1 Managerial Questions  What is an information system?  What are some major applications of information systems?  How does the Internet fit in?

2 What is an Information System? An information system is a combination of technology, people, and processes to capture, transmit, retrieve and display information

3 The Information System  Information Systems pervade the enterprise  You need to know: The technical aspects of information, but more importantly the concepts governing their use. How to make decisions about what you firm needs and what it does not.

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5 Components of an IS  Hardware The physical devices like computers and printers  Software Programs that can tell the hardware what to do  Communications Modes of transmitting information (wires, wireless, etc.)

Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.6

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8 Hardware  The ‘first’ computers: mainframes (1950s)  The personal computer (early 1980s)  Client server computers (early 1990s)  Remote computing (starting in the early 2000s but still developing)

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10 Software  Operating Systems Programs that manage and control the computer e.g., Windows, Mac OS  Applications Programs that accomplish a specific task e.g., a word processor or spreadsheet

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12 Evolution of Software Industry  The un-bundling of software  High fixed development costs but low marginal costs  Customization and in-house development

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16 Sidebar: Trade Offs in Software This led to a series of choices and trade- offs: 1. Buy and Install - Least costly, requires most organizational change 2. Buy and Modify - More costly, but less change intensive 3. Build your own - Most expensive