Week 8 Discussion Management of Information Systems

Week 8 Lecture 1 - Key Points

 

Management of Information Systems

Key Points

Key Points to remember are:

Business information systems

· Some information systems have become strategic tools as a result of strategic planning; others have evolved into strategic tools

· Strategic information systems help companies gain strategic advantage

· Company achieves strategic advantage by using strategy to maximize its strength, resulting in a competitive advantage

Strategic uses of information systems

· Various initiatives for establishing strategic advantage:

· Cost reduction, raising barriers to competitors, establishing high switching costs, new products, differentiating products, enhancing products, alliances, and locking in clients or suppliers

· Creating standards often establishes strategic advantage in software industry

· Reengineering: the process of redesigning a business process from scratch to significantly reduce costs

· Strategic advantages of information systems are short-lived; new opportunities must always be sought

· Must keep systems on the leading edge to maintain strategic advantage

· Bleeding edge is the undesirable result of a failed innovation effort

Business functions and supply chains

· Effectiveness is the degree to which a task is accomplished

· Efficiency is the ratio of output to input

· Productivity is the measure of people’s efficiency

· Information systems have been integrated into accounting services

· Financial information systems help managers track cash

· Computer-aided design (CAD) systems help engineers design new projects

· Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) systems direct machines that assemble parts

· Supply chain management (SCM) systems optimize workload, speed, and cost in supply chains

· Customer relationship management (CRM) includes the entire cycle of relationships with customers

· Human resource management systems facilitate staff selection and record keeping

· Multiple companies’ SCM systems can be linked, facilitating cooperation, which requires trust

· An enterprise resource planning (ERP) system can encompass all business processes, but is expensive and challenging

Business hardware

· Understanding hardware is important for purchasing decisions

· Computers are classified according to power

· All computers have a CPU to process instructions

· Clock rate measures the speed of a CPU

· Data word: the number of bits the computer can process in a single cycle

· Computer power: measured by its speed, memory size, and number of processor cores

· RAM: volatile memory

· ROM is nonvolatile; it does not require power

· Imaging devices help process text and graphics

· When evaluating external storage, consider transfer rate, capacity, portability, and form of data organization supported

· Data is organized sequentially on tapes

· Direct access storage devices such as RAM, magnetic disks, and optical discs allow random access

· Databases require direct access storage devices

· When purchasing hardware, professionals should consider cost, power, scalability, compatibility, etc.

· Information technology may pose health risks such as carpal tunnel syndrome

Business software

· Software: a collective term for computer programs

· Two categories of software: system or application

· Programming languages and software development tools are used to develop software

· Increasing amount of software is linked to the Internet

· Code written in non-machine language must be translated by compilers or interpreters

· Some application programs are custom-designed; many are packaged

· Office productivity tools such as word processors and spreadsheets help improve worker efficiency

· Hypermedia and multimedia technology are useful for training, education, research, and business

· Groupware combines hypermedia and multimedia with web technologies for collaboration

· Three-dimensional geographic software helps model maps and locations

· Many applications support web services and access to information on the web

· Most important system software is operating systems

· Open source software is distributed freely via the web

· Nearly all software is licensed; SaaS is an alternative to traditional software licensing

· Ready-made software purchase decisions should evaluate many factors, e.g., suitability, ease of learning, ease of use, vendor reputation, expected quality of vendor support, etc.

· Software piracy is still a significant problem

Business networks and telecommunications

· Telecommunications is communication over distance

· Telecommunications technology has changed the business environment

· Different media have different bandwidths

· Networks are classified according to reach and complexity

· Public network can be turned into a virtual private network (VPN)

· Network protocols are sets of rules to which all devices on a network must adhere

· The Internet adheres to the TCP/IP protocol

· Wireless technologies make it easy and affordable to create wireless LANs and hotspots

· Organizations and individuals have variety of choices when subscribing to networking services

· As Internet links become faster, Internet telephony, also known as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), is gaining in popularity

· Wireless technologies support the increasingly popular RFID technologies

· Much like hardware, telecommunications technologies are merging

· Increasing numbers of employees now telecommute

Databases and warehouses

· Databases organizations collect vast amounts of data

· Database approach has several advantages over traditional file approach

· Character: smallest piece of data

· Field: made up of multiple characters

· Record: collection of related fields

· File: collection of related records

· Database management system (DBMS): tool to construct databases

· Relational and object-oriented database models have different advantages

· Keys are used to form links among entities

· Primary keys are unique identifiers

· Object-oriented database maintains objects that contain data and procedures that process them

· Structured Query Language (SQL) is an international standard for querying databases

· Database designer must construct a schema to construct a database

· Database designers conduct data modeling and create entity relationship diagrams to plan databases

· Many databases are linked to the Web

· Data warehouses contain huge collections of historical transaction data

· Data warehouse data requires extraction, transformation, loading (ETL)

· Invasion of privacy is exacerbated by database technology

· Big Data is the collection and storage of ever-more-detailed quantities of data

