1. MIS 301 Information Systems in Organizations Dave Salisbury salisbury@udayton.edusalisbury@udayton.edu (email) http://www.davesalisbury.com/http://www.davesalisbury.com/ (web site)

2. What We Will Cover: The technological infrastructure of an organization Databases: the primary data storage for organizations Beyond databases: using other methods to store data, information, and knowledge The IS integration problem Information systems that support business activities Business intelligence

3. Student ROI (Return on Investment) Your investment of time and effort in this course will result in your being able to answer these questions: How do organizations use processors, networks, software, and storage? What are the key concepts of data organization for an IS? In what ways can organizations use IT to store and share data, information and knowledge? What is the IS integration problem and how are organizations solving it? How do organizations use IT to support transactions and business processes? How does business intelligence enhance organizational decision making?

4. IT: The “Plumbing of an Organization” Data and information are as vital to an organization as the water we drink Data and information must be delivered in a usable form Just as pipes acts plumbing to deliver water for us to drink, IT acts as the plumbing of an organization by delivering “clean” data and information to those who need it.

5. Forms and Organizations of Data & Information While we need only clean water, we need data and information in different forms and organizations. Forms of data and information: numbers, text, graphics, audio, video Data and information can be organized as tables, reports and graphs

6. Technology Infrastructure of an Organization All core components discussed at the individual level—hardware, software, and networks—also apply at the organizational level. The main difference between personal level and organizational level is one of size and complexity. At organizational level, there is more of everything Data to process Larger scale problems to solve More people and activities to support

7. Organizational Hardware Processing hardware is at the heart of business IS. The computer hierarchy categorizes processors according to their power. Computer power is often based on physical size. Can’t always make compare computer types on power alone as it is possible to combine several small computers to have more power than a single large one.

8. Computer Hierarchy Computer TypeRelative Processing PowerPurpose SupercomputerLargest and FastestProcessor intensive applications MainframeLargeOrganizational processing Server FarmsMedium/manyHandle network processing needs Personal Computer (PC) Small to mediumIndividual processing needs Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) Very smallPortable computing power Embedded processors Extremely smallLow-scale processing and/or identification

9. General Computing Job Types Input-Output Bound Speed of job depends on speed of input- output devices Common in business Processor Bound Speed of job depends on speed of processor Heavy calculations – common in science and advanced statistical fields

10. Organizational Networks Networked computers provide the core function of data transfer in an organization Networks also support communications between individuals and groups within the organization Networks also support communications between the organization and its customers, suppliers, and so on Networks are classified by size from small to global

11. Types of Organizational Networks NetworkSizePurpose PAN (Private Area Network--private) Up to a small officeCommunication between devices LAN (Local Area Network--private) Within a buildingSharing between users in an organization MAN (Metropolitan Area Network— private/public) Within a metropolitan area High speed data and voice communications WAN (Wide Area Network— private/public) Over a large geo- graphical area) Sharing among organizational units distant from one another Internet (Public)GlobalSharing with all stakeholders in organization; also general public

12. Intranets in the Organization Intranets are very important to the organization. An intranet is a set of services for distributing private information throughout the organization. From a hardware perspective, an intranet is a collection of private networks. Intranets use the TCP/IP protocol to share information, just like the Internet. They use Internet- compatible file formats like HTML and XML to share information.

13. Advantages of Intranets Reduces paper used by publishing internal documents on Web sites that can be accessed by employees and other stakeholders. Internal transactions such as pension plan changes can be automated. Intranets can lead to improved communication and teamwork.

14. Individual vs. Organizational Software Type of Software Individual UseOrganizational Use Operating Systems To manage a single computer To manage a mainframe or server farm Application Software Personal productivity software Transaction processing, data storage, and organizational productivity software Collaboration Software Supports communication between individuals Enables members of organization to share work Software at the organizational level is like that at personal level, just more complex and able to handle more transactions.

15. Databases: Primary Data Storage for Organizations All business information systems rely on stored data to make decisions. The primary technology for data storage is the database. A database consists of interrelated that are stored in files for easy access of specific pieces of data. A database management system (DBMS) is a collection of software that allows users to create and work with a database.

16. DBMSs Control Database Access

17. Database Systems for Organizations A database and its DBMS is often referred to as a database system. People who create and manage organizational database systems are referred to as database administrators. Knowledge workers usually use application software to access and query the database. Organizational databases are much larger and much more complex than what we build in Access.

