INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION SYSTEMS

UNIT 2

UNIT OUTLINE

2.1 INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND THEIR CAPABILITIES

2.2 COMPUTER-BASED INFORMATION SYSTEM

2.3 DEVELOPING INFORMATION SYSTEMS

2.4 INFORMATION SYSTEM SECURITY

2.1 INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND THEIR CAPABILITIES

In the Digital Age, an information system (15) is used by people and business organizations for
the improvement of processes and operations to make things simpler and easier. It is a
combined set of modules for gathering, processing, and storing of data and for delivering of
information and digital products. IS remains in a state of constant development and change to
respond to the needs of people and business organizations, Furthermore, IS focuses on the
development of technological innovation.

UNDERSTANDING AN INFORMATION SYSTEM

Data

From the Latin word. datum, refer to raw, unorganized, and unprocessed facts Date can be in
the form of a number, alphabets, dato, measurement, and even statement.

Ex.

1.A student class attendance

2. A car's accident record 3.Student exam scores

vs

information

is popularly described as refined, structured, and organized data A process is required to

transform data into information.
Ex.

1. A financial statement
2. The average exam scores in a class

SYTEM

A system can be defined as a collection of parts that interact, interconnect, and work together to
accomplish certain objectives. A subsystem is a part of a whole system that has its own area of
immediate focus. For example, the College of Computer Studies is only a subsystem of a
university. Similarly, the Finance Department is a subsystem of any business organization.

TYPES OF SYSTEM

Natural System
• These systems are made by nature. Examples are weather systems such as typhoons, floods,
and other forces of nature.

Man made
• These systems are designed, developed, and implemented by human beings. Examples are
transportation systems, computer systems, and health care and education system.

COMPUTER SYSTEM

A COMPUTER SYSTEM takes inputs and processes them to create output.

INPUT

The fundamental idea of a computer system is that in every input, there is an expected output.
Users are required to input data into a specific program or computer system using input devices
such as a keyboard, mouse, scanner, and so on. The data could be text, graphics, audio, or
even videos. Then, the data will be processed.

Common Input Devices of Computer

Keyboard
Mouse
Joystick
Trackball
Scanner
Touchscreen
Webcam
Microphone
PROCESS

• Every computer has a microprocessor. The central processing unit or the CPU is considered
the brain of a computer and the one responsible for controlling all activities and handling
input/output (1/0) operations within a computer system. Data inputted into a system is
processed by the CPU.

OUTPUT

The output is the result after data processing. It is usually presented externally from the
computer system. The output can be presented using an output device. Output devices include
printers, monitors, and speakers.

OUTPUT DEVICES
HEADPHONES
PROJECTOR
NONITOR
SPEAKER
PRINTER

STORAGE

Storage devices help users keep data, information, and instructions from specific programs.
Storage devices are primarily divided into two types: (1) primary storage device and (2)
secondary storage device. Primary storage devices include random-access memory (RAM) and
read-only memory (ROM). These devices are also called internal memories located inside the
CPU, which can easily be accessed by the processor anytime. On the other hand. secondary
storage devices are known as any alternative storage. It allows users to store data, information,
files, and programs temporarily for future use.

STORAGE DEVICES
INTRODUCING INFORMATION

SYSTEMS

• An information system (IS) is a man-made system that collects, stores, retrieves, processes,
manages, disseminates, and analyzes information needed to facilitate a business organization's
operational functions and support its management in making decisions. IS is essential for
business firms as it manages and organizes their operations.

• Master data are relatively permanent data that are stored in the IS for a long time. These data
may include customer master data (complete customer information), employee master data
(complete details of an employee), and subject master data (including information related to the
subject, i.e., subject name, description, schedule, and so on)... There are two (2) types of
updates that can be made in the master data of an IS: (a) information processing (IP) and (b)
data maintenance (DP).

INFORMATION PROCESSING
refers to data processing functions that are commonly related to internal operations (e.g..
manufacturing) and economic and financial activities.

DATA MAINTENANCE

refers to a system's functional activitie such as adding, saving deleting updating, retrieving, and
editing data from the master data.

An IS is more concerned about the organization's business processes. The following are the
three (3) logical components of a business process within the scope of an IS:

● Information Process
● Operations Process
● Management Process

INFORMATION PROCESS

• Information process refers to a portion of an IS closely related to a specified business process.

It plays a crucial role in making these three

components work together to attain a specific objective.

• Information users for this particular process include the staff, employees, management, and
customers. Maintaining customer data and receiving a customer's complete order from an e-
commerce website are examples of this process.

