1. Basics of Information Systems
Material from
Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fourth Edition
By
Ralph Stair and George Reynolds
1

2. Information Concepts:
Data, Information, and Knowledge
• Data: raw facts
– Alphanumeric, image, audio, and video
• Information: collection of facts organized in such a way that
they have additional value beyond the value of the facts
themselves
– Value of Information is directly linked to how it helps
decision makers achieve their organization’s goals and can be
measured
• in time required to make a decision
• Increased profits to the company
2

3. Data, Information, and Knowledge
Figure 1.2: The Process of Transforming Data into Information
3

4. The Characteristics of Valuable
Information
Table 1.2: Characteristics of Valuable Information
4

5. The Characteristics of Valuable
Information (continued)
Table 1.2: Characteristics of Valuable Information (continued)
5

6. What Is an Information System?
Figure 1.3: The Components of any Information System
6

7. Computer-Based Information Systems
 Computer-based information system (CBIS): single
set of hardware, software, databases, telecommunications,
people, and procedures configured to collect, manipulate,
store, and process data into information
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8. Computer-Based Information Systems
• CBIS components
– Hardware: computer equipment used to perform input,
processing, and output activities
– Software: computer programs that govern the operation of the
computer
– Database: organized collection of facts and information
– Telecommunications: electronic transmission of signals for
communications
– Networks: connect computers and equipment in a building,
around the country, and around the world
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9. Business Information Systems
 Most common types of information systems used in business
organizations
 Electronic and mobile commerce systems
 Transaction processing systems
 Management information systems
 Decision support systems
 Specialized business information systems
9

10. Electronic and Mobile Commerce
 E-commerce: any business transaction executed electronically
between parties
 Companies (B2B)
 Companies and consumers (B2C)
 Consumers and other consumers (C2C)
 Companies and the public sector
 Consumers and the public sector
10

11. Transaction Processing Systems
 Transaction: business-related exchange
 Payments to employees
 Sales to customers
 Payments to suppliers
 Transaction processing system (TPS): organized
collection of people, procedures, software, databases, and
devices used to record completed business transactions
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12. Additional Business Information
Systems
• Management Information Systems (MIS)
– provide routine information to managers and decision makers
• Knowledge Management Systems (KMS)
– create, store, share, and use the organization’s knowledge and
experience
• Artificial intelligence (AI)
– field in which the computer system takes on the characteristics of
human intelligence
• Decision support system (DSS)
– used to support problem-specific decision making
12

13. Hardware and Software Basics
13

14. Hardware Components
• Central processing unit (CPU)
– Arithmetic/logic unit (ALU): performs calculations and makes
logical comparisons
– Control unit: accesses, decodes and coordinates data in CPU
and other devices
• Primary memory: holds program instructions and data for
processing
• Secondary storage: more permanent storage
• Input and output devices
• Communications devices
14

15. Hardware Components (continued)
Figure 2.1: Hardware Components
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16. Processing and Memory Devices:
Power and Speed
• System unit
– Houses the components responsible for processing (the CPU
and memory)
– All other computer system devices are linked either directly or
indirectly into the system unit housing
• Clock speed
– series of electronic pulses produced at a predetermined rate
that affects machine cycle time
– Clock speed is often measured in megahertz (MHz) for millions
or gigahertz(GHz) for billions of cycles per second
16

17. Memory and Storage Characteristics
and Functions
• Types of Memory
– Random access memory (RAM)
• Temporary
• Volatile
– Read-only memory (ROM)
• Usually nonvolatile
• Secondary storage
– Also called permanent storage
– Nonvolatile
– Greater capacity and greater economy than memory
– Measured in bytes: kilo, mega, giga, tera
– Different access methods
• Sequential access: data must be accessed in the order in which it is stored
– Sequential access storage devices (SASDs)
• Direct access: data can be retrieved in any order
– Direct access storage devices (DASDs)
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18. Secondary Storage Devices
• Magnetic tapes
– Secondary storage used primarily for backups
• Magnetic disks
– Direct access secondary storage, e.g., hard disk
• RAID
– Stores extra bits so that data can be reconstructed if system fails
• SAN
• Provides high-speed connections between data storage devices and
computers over a network Optical disks
– Direct access optical disc, e.g., CD-ROM
• Digital video disk (DVD)
– Stores several gigabytes of data
• Flash memory
– Nonvolatile silicon computer chip
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19. Input Devices
• Personal computer input devices
– Keyboard, mouse
• Speech-recognition technology
– Input devices that recognize human speech
• Digital cameras
– Input device used with PC to record/store images in digital form
• Terminals
– Input and display devices that perform data entry and input at the same time
• Touch-sensitive screens
– Allow display screens to act as input devices as well as output devices
• Bar-code scanners
– Employs a laser scanner to read a bar-coded label
• Magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) devices
• Code data on banking forms, such as checks Pen input devices
– Activate a command, enter handwritten notes, and draw objects
• Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
– Employs a microchip with an antenna to broadcast its unique identifier and location to a receiver
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20. Output Devices
• Display monitors (CRTs)
– Output quality measured by number of pixels and dot pitch
• Liquid crystal displays (LCDs)
– Easier on eyes, use less electricity, take up less space than CRTs
• Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs)
– Directly emits light rather than using backlight
• Sharper colors and thinner displays Printers and plotters: hard
copy output
– Printers: laser, inkjet
– Plotters: used for general design work
• Digital audio player
– Stores, organizes, and plays digital music files
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21. Overview of Software
• Computer programs: sequences of instructions for the
computer
• Documentation: describes program functions
• Systems software: coordinates the activities of hardware
and programs
• Application software: helps users solve particular
problems
21

