Information systems
Wireless options
Bluetooth near filed communications (NFC) Ultra wideband (UWB) Wi-Fi Computer Network
Input & out put devices
Humans interact with computers systems through input & out put devices. - input device gathers the data & converts them into electronic form for use by the computer. Output devices display data after they have been processed
Wireless communication
Radio frequency range microwave frequency range infrared frequency range
Level 0 DFD
Show processes, but keep them general. Show data stores & external entities at this level. DFD must be consistent with the context diagram & it models system requirements using a single process for each event in a system or subsystem. It includes: • All the main processes (functions) • All the external agents • All the same data flows between the system & external agents
Intelligent Agents
consists of programs & a knowledge base used to perform a specific task for a person, a process, or another program . Like a sports agent who searches for the best endorsement deals for a top athlete, an intelligent agent often searches to find the best price, schedule, or solution to a problem.
Organisational environment
current challenges faced by business under the headings of globalisation, intense competition, ethics and social responsibility, speed of responsiveness, the digital workplace and diversity.
Computer crime
cyber terrorism identity theft Computer Crime Illegal Access & Use Data Alteration & Destruction Information Theft
Business processes are
deffinability order customer value adding embeddeness cross functionality
Artificial Intelligence
describe computers with the ability to mimic or duplicate the functions of the human brain.
Decentralized processing
devices are placed at varies remote locations. Each processing device is isolated & does not communicate with any other processing device. Decentralized systems are suitable for companies that have independent operating units.
stakeholder system owner
an information system's sponsor and executive advocate, usually responsible for funding the project of developing, operating, and maintaining the information system.
Enterprise Software
benefits an entire organization can also be developed or purchased. Some software vendors, such as SAP, specialize in developing software for enterprises.
Affiliate Revenue Model
sites that steer business to an affiliate receive a referral fee of a percentage of the revenue from any resulting sales.
value chain
suppliers (inputs) business (adds value) consumer (outputs)
Purpose of an Information system
the overall goal or function of a system
Guided transmission media
twisted pair wire, coaxial cable fiber optic cable broadband over power lines
Environment of an Information system
everything external to a system that interacts with the system
Foundation Concepts
fundamental behavioral, technical, business, and managerial concepts related to the components and roles of information systems.
Level 1
is a DFD that is generated from nested decompositions from a level-0 diagram. Level 1 DFDs include sub-processes & data flows only.
Servers
is a computer used by many to perform a specific task, such as running a network of computers or internet applications. Servers have large memory & storage capacities, & fast & efficient communications abilities. A web server is used to handle internet traffic & communications.
Database management systems (DBMS)
is a group of programs used as an interface between a database & application program or a database & the user. The capabilities & types of database systems however vary considerable.
E-commerce
is the conducting of business activities (e.g., distribution, buying, selling, marketing, & servicing of products or services) electronically over computer networks such as the Internet, extranets, & corporate networks.
Strategic management
is the process by which an organization establishes its objectives, formulates actions designed to achieve these objectives in the desired time-scales, implements the actions and assesses progress and results.
Business Intelligence (BI)
BI is the process of gathering enough of the right information in a timely manner & useable form & analyzing it so that it can have a positive impact on business strategy, tactics or operations. BI turns data into useful information that is then distributed throughout an enterprise.
Team-Based structures
Based around self-directed teams that complete an entire piece of work, such as making a product or delivering a service. Usually organic they improve cross boundary cooperation, but can be costly to maintain both as regards the stress put on leaders and the training costs.
The two fundamental processes in organisational structures are:
Division of Labor: Subdivision of work into separate jobs which are assigned to different people, leading to job specialization. Coordinating work activities: Ensuring that everybody works in concert. It can be achieved through: informal communication, formal hierarchy and standardization.
Business Information System - general management level
Higher-level systems include management information systems (MIS), decision support systems (DSS), artificial intelligence and expert systems. Expert systems apply the expertise of decision makers to solve specific, structured problems.
Procedural Knowledge:
Know-how knowledge. Focuses on beliefs relating to sequences of steps or actions to desired (or undesired) outcomes -such as riding a bike
SWOT
Strengths, Weakness, Opportunity, Threats pulling together the results of the examination of both the external environment within which a company operates and the internal environment.
Primary Key
The candidate key that is selected to uniquely identify each occurrence of an entity type.
Span of control:
The number of people directly reporting to the next level in the hierarchy. It is interconnected with organisational size and the number of layers in the organisational hierarchy.
Intelligent Systems for Decision Support
Fuzzy Logic Neural Networks Genetic Algorithms Intelligent Agents Knowledge Management Systems
Transaction Processing Systems (TPS)
These systems include order entry, inventory control, payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, & the general ledger, to name just a few. The input to these systems includes basic business transactions such as customer orders, purchase orders, receipts, time cards, invoices, & customer payments
Knowledge:
Knowledge is similar to data and information but is richer, deeper and more valuable than the others. Knowledge is information that enables actions or decisions. For example recognising that a 'phone number belongs to a good client, who needs to be called once a week to get orders. Knowledge in an area comprises justified beliefs about relationships among concepts relevant to that particular area. These beliefs are justified by understanding, theory and practice.
