Final Exam Flashcards
Business View of
Information Systems according to Computer Science approach:
Interrelated components working together to
collect, process, store, and disseminate
information to support decision making, coordination, control, analysis, and visualization
in an organization
Business View of
Information Systems according to Business Perspective :
An organizational and management solution,
based on information technology, to a challenge
posed by the environment
The key elements of
an organization are?
its people, structure,
operating procedures, politics, and culture
Management sets:?
the organizational strategy, allocate resources and coordinate the work
A behavioral approach to IS focuses on questions such as:?
behavioral problems of systems utilization
implementation and system design
social and organizational impacts of information systems
political impacts of information systems
individual responses to information systems
A technical approach to information systems emphasizes:?
the physical technology and formal capabilities of IS
mathematically based, normative models to study IS
models of management
operations research models
What are the Trends in the global business environment
that have made Information Systems so important ?
Growing interdependence between business strategy, rules, and procedures on one hand, and information systems
software, hardware, databases, and telecommunications on the other
Growing reach and scope of systems projects and
applications and the relationship between information
systems and organizations
Soaring power of computer technology, spawning powerful
communication networks
Changing management processes with redefinitions of
organizational boundaries
What has the Influence of Information Systems on Organizations brought?
The use of IT and IS has provided tremendous
value to the effectiveness of common activities
It resulted in dramatic changes in the way many
common business processes are now
implemented
It introduced of new types of businesses and
business processes
Can reshape whole markets
Can create new markets
What are Business Processes?
The unique ways in which organizations coordinate and organize work activities, information, and knowledge to produce a product or service The related groups of steps or activities that use people, information, and other resources to create value for internal or external customers
How do Information Systems change
the nature of business?
new combinations of products and services are appearing the limitations of geography and time are disappearing technology is easy available on demand organizations are becoming flatter and less hierarchical
What is the goal of Flattening organizations
providing managers with information to supervise larger numbers of workers giving lower level employees more decisionmaking authority team-work
Traditional business vs.
new style business ?
The traditional business firm was—and still is—a
hierarchical, centralized, structured arrangement of specialists that typically relied on a fixed set of
standard operating procedures to deliver a massproduced product (or service).
The new style of business firm is a flattened (less
hierarchical), decentralized, flexible arrangement of generalists who rely on nearly instant information
to deliver mass-customized products and services
uniquely suited to specific markets or customers.
Obstacles when applying new
technology in the real world
Unrealistic Expectations and Techno-Hype
Difficulty Building, Modifying and
Integrating new Technologies
Genuine Difficulty Anticipating What Will
Happen
First 2 Phases of Information System ?
Initiation is the process of defining the need
for the system, identifying the people who will
use it or be affected by it, and describing in
general terms what the system will do to meet
the need
• Development is the process of transforming
general system requirements into hardware and
software (and related documentation) that
accomplish the required functions
Phases 3 and 4 of Information System ?
Implementation is the process of putting a system into operation in the organization • Operation and maintenance is the ongoing use of the system after it has been installed, plus work to enhance it and correct bugs
What is Systems Development?
The activities that go into producing an
information systems solution to an
organizational problem or opportunity
• Structured kind of problem solving with
distinct activities:
systems analysis, systems design, programming,
testing, conversion, operation and maintenance
What is Systems Analysis?
The process of defining a problem, gathering pertinent information, developing alternative solutions, and choosing among those solutions • Includes defining the information requirements
What is a Feasibility study and what is its goal?
Part of the systems analysis process, the way to
determine whether the solution is achievable,
given the organization’s resources and constraints• Identifies several alternative solutions that the
organization can pursue and assesses the
feasibility of each
• A written systems proposal report describes the
costs and benefits, advantages and disadvantages
of each alternative
Three areas of feasibility study?
Technical feasibility - whether the proposed
solution can be implemented with available
hardware, software and technical resources
• Economic feasibility - whether the benefits of
the proposed solution outweight the costs
• Organizational feasibility - whether the
organization can handle the changes introduced
by the system, whether proposed solution is
desirables within existing
What are Information Requirements?
The detailed statement of the information needs that the systems must satisfy • Identifies who needs what information, when, where, how and why the information is needed • Defines functions that the system must perform
What is Systems Design?
Describes how the system will meet the
information requirements as determined
by the system analyst
• Logical design - lays out the components of
the IS and their relationship to each other as
they would appear to users
• Physical design - translating the abstract
logical model into specific
Programming
The process of translating the system
specification prepared during the design
stage into software
Testing
The exhaustive and thorough process that
determines whether the system produces
the desired results under known
conditions
Conversion
The process of changing from the old system to the new system
• Conversion strategies:
• Parallel - old and new system run together for a time• Pilot - introducing new system first only to the
limited area of the organization
• Phased - introducing new system in stages, by
functions or organizational unit
• Plunge (direct cutover) - replacing the old system
entirely with the new system on appointed day
What is Operation and Maintenance
Ongoing operation and support is the
process of ensuring that the technical system
components continue to operate correctly and
that the users use it effectively
• The operations manual specifies day-to-day
computer operations that include e.g. generating
summary reports for management and backups of
the database.
• Maintenance is the process of modifying the
system over time
Approaches for Building
Information Systems?
traditional system life cycle
• prototyping
• acquiring application package
• end-user development
Traditional system life cycle
A methodology that partitions the systems
development process into formal stages that
must be completed sequentially with very
formal division of labor between users end IS
specialists
• It tries to solve a control problem by keeping
the project on track
• It establishes tight controls to guarantee that
technical and organizational issues are
addressed at each step
Prototyping
The interactive process of building an
experimental system (prototype) for
demonstration and evaluation so that users can
better determine information requirements
• Prototyping is used when the precise
requirements for a new system are difficult to
visualize and define
• A prototype information system is a working
model of a system built to learn about the
system’s true requirements
Pros and Cons of
Prototyping
Quick and inexpensive • Valuable for the design of the end-user interface • Unpractical for large applications which have to be subdivided into many subprototypes • Difficult to build high performance systems
What does it mean when we say Acquiring Application Package?
An application package consists of a set of prewritten and precoded software available for sale and lease • An application package addresses a specific type of business
The phases 1 and 2 of the acquiring an
application package approach
INITIATION
• May start with user’s or manager’s recognition of a
business problem or with a sales call from a vendor.
• DEVELOPMENT
• The vendor develops the software, although the
purchaser still performs some typical development
activities, such as determining detailed requirements.
Development may include customization of the software
and user documentation.
The phases 3 and 4 of the acquiring an
application package approach
IMPLEMENTATION
• Implementation starts by deciding exactly how the
package will be used. It often relies on the vendor’s staff
(consultants) because they have the greatest knowledge
of the system.
• OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE
• Operation occurs as it would with a traditional life cycle.
Maintenance is different because the vendor maintains
the software based on requests from customers and
demands of the market.
Pros and Cons of Acquiring
Application Package
Saves design, programming and testing activities
• Vendors supply much of the maintenance, supplying
enhancements to keep the system in line with
ongoing technical and business developments
• Difficult to address uncommon and unique
requirements
• Sometimes requires to supplement the package with
another piece of software
• Customization and additional programming cost and
time can overwhelm advantages