22. Systems Software

23. Application Software
• Give users the ability to solve problems and perform specific
tasks
• Interact with systems software; systems software then directs
the hardware to perform tasks
• Proprietary software: unique program for a specific
application, usually developed and owned by a single
company
• Off-the-shelf software: existing software program that
can be purchased
• Customized package
23

24. Personal Application Software
 Serves the needs of an individual user
 Includes personal productivity software
 Enables users to improve their personal effectiveness
24

25. Personal Application Software
(continued)
Table 2.7: Examples of Personal Productivity Software
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26. Personal Application Software
(continued)
Table 2.7: Examples of Personal Productivity Software (continued)
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27. Workgroup Application Software
 Workgroup application software: support teamwork,
whether people are in the same location or dispersed around
the world
 Groupware: software that helps groups of people work
together more efficiently and effectively
27

28. Enterprise Application Software
 Software that benefits an entire organization
 Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software:
programs that manage a company’s vital business operations
for an entire multisite, global organization
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29. Enterprise Application Software
(continued)
Table 2.10: Examples of Enterprise Application Software
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30. Information, Decision Support,
and Specialized Software
 Used in businesses of all sizes and types to increase profits or
reduce costs
 Available in every industry
 Example: analysis to increase the cure rate for cancer
30

31. Data Management

32. Data Management
 Without data and the ability to process it, an organization
could not successfully complete most business activities
 Data consists of raw facts
 For data to be transformed into useful information, it must
first be organized in a meaningful way
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33. The Hierarchy of Data
• Bit (a binary digit): a circuit that is either on or off
• Byte: eight bits
• Character: basic building block of information
– Each byte represents a character
– Can be an uppercase letter, lowercase letter, numeric digit, or special
symbol
• Field: typically a name, number, or combination of characters
that describes an aspect of a business object or activityRecord: a
collection of related data fields
• File: a collection of related records
• Database: a collection of integrated and related files
• Hierarchy of data: bits, characters, fields, records, files, and
databases
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34. The Hierarchy of Data
Figure 3.1: The Hierarchy of Data
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35. Data Entities, Attributes, and Keys
• Entity: a generalized class of people, places, or things
(objects) for which data is collected, stored, and maintained
• Attribute: characteristic of an entity
• Data item: value of an attribute
• Key: field or set of fields in a record that is used to identify
the record
• Primary key: field or set of fields that uniquely identifies
the record
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36. Data Entities, Attributes, and Keys
Figure 3.2: Keys and Attributes
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37. The Database Approach
• Traditional approach to database management
– separate data files are created for each application
• Results in data redundancy (duplication)
• Data redundancy conflicts with data integrity
• Database approach to database management:
– pool of related data is shared by multiple applications
• Significant advantages over traditional approach
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38. The Database Approach to Data
Management
Figure 3.3: The Database Approach to Data Management
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39. The Database Approach Advantages
Table 3.1: Advantages of the Database Approach
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40. The Database Approach (continued)
Table 3.1: Advantages of the Database Approach (continued)
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41. The Database Approach Disadvantages
Table 3.2: Disadvantages of the Database Approach
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42. Data Modeling and the Relational
Database Model
 When building a database, consider:
 Content: What data should be collected, at what cost?
 Access: What data should be provided to which users and when?
 Logical structure: How should data be arranged to make sense to
a given user?
 Physical organization: Where should data be physically located?
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43. Data Modeling
• Building a database requires two types of designs
– Logical design
• Abstract model of how data should be structured and arranged to meet an
organization’s information needs
– Data model: a diagram of data entities and their relationships
– Entity-relationship (ER) diagrams: data models that use basic
graphical symbols to show the organization of and relationships
between data
– Physical design
• Fine-tunes the logical database design for performance and cost
considerations
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44. ER diagram for a Customer Order
Database
44