PIECES
P - Performance- the need to improve performance I - Information - the need to improve information (and data) E-Economics - the need to improve economics, control cost, or increase profits C-Control - the need to improve control or security E-Efficiency - the need to improve efficiency of people & processes S-Service - the need to improve service to customers, suppliers, partners, employees ect.
Modelling Organisational Environments
PESTLE and Five-Forces -both used for analysing the external environment, and MOST and Resource Audit -both use for analysing the internal environment. SWOT analysis pulls together analyses of both the external environment and internal environments in which a company operates.
Resource Audit
The resources of an organisation may help to develop a competitive edge, particularly if they are deployed effectively, for example by using staff with exceptional skills to provide a better service for customers. Alternatively, the absence or misuse of these resources may actually be a barrier to success. A resource audit may be carried out in order to identify and classify an organisation's resources, such as Physical, Financial, and Human resources, Reputation, and Know-how.
Cloud computing
The use of resources & applications hosted remotely on the Internet & accessed on a 'pay per use' basis. The term comes from the image of a cloud to represent the Internet or some large networked environment.
business process can be
an activity a resource a facility information
Constraints of an Information system
a limit to what a system can accomplish
Subscription Revenue Model
a web site that offers its users content or service charges a subscription fee for access to some or all of its offerings.
Attributes
are a characteristic or property of an entity that must be recorded by the information system.
Online analytical processing (OLAP)
are designed to speed up the retrieval of data. Because the OLAP server computes the summarized values, less data to be sent to excel when you create or change a report. This approach enables you to work with much larger amounts of source data than you could if the data were organized in a traditional database.
Knowledge Management Systems
attempt to help organizations achieve their goals. For businesses, it can mean providing better customer service or providing special needs to people & groups. Many types of firms use KMS's to increase profits or reduce costs.
IS project management life cycle
four main phases are Initiating, Planning, Executing Closing down
Neural Network
is a computer system that can act like or simulate the functioning of a human brain. These systems use massively parallel processors in an architecture that is based on the human brain's own mesh- like structure. In addition, neural network software can be used to simulate a neural network using standard computers. Neural networks can process many pieces of data at once & learn to recognize patterns.
E-Commerce Revenue Models
advertising - yahoo subscription- ancestry.com transaction fee- eBay sales- Amazon affiliate- My points
Database
An organized collection of facts and information. EG Product descriptions, customer records, employee files, inventory database
Entities
commonly defined as a person, place, object, event or concept, that the information system stores data about,
Use-case diagrams
depict the use cases & actors for a system.
characteristics of valuable information
Accurate, Complete, Economical, flexible, Reliable, relevant, simple, timely, verifiable, accessible, secure.
Types of database
flat file is a simple database program that has no relationship between its records & is often used to store & manipulate a single table or file. Many spreadsheets & word processing programs have flat file capabilities. These software packages can sort tables & make simple calculations & comparisons. Single file Database for personal computers are often meant for a single user. Multiple Users Large mainframe computer systems need multi-users DBMSs. These more powerful, expensive systems allow dozens or hundreds of people to access the same database systems at the same time.
Problem Solving
intelligence, design & choice, implementation and monitoring
Waterfall Development Methodology
is a sequential development process, in which development is seen as lowing steadily downwards through the phases of requirements- analysis, design, implementation, testing (validation), integration, & maintenance
An Information System
is a system that accepts data resources as input and processes them into information products as output. information systems are reliant on: the resources of people , hardware, software, data , and networks to perform the input, processing, output, storage, and control activities that convert data resources into information products.
MAN
is a telecommunications network that connect users & their computers in a geographical area that spans a campus or city. Most MAN's have a range of approximately 50-150 Kilometers.
PAN
is a wireless network that connects information technology devices within a range of up to 10 meters. Once device serves as the controller during wirless PAN initialization, & this controller device mediates communication within the PAN
SDLC
software development life cycle
Fuzzy logic
technique for processing linguistic terms. It extends the notions of logic beyond simple true/false statements to allow for partial (or even continuous) truth
Scrum
uses small teams to produce small pieces of software using a series of sprints, to achieve an appointed goal
Data
Customarily defined as observations of the state of the world, as facts about events, or records of transactions such as amounts sold or purchased. can be qualitative as well as quantitative easily structured, captured and transferred. it is information in a minimal form and in this sense can be regarded as representing the raw material of information
The Dynamic External Environment of Business and its Stakeholders
Changing social expectations: Emphasis on ethical reasoning and actions: Globalization: Government regulation: Dynamic natural environment: New technology and innovation:
Mechanistic structures:
Characterised by a narrow span of control and a high degree of formalisation and centralisation. They have many rules and procedures, tasks are rigidly defined with limited decision-making at the lower levels.
