1: Information System Concepts and Technologies

IT1106 - Information Systems

Level I - Semester 1

Lesson 1: Information System Concepts and Technologies

1. Information System Concepts

2. Managing Information in the Digital World

3. Computer-Based Information Systems

4. Information Technology infrastructure in an organization

5. Components of Information System Infrastructure

. Computer Hardware and Mobile Devices

ii. Computer Software and Mobile Apps

iii. Network, Communication and Cloud Systems

Information System Concepts

Raw data from a supermarket checkout counter can be processed and organized to produce meaningful information, such as the total unit sales of dish detergent or the total sales revenue from dish detergent for a specific store or sales territory.

Characteristics of Quality Information

Accessible - Information should be easily accessible by authorized users so they can obtain it in the right format and at the right time to meet their needs.

Accurate - Accurate information is error free. In some cases inaccurate information is generated because inaccurate data is fed into the transformation process. This is commonly called garbage in, garbage out.

Complete - Complete information contains all the important facts. For example, an investment report that does not include all important costs is not complete.

Economical - Information should also be relatively economical to produce. Decision makers must always balance the value of information with the cost of producing it

Flexible - Flexible information can be used for a variety of purposes. For example, information on how much inventory is on hand for a particular part can be used by a sales representative in closing a sale, by a production manager to determine whether more inventory is needed, and by a financial executive to determine the amount of money the company has invested in inventory.

Relevant - Relevant information is important to the decision maker. Information showing that lumber prices might drop is probably not relevant to a computer chip manufacturer.

Reliable - Reliable information can be trusted by users. In many cases, the reliability of the information depends on the reliability of the data-collection method. In other instances, reliability depends on the source of the information. A rumor from an unknown source that oil prices might go up may not be reliable.

Secure - Information should be secure from access by unauthorized users.

Simple - Information should be simple, not complex. Sophisticated and detailed information may not be needed. In fact, too much information can cause information overload, whereby a decision maker has too much information and is unable to determine what is really important.

Timely - Timely information is delivered when it is needed. Knowing last week's weather conditions will not help when trying to decide what coat to wear today.

Verifiable - Information should be verifiable. This means that you can check it to make sure it is correct, perhaps by checking many sources for the same information

What is a System?

A system is a set of interrelated components, with a clearly defined boundary, working together to achieve a common set of objectives.

Sub System & sub-subsystem

• Subsystem is a system within a system. A system is made up of subsystems.

• A sub-subsystem is a system within a sub system.

Closed Systems versus Open Systems

• Systems can be considered;

• Closed or

• Open

• Open systems exchange information, energy, or material with their environments.

• Biological and social systems are inherently open systems;

• Mechanical systems may be open or closed.

• The concepts of open and closed systems are difficult to defend in the absolute.

• Most of scholars consider this as a relative factor

An Information System

Input - Captures raw data from organization or external environment

Process - Converts raw data into meaningful form

Output - Transfers processed information to people or activities that use it

Computer-Based Information System - Computer-Based Information System

A CBIS can be any organized combination of people, hardware, software, communications networks, data resources, and policies and procedures that stores, retrieves, transforms, and disseminates information in an organization.

Components of a computer-based information system -

Managing Information in the Digital World

•People in the present world are knowledge workers.

• They live in a knowledge society.

• Every organization involved in e-business.

• There are five major technologies that shape the society.

• Mobile

• Social media

• Internet of things

• Cloud computing

• Big data

IT Infrastructure in an Organization

Set of H/W and S/W required to operate entire enterprise

1. Technical-IT infrastructure

• Computer Hardware and Mobile Devices

• Software and Data

• Network Devices

2. Human-IT infrastructure

• Data workers and other IT personnel with knowledge and capabilities required to manage organizational IT resources

Effective IT Infrastructure should be,

Flexible

• Characterized with connectivity,

• compatibility, and

• modularity.

Robust

• provide data and information to users with the appropriate levels of accuracy, timeliness, reliability, security, and confidentiality

• enables employees to perform their duties, having both the available technology and the necessary technological skills

Levels of IT Infrastructure

IT Infrastructure and Business Capability

Information System Infrastructure

I S Resources and Products

People Resources

Specialists - systems analysts, software developers, systems operators.

End Users - anyone else who uses information systems.

Hardware Resources

Machines - computers, video monitors, magnetic disk drives, printers, optical scanners.

Media - floppy disks, magnetic tape, optical disks, plastic cards, paper forms, removable

storage media.

Software Resources

Programs - operating system programs, spreadsheet programs, word processing

programs, payroll programs.

Procedures - data entry procedures, error correction procedures, paycheck distribution

procedures.

Data Resources

Product descriptions, customer records, employee files, inventory databases.

Network Resources

Communications media, communications processors, network access, control software.

Information Products

Management reports and business documents using text and graphics displays, audio

responses, and paper forms.

People Resources

End users : People who use an information system or the information it produces.

• E.g. customers, salespersons, engineers, clerks, accountants, or managers in all levels of an organization

• Includes knowledge workers - who spend most of their time communicating and collaborating in teams and workgroups and creating, using, and distributing information.

Information System specialists: People who develop and operate information systems.

• E.g. systems analysts, software developers, system operators, and other managerial, technical, and clerical IS personnel.