The web-enabled enterprise

· Some industries have changed drastically due to web technologies

· HTTP is an Internet standard controlling web server addresses

· HTTPS is a secure version of HTTP

· XML is a standard for description of data

· Blogs enable people to create discussion Web pages

· Cookies help websites personalize the visitor’s experience

· Many web technologies are proprietary

· A business can maintain its own web server or use a web hosting service

· Organizations should consider several factors when selecting a web host

· Web-enabled commerce is classified into B2B and B2C

· B2B trading relies on electronic data interchange (EDI) and XML

· Mobile commerce needs to be considered in any online business strategy

· Online businesses must adhere to several factors to be successful

· Spam and spyware are online annoyances

· Phishing is a pervasive fraud crime

Week 8 Lecture 2 - Key Points Continued

 

Management of Information Systems

Key Points Continued

Key points to remember:

Challenges of global information systems

· Companies conducting web-based business must accommodate non-English speaking audiences

· Companies must tailor to local preferences

· Organizations must be aware of cultural differences and payment preferences

· Businesses must be aware of tariff and legal issues

· Linguistic, cultural, economic, and political challenges must be addressed

· Laws governing the collection and manipulation of personal data in the U.S. and the European Union are different

· The U.S. and EU have incompatible data privacy laws, which restrict the flow of personal data between the U.S. and EU

Decision support and expert systems

· Decision aids include decision support systems, expert systems, group decision support systems, geographic information systems, etc.

· Three major phases of decision-making process: intelligence, design, and choice

· Types of problems: spectrum from unstructured to structured

· Most DSSs have three components: data management module, model management module, and dialog module

· Sensitivity analysis measures how parameters affect results, and allow “what if” analysis

· Spreadsheets allow users to create DSSs without expertise

· Expert systems are designed to emulate the knowledge of an expert, using artificial intelligence techniques

· Neural network software may be integrated into an expert system to emulate learning

· Expert systems are used in narrow domains where decisions are unstructured

· Geographic information systems are used when decisions involve locations and routes

· Computerized decision aids may overlook important circumstances, leading to inaccuracies or unfairness to individuals

Business intelligence and knowledge management

· Business intelligence (BI) is any information about organization, its customers, or its suppliers that can help firms make decisions

· Data mining is the process of selecting, exploring, and modeling large amounts of data to discover previously unknown relationships

· Data mining is useful for predicting customer behavior and detecting fraud

· Online analytical processing (OLAP) puts data into two-dimensional tables

· OLAP either uses dimensional databases or calculates desired tables on the fly

· Drilling down means moving from a broad view to a specific view of information

· Dashboards interface with BI software tools to provide quick information such as business metrics

· Knowledge management involves gathering, organizing, sharing, analyzing, and disseminating knowledge

· The main challenge of knowledge management is identifying and classifying useful information from unstructured sources

· Most unstructured knowledge is textual

· Employee knowledge networks are software tools to help employees find other employees with specific expertise

· Autocategorization is the automatic classification of information

Systems planning and development

· IT planning is important because of high investment costs and high risk in implementing enterprise applications

· Standardization is an important part of IT planning

· Systems development life cycle (SDLC) has well-defined phases: analysis, design, implementation, and support

· Purpose of systems analysis is to determine what needs the system will satisfy

· Feasibility studies determine if a proposed system is possible and desirable

· System requirements detail the features needed

· Developers outline system components graphically and construct the software

· Models of the desired system are created using tools, e.g., data flow diagrams and Unified Modeling Language (UML)

· Implementation includes training and conversion from the old system to the new system

· Support entails maintenance and satisfying changing needs

· Agile methods are a popular alternative to traditional systems development life cycle

· Tools help plan and manage development projects

· Systems integration may be more complicated than systems development

· Great responsibility of IS professionals results in the desirability of certification

Choices and system acquisition

· Several alternatives to having applications developed in-house include outsourcing, licensing ready-made software, using software as a service, and allowing users to develop their own software

· Outsourcing can mean commissioning development or assigning services to vendor

· Outsourcing custom-designed applications might afford the organization a good fit of software to need

· Outsourcing IT services offers possible benefits, such as reduced cost and shortened time implementing new technologies

· Outsourcing IT services has potential risks, such as loss of control, loss of experienced employees, and loss of competitive advantage

· Licensing software advantages include software being immediately available and low-priced

· Disadvantage of licensing software is often a loose fit to the organization’s needs

· Software as a service, from an ASP, is a popular method of obtaining software for a monthly fee

· User application development has advantages, e.g., short lead time, good fit, and freeing IT staff

· User application development disadvantages include poor quality, islands of information, security problems, and poor documentation

· Policies must be established to prevent computer abuse by employees

· Employees should not use their computers for anything but work

Risks, security, and disaster recovery

· The purpose of controls and security measures is to maintain the functionality of ISs

· Risks to ISs include risks to hardware, data, and networks

· Risks to hardware include natural disasters and vandalism

· Risks to data and applications include theft of information, identity theft, data alteration, data destruction, defacement of websites, viruses, worms, logic bombs, and non-malicious mishaps

· Risks to online systems include denial of service and computer hijacking

· Controls are used to minimize disruption

· Access controls require information to be entered before resources are made available

· Atomic transactions ensure data integrity

· Firewalls protect against Internet attacks

· Encryption schemes scramble messages to protect them on the Internet

· A key is used to encrypt and decrypt messages

· SSL, TLS, and HTTPS are encryption standards designed for the web

· Keys and digital certificates can be purchased from a certificate authority

· Many organizations use the services of organizations that provide hot sites

· Careful evaluation of the amount spent on security measures is necessary

· Redundancy reduces the probability of downtime

· Governments are obliged to protect citizens against crime and terrorism