CBIS
Computer based information system a single set of hardware, software, database, telecommunications, people, & procedures that are configured to collect, manipulate, store & process data into information
Networks
Computers and equipment that are connected within a building, domestically, or globally to enable electronic communication.
Declarative Knowledge:
Know-what knowledge. Deals with facts (or substantive knowledge) and focuses on beliefs about relationships between variables. It can be stated in the form of propositions, expected correlations or formulae relating concepts represented as variables.
Specific knowledge:
Knowledge possessed by a limited number of individuals and expensive to transfer. This can include 'technically-specific knowledge', which is a deep knowledge of a particular area, its tools and techniques, such as say, knowledge of computer engineering. It can also include 'contextually specific knowledge', which is knowledge of particular circumstances of time and place in which work is to be performed.
Internet
The world's largest computer network, consisting of thousands of interconnected networks, all freely exchanging information.
Types of information
Structured information: presented in reports, tables graphs. Unstructured information: delivered verbally or ad-hoc. Formal information: part of established reporting and communication. Informal information: ad-hoc communication such as conversations or email
Telecommunications
The electronic transmission of signals for communications; enabling organisations to conduct their processes and tasks via effective computer networks. It also includes: Networks, Internet, People, Procedures.
Network topology
Networks that link & computers devices provide for flexible processing Bus, Ring, Star, Hybrid, Hierarchical, Mesh
Operating system
is one of the most significant pieces of system software. Every computer has some sort of operating system, the variety & complexity of the operating system depending on the type of computer system & the roles it must carry out. Common examples are Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Unix, & Linux, & there are many others. The broad role of an operating system is to manage the resources of the computer system so that the system will meet the needs of the user & the application software as efficiently as possible.
LAN
a network that connects computer systems & devices with a small area such as an office, home
components of an Information system
a part or aggregation of parts that make up a sub-system
Enterprise Systems
central to an organization & ensures information can be shared across all business functions & all levels of management to support the running & managing of a business. Enterprise systems employ a database of key operational & planning data that can be shared by all parts of the enterprise.
Application software
consists of programs that help users solve particular computing problems. Application software can also be stored on CS's, DVD's & even flash or keychain storage USB devices. Application software is key to helping you achieve your data processing goals.
Online transaction processing (OLTP)
The raw data necessary to make sound business decisions is stored in a variety of locations & formats. This data is initially captured, stored & managed by transaction processing systems that are designed to support the day to day operations of the organizations. for decades, organizations have collected operational, sales & financial data with their online transactions processing (OLTP) systems.
Control
control involves monitoring monitoring and evaluating feedback to determine whether a system is moving towards its goal. the control function also delivers the necessary adjustments to a systems input and processing components to ensure that it produces valid output.
Information
described as data put into some kind of context or, alternatively, as data endowed with relevance and purpose. Information can thus be regarded as some form of processed data, as data to which, through human intervention, some form of value has been added. information can be regarded as some form of communication, as a message extracted from data by an individual for transmission to a receiver
Hardware
any physical machinery that assists in the input, processing, storage & output actions of an information system. Organizations invest in computer hardware & software to improve productivity of their employees; to increase revenue; to reduce cost & to provide better customer service.
Management Information Systems (MIS)
is an integrated collection of people, procedures, databases, & devices that provide managers & decision makers with information to help achieve organizational goals. an MIS provides managers with information, typically in reports, that support effective decision making & provides feedback on daily operations
Information Technologies
major concepts, developments, and management issues related to information technology, Business Applications: the major uses of information systems for the operation, management, and competitive activities of a business.
Decision making
phase of the problem solving process splits into three stages: intelligence, design & choice.
Interfaces of an Information system
points of contact where a system meets its environment or where subsystems meet each other
Organisational Structure
defined as the division of labour and the patterns of coordination, communication, workflow and formal power that direct organisational activities.
Business Process
process is a set of related activities for accomplishing a function. Business processes are often associated within functional areas of business, but a more fundamental level, business processes can help us to understand how businesses perform their work and provide value for customers.
Business Information Systems
integration of their systems to allow a freer flow of information, and greater flexibility and functionality than any individual system could provide.
Processing
the activity of converting or transforming data into useful outputs- can involve calculations, data comparisons taking alternative actions and storing data for future use.
Input
the activity of gathering and capturing raw data
Output
the activity of producing useful information ie documents and reports
Prototyping
the analyst works with users to determine the initial or basic requirements for the system. The analyst then actively builds a prototype. When the prototype is completed, the users work with it & discuss the pros & cons with the analyst. The analyst uses this feedback to improve the prototype & takes the new version back to the users
Boundary of an Information system
the line that marks the inside and outside of a system and that delineates the system from its environment
Network structures
Bus - all devices connected on a single line. Ring - all devices connected in a circle. Star - has a central hub that controls all devices on network. Hybrid - combination of 2 or more topologies depending on the needs of the organization. Hierarchical- uses tree like structure to pass information along all of the branches. Mesh - every device/computer is connected to every device/computer on the network.
