Information systems

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Information Systems & Technology

Seeing the Big Picture

Knowledge is Power

• Knowledge is the awareness gained by experience of information on facts.

• When you have the knowledge, you understand how to put information into best use.

• Information is the output of processing the raw fact about surrounding events.

Knowledge is Power

The History

• "In 1880, about nine out of 10 workers made and moved things; today, that is down to one out of five. The other four are knowledge people or service workers." (Peter Drucker)

• "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” - Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

Early Computers

ABACUS

Mechanical Computers

Computers for Business

Computers for Defense

• Initially, the mainframe was mostly in the accounting department.

• This was the era of Electronic Data Processing (EDP).

EDP: is the processing of data by a computer and its programs in an environment involving electronic communication. It is now what is called

Information Systems (IS)

Evolution of Networks

Time-Sharing Concept for Mainframes Processing

Evolution of Networks

• In the beginning of the 1980s IBM introduced the first Personal Computer (PC).

• Soon they found their places in the offices and on the production floors

– was introduced on August 12, 1981 – sold for $1,565 – based on the Intel 8088 processor

Local Area Networks

Allowed People to work together and share information

The IT Department is born

• The old EDP department only had one "client" within the organization but the newly born IT department suddenly had to cope with the whole organization.

• Specialized services like training and helpdesks had to be organized by the IT department.

• As IT covered more areas of thebusiness, it was more used to get a better insight in the business and became part daily activities in many organizations.

The need for Technology & Systems

• Organizations have to take the aid of IT keep themselves in sync with the market and the world.

• Departments utilize IT to carry out their operations in a productive and efficient manner.

• Organizations need to buy software packages to satisfy their specific management, operational, and functional needs.

• For this purpose, they need to approach IT firms who deal in such software applications.

• Larger organizations have their own operational and functional employees (IT staff).

• They usually purchase software to coordinate different processes and functions into a single application.

• This kind of software is what is called Information System (IS) e.g. ERP Applications

What is Information Systems?

• It is an organized combination of People, technologies and procedures that store, retrieves, transform and distribute information to support operations, management, and decision-making.

• It is not the technology only but also to the way in which people interact with this technology in support of business processes.

What is Information Systems?

• It is an organized combination of People, technologies and procedures that store, retrieves, transform and distribute information to support operations, management, and decision-making.

• It is not the technology only but also to the way in which people interact with this technology in support of business processes.

How Information Systems can help?

Information Systems can:

• Help to identify problems

• Provide current facts

• Communicate Goals and Standards

• Facilitate interpersonal communication

The role of IS in business

• Support of business processes and operations.• Support of decision making by managers.• Support of strategies for competitive

advantage.

Support for business processes and operations

• A business model is the method of doing business and represents core aspects of a business.

• A business process is a collection structured activities that produce a specific service or product .

• A workflow is a description of a sequence of operations segregated for control purposes.

Business Process Management

• Organizations want to promote business effectiveness and efficiency with control while striving for innovation, flexibility, and integration with technology.

• That is what is called:Business Process Management (BPM).

• BPM is the bridge between IT and Business.

Systems for BPM

Workflow is a part of BPM

Support for decision making

• Decision making is an outcome of processes to select of action among several alternatives.

• It has four steps:1. Intelligence: identify problems & define objectives2. Design: develop and evaluate alternatives3. Choice: prioritize, and select alternatives4. Implement and evaluate: implement the choice

and monitor success

Decision Types

• Unstructured or Semi-structured: – Straightforward problems,

requiring known facts and relationships

• Structured :– Data are not always clear,

data may be in a variety of formats and sometimes from external sources

Example of Decision based on information

Decision Support Systems (DSS)

• They are tools needed to facilitate decision making processes.

• They are interactive software-based system s to help decision makers compile useful information to identify problems and make decisions.

• They are integrated with other information systems through a common database.

An Example of DSS

Decision Support System for John Day Reservoir

• Set of tools used to estimate the effects of reservoir level and water discharge fluctuations.

• Different scenarios being studied from typical reservoir levels to a simulation of what things might be like if the river change conditions.

Architecture of DSS

• Four major components:1. The database

(raw data from other systems)2. The model

(decision context and user criteria)3. The user interface4. The output reports

TPSData

MISData

ExternalData

DSSModel

DSSPrograms

Data, Request,Models

ResponseDSS user

Graphs Reports

Group Decision Support SystemsGDSS

• An interactive, computer-based system that facilitates solution of unstructured problems by a set of decision-makers working together as a group to analyze problem situations and perform group decision making tasks.

Support for strategiescompetitive advantages

• Cost Leadership Strategy: Becoming a low-cost producer by utilizing

IT.• Differentiation Strategy:

Developing new IT features for products.• Growth Strategy:

Use IT to manage regional and global business expansion.

• Innovation Strategy: Make changes to business processes with

IT that cut costs.• Alliance Strategy:

Use IT to create virtual organizations of business partners.

Growth Strategy

The Value Chain of activities

• Information Systems are used through the Value Chain of activities to optimize and control function of operations.

• They create a linkage between these activities and help in lowering cost of value activities or by product’s differentiation.

The Value Chain of activities

• The Value Chain of activities (Michael Porter) Primary processes and supporting processes .

• Primary processes directly related to manufacturing or delivering products

• Support processes support the day-to-day running and indirectly contribute to products or services.

Conclusion

• Executives are making critical business decisions every day based on the information available to them.

• Information come from a variety of sources: opinions; a personal sense or business judgment; or data derived internally or externally to the organization by utilizing Technology and Systems.

Conclusion

• Although IT & IS has become more of a commodity, when coupled withcomplementary changes in organization and management, it can provide thefoundation for new products, services, and ways of conducting business thatprovide firms with a strategic advantage.

Information Systems

Seeing the Big Picture

Questions ?Mohamed Zedan

mzedan@HOTMAIL.COM