Hardware Resources - Hardware Resources

• An integral part of infrastructure

• All tangible resources

- Computer systems

- Computer peripherals

- Networking devices

Computer Hardware and Mobile Devices

multiple user computers

multiple user computers

Smartphone - Combines a cellphone with a hand-held computer; run apps and text messaging services; access network and the Internet wirelessly
Laptop - Run worker productivity software, access the Internet, play games, listen to music, and watch videos Notebook/Ultrabook - Smaller version of a laptop, with sufficient processing power to run nearly every business application Tablet - Capture data at the point of contact, read email, access the Internet, read e-books, view photos, play games, listen to music, and watch videos

non portable computers

Thin client - Enter data and access applications via internet can be portable or non portable

desktop - Run worker productivity software, access the Internet, play games, listen to music, and watch videos

nettop - Small, limited capacity desktop computer; performs basic tasks such as Internet surfing, accessing Web based applications, document processing, and audio/video play-back[

Workstation - Powerful desktop capable of per-forming engineering, computer aided design, and software development functions

Multiple-User Computers

Server - Execute network and Internet applications

Main frame - Execute computing tasks for large organizations and provide massive data storage

Supercomputers - Run scientific applications; perform intensive number crunching

Peripherals for a Business PC

Monitors.- Bigger is better for computer screens. Consider a high-definition 19-inch or
21-inch flat screen CRT monitor, or LCD flat-panel display. That gives you much more
room to display spreadsheets, Web pages, lines of text, open windows, and so on. An
increasingly popular setup uses two monitors that allow multiple applications to be
used simultaneously.

Printers. Your choice is between laser printers and color inkjet printers. Lasers are
better suited for high-volume business use. Moderately priced color inkjets provide
high-quality images and are well suited for reproducing photographs; per-page costs
are higher than for laser printers.

Scanners. You'll have to decide between a compact, sheet-fed scanner and a flatbed
model. Sheet-fed scanners will save desktop space, while bulkier flatbed models pro-
vide higher speed and resolution.

Hard Disk Drives. Bigger is better; as with closet space, you can always use the extra
capacity. So go for 80 gigabytes at the minimum to 160 gigabytes and more.

CD and DVD Drives. CD and DVD drives are a necessity for software installation and
multimedia applications. Common today is a bi in CD-RW/DVD drive that both reads
and writes CDs and plays DVDs.

Backup Systems. Essential. Don't compute without them. Removable magnetic disk
drives and even CD-RW and DVD-RW drives are convenient and versatile for backing up
your hard drive's contents.

Hardware solutions

• Fluctuating computing needs - On-demand computing

• Large scale problems – Grid computing

• Cost issues related to bandwidth and processing speed - Edge computing

• Low reliability and high maintenance cost - Autonomic computing

• Cost, access and software select and update issues - Cloud Computing

On-demand Computing

•Allocate available resources based on users’ needs (on a pay-per-use basis)

•Rent resources from an external provider- Utility computing

• Rent resources for processing, data storage, or networking, on an as-needed basis

• Tenant receives a monthly bill for the services used
• All charges are added to the utility bill
• Service provider should do the tasks such as managing, maintaining, and upgrading the infrastructure

Grid Computing - Network Computing

To overcome cost or use limitations

 Supercomputers are very expensive, cannot afford or justify

 Some tasks are beyond the capacity of a available supercomputers

 Can solve very large-scale problems as well as multiple smaller problems

 Dedicated grids

- To perform the grid’s computing tasks and

- Overcome speed issues

Edge computing

For bandwidth and processing speed issues

Autonomic computing

self awareness

self configuring
self optimizing
self healing
self protecting

Green Computing

•Minimize the impact on the environment

•Adopt better practices and technologies for designing, developing, using and disposing hardware •Reduce power consumption

IS Infrastructure: Software

 Organizations have to rely on a variety of different software

 Continuously upgrading OSs and applications can be a huge cost factor (for labour and s/w)

 S/W infrastructure mgt. Approaches

- using open-source software,

- integrating various software tools

- using application service providers

Using Open Source Applications

 Open Source – free and source code is available for use and/or modification

 Open source operating systems - e.g. Linux

 Open source application software – e.g. Apache Web Server

Integrating software tools

 Using software products which can interoperate very well

 Using web services which allow interaction of different programs and databases over a network (service-oriented architecture - SOA)

e.g. Google to integrate search functionality and

MapQuest to provide guests with an interactive map to the company head office and branches

Software Types

Systems software

Personal - Smartphone, tablet, personal computer, and workstation operating systems
Work group - Network operating systems
Enterprise - Server and mainframe operating systems

Application software

Personal - Word-processing, spreadsheet, database, and graphics programs
Work group - Email, group-scheduling, shared-work, and collaboration applications
Enterprise - General-ledger, order-entry, payroll, and human-resources applications

Software Architectures

Cloud computing

- A computing method of providing software and virtualized hardware resources as a service over the Internet.

- Uses a network of remote servers hosted on the Internet to store, manage, and process data

IS Infrastructure: Networks

Communication and collaboration

Convergence of functionality: Devices offer a variety of different functionalities

IP Convergence - Voice and data traffic shares a common network infrastructure

Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) -

A technology that allows you to make voice calls using a broadband Internet connection instead of a regular (or analog) phone line.

e.g. Skype

Video Conferencing

IS Infrastructure: Data Resources
Different Types of Databases

To support business processes and gather business data

 Online transaction processing (OLTP) systems

 Online analytical processing (OLAP) systems

 Transactional and analytical processing

- Operational systems : Interact with customers and run a business in real time

- Informational systems : support decision making based on stable point-in-time or historical data

Operational systems - Information is gathered, processed, and updated

Information Systems - Information is analyzed

01.Information System Concepts and Technologies