Dimensions of organisational culture
1 )Attention to detail - 2) Outcome Orientation- 3) People Orientation- 4) Team Orientation- 5) Aggressiveness - 6) Stability- 7) Innovation and risk taking-
Culture has 3 layers
1) Artefacts and creations: Visible organizational structures, processes and behaviour. Easy to observe but difficult to decipher. 2) Espoused values: Strategies, goals and philosophies which explain much of the behaviour at artefactual level. 3) Basic underlying assumptions: Unconscious, taken for granted beliefs and feelings that are the ultimate source of values and action
Types of knowledge
Declarative Knowledge, procedural knowledge, explicit knowledge, tacit knowledge, general knowledge and specific knowledge.
SDLC 5 common phases
investigation, analysis, design, implementation maintenance & review.
Data warehouse
is a database that holds business information from many sources in the enterprise, covering all aspects of the company's processes, products & customers. The data ware house provides users with a multidirectional view of the data they need to analyses business conditions. allow managers to drill down to get more detail or roll up to take detailed data & generate aggregate or summary reports. Is designed specifically to support management decision making, not the need of transaction processing systems. stores historical data that have been extracted from operational systems & external data stores.
The hierarchy of data
Bit Byte Field Record File Database
organisational strategy
1)Developing a strategic vision 2) Focusing on objectives 3) Crafting a strategy to achieve the objectives 4) Executing the strategy 5) Monitoring and evaluating developmentments and initiating corrective adjustments
Porter's five forces analysis
1)Industry competitors: intensity of rivalry among firms in the industry. 2)New entrants: threats of new competitors entering the market 3) Suppliers: bargaining power of suppliers. 4) Customers: bargaining power of buyers. 5) Substitutes: threats of substitute products or services
Two key features of Organisations
1)collective entities, made up of employers and employees interacting in an organized way which entails a level of communication, coordination and collaboration in order to achieve organisational objectives. 2)Members have a collective sense of purpose, which is not always well defined or agreed on, but nevertheless is embodied in statements of vision, mission, goals and objectives.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
A CRM system is a repository of customer information that records all of the contacts that a customer has with an organization (including web sites) & generates a customer profile available to everyone in the organization with a need to 'know the customer'. CRM systems also supply the analytical software required to analyze & use customer information.
Grid computing
A collection of computers, often geographically dispersed but coordinated, employing the combined processing power to solve common problems
Sub-system of an Information system
A group of components with a related goal
Model drive analysis
A problem -solving approach that emphasizes the drawing of pictorial system models to document & validate existing and/or proposed systems. Ultimately, the system model becomes the blueprint for designing & constructing an improved system
types of data
Alphanumeric Data: Numbers, letters and other characters Image Data: Graphic images and pictures Audio Data: Sound, noise, or tones Video Data: Moving images or pictures
Centralisation/decentralisation:
Centralization involves formal decision-making authority being held by a small group at the top of the hierarchy. Decentralization happens as organisations grow and become more complex and senior management is unable to process every decision.
Network resources
Communication media, communications processors, network access and control software.
Definitions of the Characteristics of an Information System
Components, Sub-systems, Inter-relationships, Boundary Purpose, Environment, Interfaces, Inputs, Outputs, Constraints.
Matrix structure
Comprising both functions and teams or alternatively, geography and products/services or client groups (shown in Figure 2-5). Make good use of resources and focus employees on client service, but can lead to conflict between managers and dilute accountability.
People resources
EG specialists: system analysts, software developers, systems operators. End Users: anyone else who uses the information system.
Virtual verse Physical value chain
Enterprises take inputs from suppliers to which they add value to create outputs to be consumed by others. supplier (inputs) to business (adds value) to consumer (outputs). Virtual value chains involve the transfer of raw information into products & the delivery of value to users electronically. physical value chain is the flow of physical goods or services from supplier to which the business adds value and then to the consumer .
Explicit knowledge
Formal, identifiable and easy to capture and transmit. Knowledge that has been expressed in words or numbers and that can be shared formally and systematically in the form of data, specifications, manuals, drawings, audio and video, computer programs and so on.
business information systems knowledge
Foundation Concepts Information Technologies: Development Processes: Management challenges: the challenges of effectively & ethically managing information technology at the end-user, enterprise & global levels of a business
Data Base
Generally speaking we can conclude that the purpose of a database is to keep track of data, including meta-data, typically around a number of inter-related themes & to allow shared access to the data while protecting the integrity of the data. There should be data integrity mechanisms. A database should allow shared access by a number of different users simultaneously A Database should support a query language A database is self describing
Simple structures:
Have few people, minimal hierarchy and are flexible with the owner frequently coordinating work activities.