OPERATION PROCESS

• Operation process refers to a man-made IS that consists of people. policies, procedures, and
equipment whose main objective is to accomplish a certain goal of a particular business
organization. The people involved in this process include those from human resources and
those who are tasked with product distribution. Attaching shipment details and including the
tracking information about a product are examples of this process.

MANAGEMENT PROCESS

Refers to a man-made IS that consists of people, policies, procedures, and equipment whose
main objective is to plan, manage, and control the overall operations of a business organization.
These processes include activities concerning planning and decision-making. Creating new
policies and procedures on delivering products to customers is an example of this process.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND INFORMATION SYSTEM

IT refers to any technological or computer- based tool primarily used for supporting the needs of
business organizations. On the other hand, an IS collects, stores, retrieves, processes,
manages, disseminates, and analyzes information needed to facilitate business organizations'
operational functions and support management in making decisions. An IS is used by a
business organization to attain its common goal.

CAPABILITIES OF AN INFORMATION SYSTEM

For business organizations to thrive in the modern business environment, they must take
competition seriously. They must expect powerful capabilities with regard to an IS. The following
are the capabilities of an IS.

1. PROCESSING TRANSACTIONS QUICKLY AND PRECISELY

Each activity done over an IS is called a transaction. In a bank, for example, the transactions
are bank deposits and withdrawals. For a university, transactions include registering in courses,
paying tuition fees, and viewing attendance summaries. Business organizations can produce
thousands to millions of transactions per day, and these are managed by an IS. This is referred
to as transaction processing wherein an IS can record, store, delete, capture, and update data
easily.

2. MANAGING LARGE-CAPABILITY STORAGE AND FAST AND EASY ACCESS STORAGE

An IS should focus not only on providing a vast data storage for business organizations but also
on fast and easy access to any type of storage.

3. EFFICIENTLY COMMUNICATING THROUGH A NETWORK

An IS must have strong communication features that can easily transfer information from one
computer to another or from one user to another. Through the use of networks, employees of
business organizations can easily and quickly communicate with each other. In addition,
networks could transmit data, such as text, audio, video, and documents simultaneously.

4. EASING INFORMATION

OVERLOAD FOR USERS

IS, including networks, contribute a lot of information to users, particularly to people in charge of
decision-making. The amount of information available over the Internet nowadays are doubled
and even tripled every day. As a result, top-management users (managers, supervisors, and
executives) are having difficulty making decisions because of information overload. Thus, an IS
must be designed to analyze problems and support decision-making to reduce information
overload.
5. SUPPORTING DECISION-MAKING

One of the most popular ISs is the decision support system or DSS. This system helps users
make decisions anytime at all levels of a business organization. The IS allows low-level
employees to participate in information sharing, which is necessary for decision-making.

6. SERVING AS A COMPETITIVE WEAPON AGAINST COMPETITORS

More than a decade ago, ISs were viewed as a waste of money for business organizations.
Today, IS's are viewed as profit makers and a means for competitors.

competitive advantage

over

7. UNITING AN ORGANIZATION THROUGH THE COORDINATION OF ITS BIG AND SMALL

GROUPS

This capability allows organizations or parts of them to come together toward achieving a
common goal or objective.

8. STRENGTHENING ORGANIZATIONAL MEMORY AND LEARNING AND EXPLORING

NEW THINGS

This means practices and knowledge in the past have vast influences on current organizational
operations or activities.

9. DETERMINING THE PROCESS OF SEPARATING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

10. AUTOMATING BUSINESS PROCESSES

This refers to labor-saving technology by which business processes or procedures are executed
using IS with minimum human assistance and to reduce costs and expedite work.

2.2 COMPUTER-BASED INFORMATION SYSTEM

IS these days are mostly computer- based. These computer based ISS (CBISS) use both
computer and telecommunications technology to perform certain tasks.

THE BASIC COMPONENTS OF CBIS'S

ARE AS FOLLOWS: #1
Hardware

Hardware consists of the system's physical devices.

Examples: printer, mouse, keyboard, scanner, microcomputers. workstations, servers, storage

devices (RAM, ROM, hard drive). network devices (switches, hubs, fiber optics, routers), and
other devices (ATM, ID readers/systems)

COMPUTER HARDWARE AND ITS COMPONENTS

The hardware is always referred to as the physical component of a computer. It can be found in
an internal component of the central processing unit (CPU) such as the motherboard, which
serves as the brain of the computer.

The hardware and software are connected to each other, which means that a computer will not
work without either of them.

THE BASIC COMPONENTS OF CBIS'S ARE AS FOLLOWS: #2

Software

Software refers to the set of computer programs that control the overall operation of the
computer system.