18. Other Methods to Store Data, Information, and Knowledge In addition to using databases, there are a number of other ways to store data, information and knowledge. These include (but are not limited to): Data Warehouses Management Information/Decision Systems Knowledge Management Collaborative Software

19. Using Data Warehouses Databases are not the only or necessarily the best way of storing data for all business needs. A data warehouse is a way of storing and managing data for information access. It consists of transaction data, cleaned and restructured to fit the data warehouse model. It is meant to support queries, summary reports, and analysis.

20. Database vs. Data Warehouse DatabaseData Warehouse Supported ActivityOperationalAnalytical Response TimeFastCan be slow Age of DataCurrent transactionHistorical data ScopeLimited area within organization Provides view of entire organization Data VariabilityChanges oftenInfrequent changes SourceTransactionsMultiple sources Data ModelBusiness rulesAligns with overall business structure

21. Data Warehouses Data warehouses are very large and work with tools that allow users to more easily deal with vast amounts of data. Data marts are used to extract and reorganize specific data according to user’s information needs. Data warehouses often provide support for organizing multidimensional data (based on two or more characteristics.) Retrieving data organized in this fashion is sometimes called slicing-and-dicing.

22. Using a Data Warehouse Automatic production of standard reports and queries. Queries against summary or detailed data. Data mining for detailed data to find trends or patterns in large sets of data. Some data mining tools use artificial intelligence techniques or provide aids for data visualization to allow humans to spot trends. Interfacing with other applications and data stores.

23. Management Information/Decision Systems Businesses use captured and stored data to create information which is used for decision making. One way to have information available is to store it in the form of reports created by a management information system (MIS). MIS typically generate three types of reports. Periodic Exception Demand

24. Document Management Systems Some modern versions of MIS are referred to as document management systems (DMS). A DMS enters, tracks, routes, and processes the many documents used in an organization. Documents can be created electronically or converted to electronic form using imaging technology. DMS can be used to support workflow systems by managing storage and routing of documents.

25. Knowledge Management Knowledge is the most difficult form of informational resource to store and share. There are two types of knowledge: explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge. Explicit knowledge includes everything that can be written down, stored, and codified. Tacit knowledge includes know-how that people have through learning and experience. Knowledge management involves, recognizes, generates, manages, and shares knowledge.

26. Knowledge Management Systems Expert Systems are a form of knowledge management that tries to capture and store the knowledge of a human expert. Observation and interview techniques are used to capture how an expert performs work and makes decisions. They are a form of artificial intelligence which tries to provide computer applications that mimic human intelligence. Collaborative software (groupware) is often used to support tacit knowledge management.

27. Collaborative Tools Collaborative SoftwareComments Communication ToolsFacilitates the sharing of information and data with messaging tools Conferencing ToolsProvides a more interactive facility for sharing of information. Collaborative Management Tools Can help to manage and facilitate the activities of a team.

28. The IS Integration Problem The problem of combining many disparate technologies into a single overall system is known as the IS integration problem. Solutions to the integration problem include: Middleware Web services Enterprise resource planning software (ERP)

29. Middleware Middleware is software that links applications that use dissimilar software or hardware platforms. It acts like a specialized messenger/translator that manages the exchange of information. An important class of middleware technology that is designed to work with Internet protocols is known as Web services.

30. Middleware

31. Web Services A Web service obtains or processes data from a sending application. The data is delivered over the network using a standard data format known as eXtensible Markup Language (XML). Programs can interpret the XML data into a format useful to a receiving application. Web services allow companies to make their data more useful to other while retaining control over hardware and access to data. A mashup is a combination of Web services that seamlessly combines information from more than one source into an integrated experience.

32. Web Services

33. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) ERP systems enable a company to run all of its applications from a single database. Each functional unit still uses its own supporting software, but ERP links these applications and ensures their compatibility via common data storage. The main benefit of an ERP system is to streamline the order fulfillment process, but companies can apply ERP to other business functions as well. The primary disadvantage of ERP is its complexity often requiring ERP vendors to develop and maintain their systems.

34. Information Systems that Support Business Activities There are a variety of information systems that support business activities. These IS include Transaction processing systems Functional information systems Workflow management systems These are just a few of the many IS that organizations use to support knowledge work and business processes.