Tacit knowledge:
Informal, tied to the senses and innate personal skills and not always possible to articulate. Such knowledge is considered tacit unless it can be verbalised in the form of a document that others can use
Feedback
Information from a system used to make changes or processing activities.
Computer network types
Local area network (LAN) WAN wide area network PAN Personal Area Network MAN Metropolitan network
Information products
Management reports and business, documents using text and graphics displays, audio response, and paper forms.
Storage
Memory is important, however it only provides a small amount of storage rea for the data & instructions the CPU requires for processing. Computer systems also need to store larger amounts of data, instructions & information more permanently that main memory allows. Secondary storage, also called permanent storage, serves this purpose. Compared to memory secondary storage offers advantages of non-volaitity, greater capacity & greater economy. Common forms of secondary storage include:
Agile Methodology
Methodologies as current approaches to systems development that focus on adaptive methodologies, on people instead of roles, & an overall self-adaptive development process. There are three key principles involved: • A focus on adaptive rather than predictive methodologies • A focus on people rather than roles, and • A self-adaptive process An agile project sets a minimum number of requirements & turns them into a deliverable product. The advantages include fast & efficient, small & nimble, lower cost, fewer features, & shorter projects
MOST
Mission, Objectives, Strategy and Tactics. helps the analyst to understand a company's current business strategy and the inherent strengths and weaknesses of the organisation.
Organic structures
Operate with a wide span of control, decentralised decisionmaking and little formalisation. Tasks are fluid and adjust to new situations and organisational need
Types of Business Information System
Operational level, Knowledge level, General management level , Strategic management
Functional structures:
Organised around specific knowledge or other resources. They create specialized pools of talent for the organisation and can both provide economies of scale and identification with the function. they are limited in that they tend to focus attention on specific skills rather than on product, service or client needs. A functional area is an area of specialization linked to expertise in for example Production, Sales and Marketing, Finance, IT and Human Resources .
Business Information System - strategic management level
Organizations reliant on groups to make consensual, informed decisions. Some systems, such as executive support systems (ESS), group decision support systems (GDSS) and computer-supported collaborative work systems (CSCWS) aid group-level decision making of a semi-structured or unstructured variety.
examples of information system resources and products
People resources: Specialists: systems analysts, software developers, systems operators, End Users: anyone else who uses the information system. Hardware resources: Machines: computers, video monitors, magnetic disk drives, printers, optical scanners, Media: floppy disks, magnetic tape, optical disks, plastic cards, paper forms. Software resources:Programs: operating system programs, spreadsheet programs, word processing programs, payroll programs. Procedures: data entry procedures, error correction procedures, pay cheque distribution procedures. Data resources:Product descriptions, customer records, employee files, inventory database. Network resources:Communications media, communications processors, network access and control software. Information Products:Management reports and business documents using text and graphics displays, audio response, and paper forms.
Pestle analysis
Political, Economic, Socio-cultural, Technological, Legal and Environmental. Provides a framework for examining the external influences that impact an organisation and which can shape how it develops and behaves.
E-Commerce Business Models
Portal - Yahoo E-Tailer - amazon Content Provider -itunes Transaction Broker - ETrade.com Market Creator - eBay.com
General knowledge
Possessed by a large number of individuals and easily transferred across them. An example would be an understanding of the rules of football or knowledge of teams in a football competition.
Network structures:
Products or services are provided through alliances of companies surrounding a hub or core firm. Based on the realization that any organisation has only a few core competencies. Offers the flexibility to realign strategies with environmental requirements and also efficiencies in enabling the core firm to shop worldwide for resources or sub-contract to others best placed to provide them. Has the potential disadvantage of exposing the core firm to wider market forces and limits the amount of control exercised
RAD
Rapid Application Development a system development approach that employs tools, techniques, & methodologies designed to speed application development
Divisional structures
Sometimes called multidivisional or M-form, they group employees from geographical areas, outputs, products/services, or clients, They can enable growth and will focus employee attention on products or customers rather than on tasks.
Departmentalisation:
Specifies how employees and their activities are grouped together. It enhances coordination because it establishes the chain of command, focuses people around common mental models and encourages coordination through informal communication among people and sub-units
organisational strategies
Strategy is the means by which organisations seek to meet objectives
Supply Chain Management (SCM)
Supply chain management systems continuously link the activities of buying, making & moving products from suppliers to purchasing firms, as well as integrating the demand side of the business equation by including the order entry system in the process. With an SCM system & continuous replenishment, inventory is eliminated & production begins only when an order is received
3 vital roles adopted by a business information system
Support strategies for competitive advantage Support business decision making Support business processes & operations
Internet Governance
The Internet Society provides leadership in addressing issues that confront the future of the Internet, & is the organizational home for the groups responsible for Internet infrastructure standards, including the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) & the Internet Architecture Board (IAB)
software
The computer programs that govern the computer's operations. EG: programs: operating system programs, spreadsheet programs, word processing programs, payroll programs. Procedures: data entry procedures, error correction procedures, pay cheque distribution procedures.
