Management information system

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' management information system (M()% provides information that organi*ations
re+uire to manage themselves e,ciently and e-ectively.[$] Management
information systems are typically computer systems used for managing. The &ve
primary components. $.%/ard0are ".%)oft0are 1.% 2ata (information for decision
making%3 4.% Procedures (design3development and documentation%3 and 5.% People
(individuals3 groups3 or organi*ations%. Management information systems are
distinct from other information systems !ecause they are used to analy*e and
facilitate strategic and operational activities.["]
'cademically3 the term is commonly used to refer to the study of ho0 individuals3
groups3 and organi*ations evaluate3 design3 implement3 manage3 and utili*e
systems to generate information to improve e,ciency and e-ectiveness of decision
making3 including systems termed decision support systems3 e6pert systems3 and
e6ecutive information systems.["] Most !usiness schools (or colleges of !usiness
administration 0ithin universities% have an M() department3 alongside departments
of accounting3 &nance3 management3 marketing3 and sometimes others3 and grant
degrees (at undergrad3 masters3 and Ph2 levels% in M(). [laudom] and 7ane 8audon
identify &ve eras of Management (nformation )ystem evolution corresponding to the
&ve phases in the development of computing technology. $% mainframe and
minicomputer computing3 "% personal computers3 1% client9server net0orks3 4%
enterprise computing3 and 5% cloud computing.[1]
The &rst era (mainframe and minicomputer% 0as ruled !y (:M and their mainframe
computers; these computers 0ould often take up 0hole rooms and re+uire teams to
run them < (:M supplied the hard0are and the soft0are. 's technology advanced3
these computers 0ere a!le to handle greater capacities and therefore reduce their
cost. )maller3 more a-orda!le minicomputers allo0ed larger !usinesses to run their
o0n computing centers in<house.
The second era (personal computer% !egan in $=>5 as microprocessors started to
compete 0ith mainframes and minicomputers and accelerated the process of
decentrali*ing computing po0er from large data centers to smaller o,ces. (n the
late $=?#s minicomputer technology gave 0ay to personal computers and relatively
lo0 cost computers 0ere !ecoming mass market commodities3 allo0ing !usinesses
to provide their employees access to computing po0er that ten years !efore 0ould
have cost tens of thousands of dollars. This proliferation of computers created a
ready market for interconnecting net0orks and the populari*ation of the (nternet.
's technological comple6ity increased and costs decreased3 the need to share
information 0ithin an enterprise also gre0@giving rise to the third era
(client9server%3 in 0hich computers on a common net0ork access shared information
on a server. This lets thousands and even millions of people access data
simultaneously. The fourth era (enterprise% ena!led !y high speed net0orks3 tied all
aspects of the !usiness enterprise together o-ering rich information access
encompassing the complete management structure.Avery computer is utili*ed.
The &fth era (cloud computing% is the latest and employs net0orking technology to
deliver applications as 0ell as data storage independent of the con&guration3
location or nature of the hard0are. This3 along 0ith high speed cellphone and 0i&
net0orks3 led to ne0 levels of mo!ility in 0hich managers access the M() remotely
0ith laptop and ta!let computers3 plus smartphones.