35. Transactions Business transactions are critical to the core activities of an organization. A transaction is a unit of work that has the following characteristics (ACID): Atomicity: a transaction must be completed. Consistency: All unchanging properties of data must be preserved. Isolation: Each transaction should execute independently of other transactions. Durability: The effects of a transaction should be permanent.

36. Transaction Processing Systems A TPS brings together the common components of IT (data storage, data processing, data capture, and software). A TPS must control the flow of both the activities and data involved in the transaction. TPS must incorporate: The logic for controlling and enabling transactions The business rules of the organization Necessary error handling logic

37. Transaction Processing Systems

38. Types of TPS Batch transaction processing: A local server first stores transaction data captured at a location. Data sent to central data store as a group or batch. Batch processing is useful when actual processing time is significant. Online transaction processing (OLTP): Data from each transaction is processed and sent as it is captured. Requires faster and more expensive network infrastructure Data is available to decision makers more quickly.

39. Functional IS SystemDescription Accounting ISDedicated to tracking and reporting a firm’s financial health Marketing ISSupports marketing research and decision making Human Resource ISSupports activities related to managing the employees of an organization Financial ISProvides financial information to an organization’s financial managers Manufacturing ISSupports manufacturing processes and activities Functional information systems (FIS) focus on the activities of a department to improve its efficiency and effectiveness.

40. Workflow Management Systems A workflow represents the steps, resources, input and output data, and tools needed to complete a business process. A workflow management system (WMS) or business process management (BPM) focuses on a business process from beginning to end. WMS enables modeling the steps of the business process to show the flow of work along with the state of the components.

41. Workflow Reference Model

42. Business Intelligence Business intelligence (BI) is a process for gaining competitive advantage through the intelligent use of data and information in decision making. Data and information must go through several stages to be used in decision making. IT assists at every step.

43. Stages of Business Intelligence StageDescription 1. Data sourcingMining data and information from text documents, images, media files, and Web pages. 2. Data analysisProducing useful knowledge from collected data and information 3. Situation awareness Culling out and relating the useful facts and knowledge 4. Risk assessmentIdentifying decision options and evaluating them 5. Decision supportUsing interactive software tools to identify and select intelligent decisions and strategies

44. Decision Support Systems (DSS) DSS help businesses use technology, data organization and access, knowledge, and models to carry out decision- making. Type of DSSDescription Communication-driven DSS Focuses on communications, collaboration, and shared decision-making Data-driven DSSFocuses on access to and manipulation of internal company data Document-driven DSSFocuses on retrieval and management of unstructured documents Knowledge-driven DSSAids decision making by suggesting actions to users Model-driven DSSFocuses on access to and manipulation of a model

45. Types of Models in Model-driven DSS Financial models use financial mathematical models and financial data Statistical models use statistics and probability to describe or forecast scenarios Optimization models seek to find the “best” solution to a mathematical model of a situation Simulation modeling conducts experiments using a computer to test possible outcomes from a quantitative model of a system

46. IS&T Investment Profit Operational Systems Revenue Strategic Systems Costs + – + – Why We Invest in IS&T Management Support & Decision Systems

47. Decisions in Business Decisions Information Decision Characteristics Unstructured Semi-structured Structured Strategic Management Tactical Management Operational Management Ad Hoc Unscheduled Summarized Infrequent Forward Looking External Broad Scope Prespecified Scheduled Detailed Frequent Historical Internal Narrow Focus Short Time Frame

48. Management Reports Periodic Scheduled Reports Periodic Scheduled Reports Exception Reports Demand Reports and Responses Demand Reports and Responses Push Reports Major Management Information Systems Reports

49. Decision Support Systems What If-Analysis Sensitivity Analysis Goal-Seeking Analysis Optimization Analysis Important Decision Support Systems Analytical Models Important Decision Support Systems Analytical Models

50. Expert Systems The Expert System Knowledge Base User Workstation Expert Advice User Interface Programs User Interface Programs Inference Engine Program Inference Engine Program Expert System Development Workstation Knowledge Engineering Knowledge Acquisition Program Knowledge Acquisition Program Expert and/or Knowledge Engineer

51. Expert System Applications Decision Management Diagnostic/Troubleshooting Maintenance/Scheduling Design/Configuration Selection/Classification Major Application Categories of Expert Systems Process Monitoring/Control