Virtualized computing
The creation of multiple 'virtual' machines on a single computing device By providing the ability to host multiple systems on a single physical machine, virtualization helps organisations to increase equipment utilization rates, & conserve data centre space & energy usage. most servers run at just 15-20 percent of capacity, virtualization can boost server utilization rates to 70 percent or higher
Formalisation
The degree to which organisations standardise behaviour through rules, procedures, formal training and related mechanisms.
Candidate key
The minimal set of attributes that uniquely identifies each occurrence of an entity type.
hardware
The physical components of a computer that perform the input, processing, storage, and output activities. eg Machines - computers, video monitors, magnetic disk drives, printer optical scanners. Media - floppy disk, magnetic tape optical disks, plastic cards, paper forms.
Physical models
The physical data flow diagram shows etails not found on the logical data flow diagram. Systems Analysis activities tend to focus on logical system models
Procedures
The strategies, policies, methods, and rules for using a CBIS
Hosted Software Model for Enterprise Software
This pay-as-you-go approach is appealing to SMEs because they can experiment with powerful software capabilities without making a major financial investment.
Internal environment
Value system: the values, principles and beliefs which govern the operation of the firm and the behaviour of its members. People: Management and employees. Structures: Management and organisational structures. Systems: Infrastructure, information, human resources, customer relations systems etc . Resources: Human, intellectual, financial and physical .
WAN
Wide Area Network is a telecommunication network that connects large geographic regions. A WAN might be privately owned or rented & includes public (shared users) networks.
stakeholder system user
a 'customer' who will use or is affected by an information system on a regular basis- capturing, validating, entering, responding to, storing, and exchanging data and information. System user covers both internal and external parties.
Systems
a collection of interrelated components that function together to achieve some outcomes - have a useful purpose - a collection of parts - have a unique identity as a whole - have interaction between parts - and the whole is greater than parts (termed emergence)
Transaction Fee Revenue Model
a company receives a fee for enabling or executing a transaction. For example, eBay provides an online auction marketplace & receives a small transaction fee for a seller, if the seller is successful in selling the item
stakeholder project manager
an experienced professional who accepts responsibility for planning, monitoring, and controlling projects with respect to schedule, budget, deliverables, customer satisfaction, technical standards and system quality.
stakeholder system analyst
a specialist who studies the problems and needs of an organisation to determine how people, data, processes, and information technology can best accomplish improvements for the business
stakeholder external service provider
a systems analyst, system designer, or system builder who sells his or her expertise and experience to other businesses to help those businesses purchase, develop, or integrate their information systems solutions; may be affiliated with a consulting or services organisation.
stakeholder system builder
a technical specialist who constructs information systems and components based on the design specifications generated by the system designers.
stakeholder system designer
a technical specialist who translates system users' business requirements and constraints into technical solutions. She or he designs the computer databases, inputs, outputs, screens, networks, and software that will meet the system users' requirements.
Advertising Revenue Model
a web site offers its users content, services and/or products & also provides a forum for advertisements & receives fees from advertisers.
centralized processing
all processing occurs in a single location or facility. This approach offers the highest degree of control. A single centrally managed computer performs all data processing. The Ticketmaster reservation service is an example of a centralized system. One central computer with a database stores information about all events & records the purchases of seats. Ticket clerks at various ticket selling locations can enter order data & print the results, or customers can place orders directly over the Internet.
Genetic Algorithms
also called a genetic program, is an approach to solving large, complex problems in which many repeated operations or models change & evolve until the best one emerges. The approach is based on the theory of evolution that requires variation & natural selection.
Decision Support Systems (DSS)
are organized collections of people, procedures, software, databases, & devices that are in place to support managerial decision-making & problem-solving activities. DSSs are generally structured for use at all levels within an organization, although upper managers are more likely to find a need for these systems.
Executive support systems (ESSs)
are specialized DSSs designed for use by senior-level management. They are used in strategic matters & for high-level decision making, & provide top executives with a means of tracking critical success factors
Conceptual Data modeling
based on certain constructs about the structure, not use, of data. These constructs include entity, relationship, degree, & cardinality. A data model shows the relatively permanent business rules that define the nature of an organization. Rules define the characteristics of data, including the legitimate domain of values of data attributes, the uniqueness (identifier) of entities, relationships between various entities, & the triggering operations that protect the validity of attributes during data maintenance. With DFDs together, analysts are able to provide a reasonable clear picture of the organization's current systems.
Sales Revenue Model
companies derive revenue by selling goods, services or information to customers. Companies such as Amazon, Book depository, & Gap.com all have sales revenue models.
Organisations
comprise groups of people working interdependently towards some purpose.
Computer system types
computer systems can range from destop or smaller portable computers to massive super computers that require housing in large rooms.
