9 Information Systems and Technologies for Organizational Performance Flashcards
What changes has new technology brought
- Permanent and persistent connectivity
o Work emails follow you - Increased amount of data
o Emergence of big data - Decreased costs of cloud computing and IT infrastructure
- Global value chains
- Move away from companies providing physical assets to online services
How must small businesses respond to big businesses taking on new technology
- Need to be open 24/7 to compete
- Online allows them to do this
- Also online only lowers overheads and allows faster growth
How has new technology changed income streams
- Shift in revenue to that which comes from subscriptions and advertising based revenue
- Along with the harvesting and sale of consumer data
What are the costs of implementing new technology
- Which revenue is easy to find, the cost calculation and attribution is becoming more difficult for these online only companies
- Also more internal controls are needed when dealing with people private data
What are the changes to accounts following new technology introduction
- Simple tasks can out outsourced to other countries or to AI
o Focus now on telling the story to not the completion of the process - Accountants have to become more IT skill based
What is information technology
The use of computers and telecommunications to retrieve, store and transit information
What is data
Factual or statical items
What is information
- Processed data to increase its usefulness
- Information contains descriptions
What is knowledge
- Processed information that creates benefits or tells a story
- Answers questions, conveys instructions
What is big data
- The mass of data society creates in this ever connected world
- Involves the collection and analysis or large amounts of data to find trends, understand consumer needs and help organisations focus resources more efficiently
- Can be both structured and unstructured from all different sources
What are the 10 V’s of big data
- Volume
- Velocity
- Value
- Veracity
- Variety
- Vulnerability
- Volatility
- Visualisation
- Validity
- Variability
Only need to focus on 1, 2, 4, 5
What is volume of big data
Online lives produces terabytes of data and need to work out which is useful and adds value and what does not
What is velocity of big data
- The data is generated quickly and need to be able to collect and process it in real time
- Being late is missing opportunities
o E-promotions based on location
o Healthcare data
What is veracity of big data
- The level of confidence or trust in the big data
- How accurate is it
- Key questions:
o Who created the data
o What methodology what followed collecting it
o What was the scope (all customers covered)
o How has it been summarised
o Has it been edited or modified
What is variety of big data
- How complex is the data
- Structured or unstructured
- Is it in a table, free text, graph
What is data at rest
- Data that is housed physically on computer storage
- Corporate files, backup data storage
- Links to volume
What is data in motion
- Data en route between source and destination
- Can be streaming data that requires millisecond responses
- Links to velocity
What is data in many forms
- This is the different structures data can take
o If it is in graphs, free text, excel - Links to variety
What is data in doubt
- When there is uncertainty due to data inconsistencies, incompleteness, ambiguity, latency, deception or model assumptions
- Links to veracity
What are the problems with big data
- Data needs to be secured
o Both physically and online - Respecting privacy
- Costs of managing all this and potential fines of getting it wrong
o Need to do cost benefit analysis
What are the characteristics of useful information in accounting
Reliable
* Free from error or bias, accurately represents organisation, events or activities
Complete
* Does not omit important aspects of events or activities it measures
Timely
* Provided in time for decision making to occur
Understandable
* Presented in a useful and intelligible form
Accessible
* Available to users when they need it in the form they can use it
What are information systems
- An information system is a collection of computer hardware and software that can provides decision-making, control or other similar information based on underlying data, as well as capture and process organisational data
- Encompasses the technology in the organisation and the people who use it
What is hardware
- When referring to information technology, the term hardware means the physical computing machinery and equipment used to capture, process and store data.
- E.g Keyboard, touchscreen, mouse, bar-code reader, microphone, pointing devices, scanners
What is software
- Operating System Software performs a computer’s basic functions, such as:
- Application management, Input/Output management , Device management, Memory management, Processor management, Hardware management
What are networks
- Communications hardware provides links between computers.
- A collection of computers and/or other hardware devices which are linked together.
- Key element of any computer network is a protocol – a set of rules governing communications across the network.
- The most common protocol for local networks is the Ethernet protocol, while TCP/IP (short for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is the most common protocol used on larger networks like the internet.
- Local Area Network (LAN) – a network which is geographically close. A typical office network within one or several adjacent buildings is a typical example of a LAN.
- Wide Area Network (WAN) – a network over a larger geographical area
What is data protection
- An organisation must obtain and process data fairly
- Data must be obtained for one or more specified and lawful purposes
- Data must be processed in ways compatible with the purposes for which it was obtained
- Data must be kept safe, secure, accurate and up-to date
- Any data obtained must be adequate, relevant and not excessive
- Data should not be retained for longer than necessary
- Should any individual request information on data held on them, this information must be give
What is business continuity planning
- Business continuity planning (or disaster recovery planning) refers to policies and procedures to reinstate normal business in the event of business disruption
- Business continuity planning focuses on how the company can restore business operations after a disaster strikes.
- Level of BCP for information systems depends on the type of business
- Easy to think of the effects of a natural disaster, but what about having no information systems, or restricted information systems?
- First line of defence of a typically good IT management practice
o Daily backups of key data (consider location of backup medium) – online backup solutions?
o Redundant hardware - A purchased BCP solution – typical and good practice for larger organisations, essential for online business
- Assess the solution cost versus cost of having no information system (e.g. lost revenue)
What is financial accounting
Financial accounting provides information to external users, typically in the form of summarised financial reports such as the income statement and statement of financial position. The information is based on historical data; a highly regulated branch of accounting.
What is management accounting
Management accounting is concerned with the provision of information to managers to help them make business decisions; management accounting aims to provide more detailed and timely information to internal users of accounting information
What are the limitations of spreadsheets
- Might not be able to fulfil the requirements of the business of a certain size
- Physically limited in rows and columns
- Difficulties integrating data into the spreadsheet
- Limitations of user skills as it is a blank template