Examples: word processor and multimedia software

COMPUTER SOFTWARE AND ITS TYPES

A computer software can be categorized into two (2) different types

SYSTEM SOFTWARE

It refers to a program that controls the overall operations of a computer File management
utilities and operating systems are the best examples for this type of software.

APPLICATION SOFTWARE

It refers to an end-user program, also know as a productivity program, such as MS Offic

applications, game applications, Interne browsing, and email applications. This typ of software is
specifically designed to answe the needs of its users. It is simple and easy t use.

EXAMPLES OF SYSTEM AND APPLICATION SOFTWARE

Disk operating system (DOS) and Unix

EXAMPLES OF SYSTEM AND APPLICATION SOFTWARE

System software
EXAMPLES OF SYSTEM AND APPLICATION SOFTWARE

Firefox, and Google Chrome, as well as Microsoft Word and Excel,

EXAMPLES OF SYSTEM AND APPLICATION SOFTWARE

Application software
THE BASIC COMPONENTS OF CBIS'S

ARE AS FOLLOWS: #3

PDF

Database

It refers to a collection of related files and records that are stored in a special location for easy
access.

Examples:

Database

. SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer • ManageEngine Applications Manager

. Oracle RDBMS

. IBM DB2

⚫ Microsoft SQL Server

• SAP Sybase ASE

. Teradata

. ADABAS

• MySQL

FileMaker

THE BASIC COMPONENTS OF CBIS'S ARE AS FOLLOWS: #4

Networks

It refers to the connection of two or more computers established for the purpose of sharing
various data.

Networks

Examples:

Local area network (LAN) . Personal area network (PAN)

• Wireless local area network (WLAN)

⚫ Campus area network (CAN)

⚫ Metropolitan area network (MAN)

. Wide area network (WAN)

⚫ Storage area network (SAN)

• Passive optical local area network (POLAN) .

THE BASIC COMPONENTS OF CBIS'S

ARE AS FOLLOWS: #5
Procedures

These are the rules, policies, and methods that administer the operation of a computer system.
They are as significant as the people using the system. The procedures state the appropriate
software to use with the hardware and clarify the role of the components in the CBIS.

THE BASIC COMPONENTS OF CBIS'S

ARE AS FOLLOWS: #6

People

They are the most crucial component of an IS. They are the people who work with an IS to
produce useful outputs.

Other Computer-Based IS components

Telecommunications

It refers to the

electronic transmission of information within a specific distance.

Internet

It is the largest type of network that allows users to share information worldwide.

World Wide Web

It is accessible throu the Internet, and consists of multimed collections that a stored in a particu
database of a CBIS.

OTHER TYPES OF IS

• Transaction Processing System (TPS)

• Management Information System (MIS)

• Decision Support System (DSS)

Executive Information System (EIS)

TRANSACTION PROCESSING SYSTEM (TPS)

A TPS is also known as a real-time processing system. It is an IS for all types of business
transactions. It captures, stores, classifies, maintains, updates, and retrieves transaction data
for record keeping and inputting data to other types of CBISS. The characteristics of a TPS
include quality performance, reliability, and consistency.

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (MIS)

An MIS is a CBIS that consists of hardware and software applications that support all the
organization's business transactions. This IS collects raw data from different computer systems,
analyzes and processes them, and reports them to assist and serve in decision-making. An
MIS, as well as the study on how such system works, should be considered.

ILLUSTRATION OF THE CONCEPTS OF BUSINESS PLANNING, SEARCHING FOR

SOLUTIONS, AND ANALYZING ACTIONS.

Business planning

Searching for solutions

Analyzing actions

The MIS collects and gathers data, such as employee profile, project timeline, financial status,
inventory management, raw materials, and marketing and manufacturing; places them in a data
warehouse; and makes them ready for access at all times to managers and higher-ups who
want to evaluate the data from the reports generated.

DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM (DSS)

A DSS is a computer-based application that helps companies identify and give solutions by
making decisions on how to solve problems including issues on raw data, documents, employee
and company profiling and management, and business models.

DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM (DSS)

The DSS is responsible for delivering information to managers who make assessments about
specific scenarios that are not well-managed. Other DSS applications include medical
diagnosis, business management, forest management, railroad projects. and financial
verification (for credit loan, credit card application, and so on).

COMMON DSS UTILITIES

EXECUTIVE INFORMATION SYSTEM (EIS)

An EIS is a specialized DSS that assists senior executives of organizations in making decisions.
It provides easy access to valuable information necessary to achieve organizational goals. It is
usually made up of four components: hardware. software, telecommunication, and user
interface.