Distributed processing
computers are placed at remote locations but connected to each other via telecommunications devices. One benefit of distributed processing is that managers can allocate data to the locations that can process it more efficiently. the September 11, the current relatively high level of natural disasters such as hurricane Katrina sparked many companies to distribute their workers, operations & systems much more widely, a reversal of the recent trend towards centralization. The goal is to minimize the consequences of a catastrophic event at one location while ensuring uninterrupted systems availability
context diagram
constructed to establish initial project scope. This simple, one-page data flow diagram shows only the system's main interfaces with its environment. State diagrams, process specifications & data dictionary. A context diagram is a method of analyzing an information system via its interactions through data with the outside world. external entity data store process name dataflow
Definition of a system
define a system as "a set of interrelated components that collect input, manipulate process, store, and disseminate, output, data and information and provide a corrective reaction, feedback mechanism, to meet an objective"
Definition and components of an information system
define an Information System as a system that is implemented within an organisation for the purpose of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of that organisation. The capabilities of the information system and the characteristics of the specific organisation - its work systems, its people, its development and implementation methodologies - together determine the extent to which that purpose is achieved.
Inter-relationships of an Information system
dependence of one component on one or more other components
Spiral
development process combining elements of both design & prototyping-in-stages, in an effort to combine advantages of the 'top-down' & 'bottom-up' approaches. Focus is on risk assessment & on minimizing project risk by breaking a project into smaller segments & providing more ease-of-change during the development process, as well as providing the opportunity to evaluate risks & weigh consideration of project continuation throughout the life cycle.
The five C's model
differentiates data from information and illustrates the different ways of creating information by adding meaning to data. Condensed: data is summarized in more concise form and unnecessary depth is eliminated. Contextualized: we know why the data was collected. Calculated: analysed data, similar to condensation of data. Categorized: the unit of analysis is known. Corrected: errors have been removed, missing 'data holes' have been accounted for.
Model examples
flowcharts, structure or hierarchy charts & organisation charts
Types of E-Commerce
distinguish different types of e-commerce by the nature of the market relationship-who is selling to whom. The exceptions are P2P & M-Commerce, which are technology-based distinctions. Business-to-Consumer (B2C) Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) Peer-to-Peer (P2P)
business environment
factors that have a bearing on the business. external forces, factors and institutions that are beyond the control of individual business organisations and their management and which affect the business enterprise. Internal environment which is comprised of internal factors which are generally controllable by the company.
stakeholders
governmental bodies, political groups, trade associations, trade unions, communities, associated corporations, prospective employees, prospective customers, and the public at large. Sometimes even competitors
Development Processes
how business professionals and information specialists plan, develop, and implement information systems to meet business opportunities.
organisational change
how organisations plan for, implement and handle change . Changes can be necessitated by external as well as internal forces. Change needs to be planned and managed which touches upon activities as varied as strategic planning, information systems management, human resources management, project management , financial reporting.
Artificial intelligence systems
include the people, procedures, hardware, software, data & knowledge needed to develop computer systems & machines that demonstrate characteristics of intelligence. Artificial intelligence can be used by most industries & applications.
Data mining
information analysis tool that involves the automated discovery of patterns & relationship's in the data warehouse. Data mining's objective is to extract patterns, trends & rules from data warehouse to evaluate proposed business strategies.
Information Systems Stakeholders
information systems in organisations capture and manage data to produce useful information that supports an organisation and its employees, customers, suppliers, and partners. It is essential for organisations to understand all the players who are involved in information systems. We call these players stakeholders.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
integrated programs that manages the vital business operations for an entire multisite, global organization. An ERP system can replace many applications with one unified set of programs, making the system easier to use & more effective.
Data marts
is a subset of a warehouse, they bring the data warehouse concept to small & medium sized businesses, & to departments within larger companies. Rather then store all enterprise data in one monolithic database, data marts contain a subset of the data for a single specific area in the data mart may contain more detail that the data warehouse would provide.
Rational Unified Process (Rup)
is owned by IBM. provides a framework for breaking down the development of software into four gates. Each consists of executable iterations of the software in development. A project stays in a gate waiting for the stakeholders' analysis, & then it either moves to the next gate or is cancelled. • Inception: ensures all stakeholders have a shared understanding of the proposed system & what it will do. • Elaboration: expands on the agreed-upon details of the system, including the ability to provide architecture to support & build it. • Construction: includes building & developing the product. • Transition: addresses ownership of the system & training of key personnel.
World Wide Web
is the system we use to access the Internet. The Web isn't the only system out there, but it's the most popular & widely used. (Examples of ways to access the Internet without using HTTP include e-mail & instant messaging.)
Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
is the term used to describe the way that a business takes into account the financial, environmental and social impacts of decisions and actions it is involved in. It is an increasingly important issue in business, as managers, consumers, investors and employees have begun to understand how economic growth is linked to social and environmental well-being
Extreme Programming (XP)
methodology breaks a project into tiny phases (i.e., software components) & developers cannot continue on to the next phase until the current phase is compete. XP relies heavily on reusing existing software components contained in a software library.
