inputs for a payroll TPS are the number of
  employee hours worked during the week and pay
  rate The primary output consists of pay
  cheques.
• Consider what would happen if an organisation had
  to function without a TPS for even one day. How
  many employees would be paid?? if paid how many
  of them would be correct??

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Transaction Processing Systems

• Transaction Processing systems are used for
  routine, repetitive and ordinary business
  transactions, but transactions that are critical
  to the daily function of that business.

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Example of a Transaction Prcessing System
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3. Decision Support Systems

• A Decision Support System (DSS), is an organised
  collection of people, procedures, software,
  databases and devices used to support
  problem-specific decision making.
• The focus of a DSS is on decision making
  effectiveness.
• A DSS helps a manager do the right thing

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Decision Support Systems

• DSS are used when the problem is complex and the
  information needed to make the best decision is
  difficult to obtain and use.
• A DSS operates from a managerial perspective and
  it recognises that different managerial styles
  and decision types require different systems.

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Decision Support System
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4. Management Information Systems

• A Management Information System (MIS) is an
  organised collection of people, procedures,
  software, databases and devices used to provide
  routine information to managers.
• The focus of an MIS is primarily on operational
  efficiency. Marketing, production, finance and
  other functional areas are supported by MIS and
  linked through a common database

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Management Information Systems

• Management information systems typically provide
  standard reports generated with data and
  information from the transaction processing
  system.
• Eg. A summary report of total payroll costs might
  help an accounting manager control future payroll
  costs.

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Management Information Systems

• One report from one department may be useful to a
  manager in another department. For instance, the
  total payroll summary report produced initially
  for an accounting manager might also be useful to
  a production manager to help monitor and control
  labour and job costs.

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Expert System

• Expert Systems give the computer the ability to
  make suggestions and act like an expert in a
  particular field.
• The unique value of expert systems is that they
  allow organisations to capture and use the wisdom
  of experts and specialists.
• Expert systems can be applied to almost any field.

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Expert System

• Expert Systems have been used to monitor complex
  systems such as nuclear reactors, perform medical
  diagnoses, perform credit evaluations.
• The collection of data, rules, procedures and
  relationships that must be followsed to achieve
  value or proper outcome is contained in the
  expert systems Knowledge Base.

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Part 2
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The Information Systems Department

• Many large organisations have a department
  deadicated to information systems with their
  organisation, we will look at
• The Role of the IS Department
• Role Players in an IS Department

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The Role of the Information Systems Department

• The Information Systems (IS) department is
  responsible for designing, building, and managing
  an organization's information systems.
• In years past, the IS department served only the
  informational needs of managers. Today, the IS
  team supports all workers in a business.

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The Role of the IS Department

• An IS department's tasks include
• designing,
• planning,
• installing,
• maintaining systems,
• generating reports,
• cost control.

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Role Players in an IS Department

• An IS department can include many members with
  many different skills. A large IS staff may
  include

• Managers
• Computer Scientists
• Systems Analysts
• Trainers
• Programmers
• Database Specialists
• System or Network Managers