Properties of information systems

Information system is a combination of people, hardware, software, communication devices, network and data resources that processes (can be storing, retrieving, transforming information)data and information for a specific purpose.

Each system and IS also has following properties:

1.Complicity- the system depends on a number of its components, their structural interaction, as well as the complexity of the internal and external affairs;

2, divisibility- the system consists of a number of subsystems or components identified by certain characteristics and meet specific goals and objectives;

3.integrity of the system - means that all elements of the system are functioning as a unit;

4.variety of system elements and their different nature - the property is connected to the operation of the elements, their specificity and autonomy;

5.structure - determines whether there are connections and relationships between elements within the system, the distribution of elements of the system through the levels and hierarchies;

6.Adaptive systems - means the system adaptable to the conditions of a particular subject area;

7.integrability - means to interact with the system reconnects components or subsystems.

Properties of IS:

-Any IS can be analyzed, built and controlled on the basis of the general principles of complex systems;

-the construction of IS should use a systematic approach;

-IS is a dynamic and evolving system;

-IS should be taken as information processing system consisting of computer and telecommunication devices, realized on the basis of modern technologies;

-Outputs of IS is the information on which decisions are made or automatic routine operations;

-participation of a person depends on the complexity of the system, and the types of data sets, the degree of formalization of tasks.

 

The functions of the information system

An information system has following functions:

Acquisition- the collection of raw data from the outside world so it can be put into an information system

Examples:

-payclerk, going to the factory's foremen and collecting the workers' timecards so she knows how many hours each person worked that week.

-Collecting jokes for a jokebook.

-Using a form on a website to collect visitors' opinions

Input— Putting the acquired data into the information system. Examples:

-typing the hours from the timecards into a spreadsheet.

-typing jokes into a word processor

Validation

Checking the quality of the data before it is processed.For example, have letters been entered instead of digits or is a date in August between 1 and 31

Processing (manipulation)

This is a key point. At this stage DATA is converted into INFORMATION. e.g. a thousand surveys are converted into a graph that actually means something to a person.

Examplee:

-Calculating wages from hours worked

-Sorting jokes alphabetically by topic

Storage

Unless you want to input the data every time you process it, it's sensible to store the data. You also may want to store information you have produced so you don't have to keep repeating work.

Retrieval

The reverse of storage. There's not much point storing data and information unless you can retrieve it again later.

Output

All the previous steps are useless unless you can see the results.

Communication

Sending data or information to another place.

Disposal

Deleting data or archiving data. Issues involve the security of so-called "deleted" data.

 

6. PROBLEMS IN INFORMATION SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

Though information has become one of the most valuable assets of modern corporations, development of information systems (IS) faces many problems. Among the most important are low productivity, a large number of failures, and an inadequate alignment of ISs with business needs.:

1. low productivity, has been recognized in the term “software crisis”, as indicated by the development backlog and maintenance. Simply, demands for building new or improved ISs have increased faster than our ability to develop them. Some reasons are: the increasing cost of software development, the limited supply of personnel and funding, and only moderate productivity improvements.

2. IS development (ISD) efforts have resulted in a large number of outright failures. These failures are sometimes due to economical mismatches, such as budget and schedule overruns, but surprisingly often due to poor product quality and insufficient user satisfaction. Unfortunately this area has not been studied in enough detail to find general reasons for failures. As a result, we must mostly rely on cases and reports on ISD failures

3. Third, from the business point of view, there has been growing criticism of the poor alignment of ISs and business needs. While an increasing part of organizations’ resources are spent on recording, searching, refining and analyzing information, the link between ISs and organizational performance and strategies has been shown to be dubious.

All the above problems are further aggravated by the increasing complexity and size of software products. Each generation has brought new application areas as well as extended functionality leading to larger systems, which are harder to design, construct and maintain.

 

7. Types of Information Management System.

A management information system (MIS) is a computer-based system that provides the information necessary to manage an organization effectively.

The popular Information Management Systems can be listed as follows:

1.Document management system (DMS).The DMS is focused primarily on the storage and retrieval of self-contained electronic data resources in the document form.

2.Content management system (CMS).The CMS assist in the creation, distribution, publishing, and management of the enterprise information.The CMS system can also be called as ‘web content management’ (WCM).

3.Library management system (LMS).Library management systems facilitate the library technical functions and services that include tracking of the library assets, managing CDs and books inventory and lending, supporting the daily administrative activities of the library and the record keeping.

4.Records management system (RMS).The RMS are the recordkeeping systems which capture, maintain and provide access to the records including paper as well as electronic documents, efficiently and timely.

5.Digital imaging system (DIS).The DIS assist in automation of the creation of electronic versions of the paper documents such as PDFs or Tiffs.

6.Learning management system (LMS).Learning management systems are generally used to automate the e-learning process which includes the administrative process like registering students, managing training resources, creating courseware, recording results etc.

7.Geographic information system (GIS).The GIS are special purpose, computer-based systems that facilitate the capture, storage, retrieval, display and analysis of the spatial data.