OBJECT -Oriented Approach
model-driven technique that integrates data & process concerns into constructs called objects. Object models are pictures that illustrate the system's objects from various perspectives, such as the structure, behaviour, & interactions of the objects. Objects can contain data attributes. However, the only way to create, read, update, or delete an object's data is through one of its embedded processes (called methods)
IS Project management
must coordinate time, scope, resources, industry changes, communication, expectations, quality, cost, methodologies and tools, organisational changes, SDLC, technological changes
Cardinality
of a relationship shows the number of entity occurrences possible between entities in a relationship. Its purpose is to determine reality, identify different user perceptions, & to define meaning. Cardinality can also be used to enforce rules. In order to determine relationship cardinality, the modeler should question the user. Cardinality shows the maximum number of occurrences that can participate in a relationship
Cache Storage
operating speed of the CPU can be slower than expected because of the need to move data & instructions between the cpu & the main storage along the BUS. Cache memory was introduced to reduce this bottleneck. Its function is to store the most recently used data values & instructions so that they can be passed back to the CPU if they are needed again. The speed of movement of data & instructions between cache & the CPU is even faster than the corresponding speeds of transfer between main storage & the CPU, partly because the cache is not accessed by using the bus.
CPU
or microprocessor, this unit is one of the 2 fundamental or core units in any computer system (the other is the main storage unit). The CPUs function is to act as the controller & data processor for the computer system. the CPU takes in program instructions & then uses these to control what the entire computer system does: this may involve moving data around inside the system, getting input data, sending output data, & changing or creating data values by its data processing capabilities. Although the analogy is not perfect, the CPU is sometimes thought of as the brains of a computer.
3 key characteristics of information
reach richness affiliation
RAID
redundant array of independent/inexpensive disks (RAI) is a method of storing data that if a hard drive fails, the lost data on that drive can be rebuilt- data is stored redundantly on different physical disk drives using a technique called ' stripping to even distribute the data.
logical models
remove biases arising from the method implementation By the current system or that any person thinks the system might have implemented. It encourages creativity.
Data flow diagram (DFD)
show the flow of data through the system. Their arrows represent paths down which data can flow. looping & branching are not typically shown. Conversely, flowcharts chow the sequence of processes or operations in an algorithm or program. Their arrows represent pointers to the next process or operation.
Class diagrams
show the static structure of an object-oriented model: the object classes, their internal structure, & the relationships in which they participate (Valacich et al 2009). For example shows a personal computer as an aggregate of CPU (up to four for multiprocessors), hard disks (one-to-many), a monitor, & a keyboard.
SAN
storage area network - uses servers, distributed storage devices & networks to tie everything together. To increase the speed of storing & retrieving data, high-speed communications channels are often used.
three categories of business processes
strategic managerial operational
Management challenges
the challenges of effectively & ethically managing information technology at the end-user, enterprise & global levels of a business
value chain
the essence of the value chain is that enterpriises take inputs from suppliers to which they add value to create outputs. In the context of the networked economy this occurs through the application of information and knowledge resources and associated technologies
People
the most important element in most computer-based information systems. Information systems personnel include all people who manage, run, program, and maintain the system, including the CIO who manages the department.
System Software
the set of programs that coordinates the activities & functions of the hardware & other programs throughout the computer system. Systems software provides the background processing of the system so that a user can then make use of the system to execute the application software that meets their needs.
communications media
the transmission media selected depends on the amount of information to be exchanged, the speed at which data must be exchanged, the level of concern for data privacy, whether or not the users are stationary or mobile, & many other business requirements. Guided transmission media or wirless
Business Information System - operational level
transaction processing systems (TPS) are computerized information systems that were developed to process large amounts of data for routine business transactions such as payroll and inventory.
Business Information System - Knowledge Level
two classes of systems. Office automation systems (OAS) to support data workers. These systems do not usually create new knowledge but rather, analyze transform or manipulate data and information before disseminating .eg word processing, spreadsheets, desktop publishing, electronic scheduling, communication through voice mail, email, and teleconferencing. Knowledge work systems (KWS) support professional workers such as scientists, engineers, and doctors by assisting their efforts to create new knowledge and by allowing them to contribute their results to their organization.
Organisation Culture
underlying values, beliefs and codes of practice that make an organization what it is. Culture is powerfully subjective and reflects the meanings and understandings that we typically attribute to situations, and the solutions that we apply to common problems.
emergent strategies-
unplanned strategies resulting from decisions made by managers at various levels in the organisation
Outputs of an Information system
whatever a system returns to its environment in order to fulfil its purpose
Inputs of an Information system
whatever a system takes from its environment in order to fulfil its purpose
Distributed processing
when an organization needs to use 2 or more computer systems, it can implement one of the 3 basic processing alternatives. Centralized, decentralized or distributed