EXECUTIVE INFORMATION SYSTEM (EIS)

As with other computer systems, the software is the one that controls the computer hardware in
terms of execution in an EIS. Telecommunication is the process of transmitting data from one
location to another and facilitating communication among users. User interface (UI) refers to the
means by which a person deals with a system, that is, how he/she accesses the system or
experiences it. A typical EIS has a user-friendly UI, which means that the operating system is
easy to use, and the output is easy to interpret.

2.3 DEVELOPING INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Systems development consists of the procedures in building and upholding IS. It includes the
five main components of IS such as hardware, software, data, procedures, and people, which
have been already discussed in the previous chapter. It has a combination of one's technical
expertise with knowledge and management skill in business.

DEVELOPING INFORMATION SYSTEMS

System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is one of the methodologies used in software
development. However, many, developed systems fail to meet the needs and requirements of a
business. One of the many reasons for such failure is that the systems are not fully functional or
not so flexible to adjust to the changing needs of the business. The SDLC emphasizes that the
system can be developed in a series of phases. This simply means that each phase must be
completed first before otherphase commences. In terms of programming, the development
phase (building the system) will only commence once the users' requirements have already
been determined, and the system design has been produced.

AN SDLC IS COMPOSED OF MULTIPLE PHASES. IN GENERAL, IT FOLLOWS THE

FOLLOWING: • Planning

• Analysis

• Design

• Development

• Testing
• Implementation

• Maintenance

PLANNING

Determining a business problem or verifying if there are problems and opportunities that might
exist

Investigating if the solution to be given to the problem(s) is feasible such that there would be

an improvement on the IS to be executed Obtaining a project management plan approval for

implementation

Identifying appropriate system requirements. which includes:

PLANNING

1. Five components of the IS in terms of what hardware devices would be needed, software that
would be used, data that must be gathered, procedures that would be followed, the people who
would be followed, and the people who would be involved in developing the system.

2. Criteria for the requirements analysis to start. which should always be approved by a project
manager

ANALYSIS

Identifying and taking into account the risks that are related to how the technology to be used for
the project will be integrated into the standard operating procedures

. Studying and gathering the functional and non- functional requirements of the business
process

Software applications (e.g., computer programming languages), files, and data flow must not be
considered yet during the system analysis stage.

DESIGN

This phase aims to transform the system requirements that have been identified during the
previous stages into a more detailed system architecture that will be feasible, full-bodied, and
valuable to the organization.

DEVELOPMENT
This phase aims to convert the approved system architecture and design into a working system
that is reliable and stable through the functional as well as technical and non-technical
requirements that were identified and observed during the earlier stages of the life cycle
solutions.

SOLUTIONS IN CODING MAY BE THROUGH THE FOLLOWING:

• The availability of technical specifications

• Approved and signed-off blueprints of the system architecture by clients, stakeholders,

managers, and the like

TESTING

This phase executes the system integration testing of the created and developed system. It
guarantees that the developed systems have brought together all the technical and non-
technical requirements with the necessary components and subsystems integrated.

The system test may require a series of tests depending on the scope and involvedness of the
requirements, including the six main quality characteristics: functionality, reliability, usability.
efficiency, maintainability, and portability.

TESTING

The entire system must be prepared for the congregation before proceeding to the integration
and testing stage, meaning:

All hardware and software configurations must

have been constructed and tested successfully

• All integration plans are ready and prepared

IMPLEMENTATION

The deployment or implementation phase first installs the system in the production environment
and makes it ready for operation. It then ensures that the system is fully developed and free
from system errors.

THE FOLLOWING MUST BE CONFIRMED:

1. The fulfillment of all the functional and non-

functional requirements 2. The approval of business necessities

3. An observation of all authorizations, physical

constraints, and service-level agreements (e.g..

SOA)

4. The operations as mentioned and discussed in the user manuals

MAINTENANCE

This phase involves making changes to the hardware, software, a documentation process to
support and sustain the system's operation effectiveness.

This is the phase where modifications are made to enhance the system performance, solutions
to the problems or system errors encountered a derived, security enhancements are performed,
and user requirements a addressed.

Security enhancement during this phase is essential to ensure th information and the entire
system are free from malware or malicio software.

2.4 INFORMATION SYSTEM SECURITY

COMPUTER SOFTWARE AND ITS TYPES

INFORMATON SECURITY

Information security means protecting information and IS's from malicious software and
unauthorized access, use, disclosure, modification, disruption, or destruction.

INFORMATON SECURITY MANAGEMEN

Information security management is the process of identifying the security controls to keep and
defenc information assets.