Challenges and Opportunities

of Management Information
Systems
Group One Members
1. Suzan Namutebi 221-035053-21153
2. Sharmarke Mohamed Ali 221-035073-23079
3. Aidarus Mohamed Aden 221-035053-21131
4. Abdinor Ali Abtidon 221-035053-22593
5. Amina Ahmed Mohamed 221-035053-21098
6. Mohamed Mohamud Isak 221-035053-23084
7. Musigire Rashid 221-035053-21734
 Areas
• Introduction -
• Challenges of information systems -
• Opportunities of information systems -
• Challenges of building and using information systems -
• Methods of identifying information needs –
• Information system development
• Evolution of information system development -
 Introduction
• Management Information Systems (MIS), referred to as Information
Management and Systems, is the discipline covering the application of
people, technologies, and procedures collectively called information
systems, to solving business problems.
• MIS: is a planned system of collecting, storing and disseminating data in
the form of information needed to carry out the functions of management.
 Introduction Cont..
• Academically, the term is commonly used to refer to the group of
information management methods tied to the automation or support of
human decision making, e.g. Decision Support Systems, Expert Systems,
and Executive Information Systems.
• Therefore, Management information system is a system consisting of
people, machines, procedures, databases and data models, as its elements.
The system gathers data from the internal and external sources of an
organization.
 Challenges of
Management information systems
Poor conception – MIS often mistaken for a database system
Incompleteness – under identification of the
information needs
Poor quality control – quality requirements not respected
Poor administration and usage – deviation in system specification
Difficult to keep current data
 Challenges of MIS Cont..
• System may become slow, large, and hard to manage.
• Functions are limited cannot perform complex calculations.
• May lead to less reliable and insecure data.
• Small companies may encounter excessive costs for implementation.
• Hard to quantify benefits and to justify implementation of an EIS.
Executives may encounter information overload.
 Opportunities of MIS
• Ability to analyze trends
• Augmentation of managers leadership capabilities
• Enhanced personal thinking and decision making
• Contribution to strategic control flexibility
• Ease access to existing information
• Instruments of change
• Better reporting system
• Better understanding of enterprise operations.
 Challenges of building and using
information systems
There are five key management challenges of building and using
information systems:
• Designing systems that are competitive and efficient.
Organizations should have competitive and efficient systems in order to
serve its customers better than its competitors so building such systems that
are useful at the business level will not be easy and require a lot of efforts
and activities.
 Challenges of building and using
information systems cont..
• Understanding the system requirements of a global business
environment
understanding business environment helps an organization to make realistic
plans and ensure their effective implementation.
Global challenges include: Language difference, Cultural differences,
managing global teams, social expectations, international politics, policies and
regulations considering all these challenges Information systems provide firms
tools for conducting and managing businesses on a global scale.
 Challenges of building and using
information systems cont..
• Creating an information architecture that supports the
organization's goals.
Information architecture focuses on organizing, structuring, and labeling
content in an effective and sustainable way.
The goal is to help users easily find the information. So Creating an
information architecture that supports the organization's goals require to
have professionals and expertise therefor it is not something easy.
 Challenges in building and using
information systems Cont..
• Determining the business value of information systems. management
should determine the business value of information system in order
generate information that is useful for managing their operations.

• Designing systems that people can control, understand, and use in a

socially and ethically responsible manner.
 Methods of identifying
information needs
• Preparation for identification of information needs.
• Study of subjects.
• Study of the organization and its environment.
• Study of the user's specific environment.
• Study of the user.
 Information system development
• In this section, we will discuss the different methods of taking
those ideas and bringing them to reality, a process known as
information systems development. we are going to review several
different methodologies for system development like;
• Systems-Development Life Cycle
• Rapid Application Development
• Agile Methodologies
• Lean Methodology
Systems-Development Life Cycle
Rapid Application Development
 Agile Methodologies
• Agile methodologies are a group of methodologies that utilize incremental changes with a focus on
quality and attention to detail. Each increment is released in a specified period of time (called a
time box), creating a regular release schedule with very specific objectives. While considered a
separate methodology from RAD, they share some of the same principles: iterative development,
user interaction, ability to change. The agile methodologies are based on the “Agile Manifesto,”
first released in 2001.
• The characteristics of agile methods include:
• small cross-functional teams that include development-team members and users; 
daily status meetings to discuss the current state of the project;
• short time-frame increments (from days to one or two weeks) for each change to be completed; and
• at the end of each iteration, a working project is completed to demonstrate to the stakeholders.
Lean Methodology
 Evolution of information
system development
From our definitions above, we see that these components collect,
store, organize, and distribute data throughout the organization. In fact,
we might say that one of the roles of information systems is to take
data and turn it into information, and then transform that into
organizational knowledge. As technology has developed, this role has
evolved into the backbone of the organization
 Evolution of information
system development Cont..
The Eras of Business Computing
Era Hardware Operating System Applications

Terminals connected to mainframe

Mainframe (1970s) Time-sharing (TSO) on MVS Custom-written MRP software
computer.

IBM PC or compatible. Sometimes

PC (mid-1980s) connected to mainframe computer MS-DOS WordPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3
via expansion card.

IBM PC “clone” on a Novell

Client-Server (late 80s to early 90s)
World Wide Web (mid-90s to early
2000s)
Windows for Workgroups Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel
Network.
IBM PC “clone” connected to
Windows XP Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer
company intranet.

Web 2.0 (mid-2000s to present) Laptop connected to company Wi-Fi. Windows 7 Microsoft Office, Firefox

Mobile-friendly websites, mobile

Post-PC (today and beyond) Apple iPad iOS apps
 Evolution of Information Systems Con..
The first business application of computers (in the mid- 1950s) performed
repetitive, high-volume, transaction-computing tasks. The computers”
crunched numbers” summarizing and organizing transactions and data in the
accounting, finance, and human resources areas. Such systems are generally
called transaction processing systems (TPSs)
• Management Information Systems (MISs): these systems access, organize,
summarize and display information for supporting routine decision
making in the functional areas.
• Office Automation Systems( OASs): such as word processing systems
were developed to support office and clerical workers.
 Evolution of Information Systems Con..
• Decision Support Systems: were developed to provide computer based
support for complex, non routine decision.
• End- user computing: The use or development of information systems by
the principal users of the systems’ outputs, such as analysts, managers,
and other professionals.
• Intelligent Support System (ISSs): Include expert systems which provide
the stored knowledge of experts to nonexperts, and a new type of
intelligent system with machine- learning capabilities that can learn from
historical cases. „
• Knowledge Management Systems: Support the creating, gathering,
organizing, integrating and disseminating of organizational knowledge.
 Evolution of Information Systems Con..
• Data Warehousing: A data warehouse is a database designed to
support DSS, ESS and other analytical and end-user activities.
• Mobile Computing: Information systems that support employees
who are working with customers or business partners outside the
physical boundaries of their company; can be done over wire or
wireless networks.
END