45. ER diagram Showing the Relationship
between the Manager, Department
and Project
45

46. Implementing the Relational Database
Model
 data elements are placed in two-dimensional tables
(relations), which are the logical equivalent of files
 Each row of a table represents a data entity
 Columns of the table represent attributes
 The domain of the database model consists of all of the
allowable values for data attributes i
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47. The Relational Database Model
Figure 3.5: A Relational Database Model
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48. Manipulating Databases
 Selecting: eliminates rows according to criteria
 Projecting: eliminates columns in a table
 Joining: combines two or more tables
 Linking: relates or links two or more tables using common
data attributes
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49. Manipulating Data (continued)
Figure 3.7: Linking Data Tables to Answer an Inquiry
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50. Database Management Systems
(DBMS)
• Interface between:
– Database and application programs
– Database and the user
• Creating and implementing the right database system ensures
that the database will support both business activities and goals
• DBMS: a group of programs used as an interface between a
database and application programs or a database and the user
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51. Overview of Database Types
• Flat file
– Simple database program whose records have no relationship to
one another
• Single user
– Only one person can use the database at a time
– Examples: Access, FileMaker, and InfoPath
• Multiple user
– Allows dozens or hundreds of people to access the same
database system at the same time
– Examples: Oracle, Sybase, and IBM
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52. Distributed Databases
 Distributed database
 Data may be spread across several smaller databases connected
via telecommunications devices
 Corporations get more flexibility in how databases are
organized and used
 Replicated database
 Holds a duplicate set of frequently used data
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53. Telecommunications

54. Basic Concepts of Telecommunications
• Telecommunications: electronic transmission of signals for
communications
• Computer network: communications media, devices, and
software needed to connect two or more computer systems
or devices
• Network types: personal area network (PAN), local area
network (LAN), metropolitan area network (MAN), wide
area network (WAN), and international networks
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55. The Internet
 Internet: collection of interconnected networks, all freely
exchanging information
 Internet Protocol (IP): communication standard that enables
traffic to be routed from one network to another as needed
 Uniform Resource Locator (URL): an assigned address on
the Internet for each computer
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56. Business Networks
 Intranet: internal corporate network built using Internet and
World Wide Web standards and protocols
 Extranet: network based on Web technologies that links
selected resources of a company’s intranet with its
customers, suppliers, or other business partners
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57. Systems Development

58. An Overview of Systems Development
 Managers and employees in all functional areas work
together in a business information system
 Users help and often lead the way with development process
 Participants in systems development:
 Determine when a project fails
 Are critical to systems development success
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59. Participants in Systems Development
• Development team consists of the following:
– Project managers: coordinate system development effort
– Stakeholders: directly or indirectly benefit from the project
– Users: interact with the system regularly
– Systems analysts: analyze and design business systems
– Programmers: modify or develop programs to satisfy user
requirements
– Various support personnel: specialists, vendors
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60. Information Systems Planning and
Aligning Corporate and IS Goals
 Information systems planning: translating strategic and
organizational goals into systems development initiatives
 Aligning organizational goals and IS goals is critical for any
successful systems development effort
 Determining whether organizational and IS goals are aligned
can be difficult
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61. Information Systems Planning and
Aligning Corporate and IS Goals
(continued)
Figure 8.2: Information Systems Planning
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62. Systems Development Life Cycles
• The systems development process is also called a systems
development life cycle (SDLC)
• Common SDLCs
– Prototyping
– Rapid application development (RAD) Systems
• development approach that employs tools, techniques, and
methodologies designed to speed application development
– End-user development any systems
• development project in which the primary effort is undertaken by a
combination of business managers and users
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63. Systems Development Activities
• Systems investigation:
– problems and opportunities are identified and considered in light of the goals of
the business
• Systems analysis:
– study of existing systems and work processes to identify strengths, weaknesses,
and opportunities for improvement
• Systems design:
– defines how the information system will do what it must do to obtain the
problem solution
• Systems implementation:
– creation or acquisition of various system components detailed in the systems
design, assembling them, and placing the new or modified system into operation
• Systems maintenance and review:
– ensures that the system operates as intended and modifies the system so that it
continues to meet changing business needs
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