Fundamentals of Information Systems, 6e - Ralph M. Stair, George Reynolds (New)

Fundamentals of Information
Systems, Sixth Edition
Chapter 1
An Introduction to Information Systems
in Organizations
Principles and Learning Objectives
• The value of information is directly linked to how it
helps decision makers achieve the organization’s
goals
– Distinguish data from information and describe the
characteristics used to evaluate the quality of data
Fundamentals of Information Systems, Sixth Edition 2

Why Learn About Information Systems
in Organizations?
• Information systems used by:
– Sales representatives.
– Managers.
– Financial advisors.
• Information systems:
– Indispensable( ‫ )ال غنىعنه‬tools to help you achieve your
career goals.

Introduction
• Information system (IS):
– A set of interrelated components that collect, manipulate,
and disseminate data and information and provide
feedback to meet an objective.
• Businesses:
– Can use information systems to increase revenues ‫)ايرادات‬
(
and reduce costs.

Information Concepts
• Information:
– One of an organization’s most valuable resources
– Often confused with the term data.

Data, Information, and Knowledge
• Data:
– Raw facts
• Information:
– Collection of facts organized in such a way that they have
value beyond the facts themselves
• Process:
– Set of logically related tasks
• Knowledge:
– Awareness and understanding of a set of information

(continued)

(continued)

(continued)

The Characteristics of Valuable
Information
• If an organization’s information is not accurate or
complete:
– People can make poor decisions, costing thousands, or
even millions, of dollars
• Depending on the type of data you need:
– Some characteristics become more important than others

11
The Value of Information
• Directly linked to how it helps decision makers achieve
their organization’s goals
• Valuable information:
– Can help people and their organizations perform tasks
more efficiently and effectively

What is an Information System?
• Information system (IS) is a set of interrelated elements
that:
– Collect (input).
– Manipulate (process).
– Store.
– Disseminate (output) data and information.
– Provide a corrective reaction (feedback mechanism) to
meet an objective.

What is an Information System?
(continued)

Input, Processing, Output, Feedback
• Input:
– Activity of gathering and capturing raw data
• Processing:
– Converting data into useful outputs
• Output:
– Production of useful information, usually in the form
of documents and reports
• Feedback:
– Information from the system that is used to make
changes to input or processing activities
Manual and Computerized Information
Systems
• An information system can be:
– Manual or computerized
• Example:
– Investment analysts manually draw charts and trend
lines to assist them in making investment decisions.
• Computerized information systems:
– Follow stock indexes and markets and suggest when
large blocks of stocks should be purchased or sold

Computer-Based Information
Systems(CBIS)
• Single set of hardware, software, databases,
telecommunications, people, and procedures:
– That are configured to collect, manipulate, store, and
process data into information
• Technology infrastructure:
– Includes all hardware, software, databases,
telecommunications, people, and procedures
• Configured to collect, manipulate, store, and process data
into information

Computer-Based Information Systems
(continued)

(continued)
• Hardware:
– Consists of computer equipment used to perform input,
processing, and output activities
• Software:
– Consists of the computer programs that govern the
operation of the computer
• Database:
– Organized collection of facts and information, typically
consisting of two or more related data files

(continued)
• Telecommunications, networks, and the Internet:
– The electronic transmission of signals for
communications
• Networks:
– Connect computers and equipment to enable electronic
communication
• Internet:
– World’s largest computer network, consisting of
thousands of interconnected networks, all freely
exchanging information

(continued)
• Intranet:
– Internal network that allows people within an organization
to exchange information and work on projects
• Extranet:
– Network that allows selected outsiders, such as business
partners and customers, to access authorized resources of
a company’s intranet

(continued)
• People:
– The most important element in most computer-based
information systems
• Procedures:
– Include strategies, policies, methods, and rules for using
the CBIS

Business Information Systems
• Most common types of information systems:
– Those designed for electronic and mobile commerce,
transaction processing, management information, and
decision support
• Some organizations employ:
– Special-purpose systems, such as virtual reality, that not
every organization uses

(continued)

(continued)

Electronic and Mobile Commerce
• E-commerce:
– Any business transaction executed electronically between:
• Companies (business-to-business, B2B)
• Companies and consumers (business-to-consumer, B2C)
• Consumers and other consumers (consumer-to-consumer,
C2C)
• Business and the public sector
• Consumers and the public sector

(continued)
• Mobile commerce (m-commerce):
– The use of mobile, wireless devices to place orders and
conduct business
• E-commerce:
– Can enhance a company’s stock prices and market value
• Electronic business (e-business):
– Uses information systems and the Internet to perform all
business-related tasks and functions

(continued)

Enterprise Systems: Transaction
Processing Systems and Enterprise
Resource Planning
• Transaction:
– Any business-related exchange, such as payments to
employees and sales to customers
• Transaction processing system (TPS):
– Organized collection of people, procedures, software,
databases, and devices used to record completed business
transactions

Resource Planning (continued)

Resource Planning (continued)
• Enterprise resource planning:
– Set of integrated programs that manages the vital
business operations for an entire multisite, global
organization

Information and Decision Support
Systems
• Management information system (MIS):
– Organized collection of people, procedures,
software, databases, and devices that provides
routine information to managers and decision
makers

Systems (continued)

Systems (continued)
• Decision support system (DSS):
databases, and devices that support problem-specific
decision making
– Can include:
• A collection of models used to support a decision maker or
user (model base)
• A collection of facts and information to assist in decision
making (database)
• Systems and procedures (user interface or dialogue manager)
that help decision makers and other users interact with the
DSS
Systems (continued)

Specialized Business Information
Systems: Knowledge Management,
Artificial Intelligence, Expert Systems,
and Virtual Reality
• Knowledge management systems (KMSs):
databases, and devices to:
• Create, store, share, and use the organization’s knowledge
and experience
• Artificial intelligence (AI):
– Computer system takes on characteristics of human
intelligence

Systems (continued)

Systems (continued)
• Expert systems:
– Give computer ability to make suggestions and function
like an expert in a particular field.
• Virtual reality and multimedia:
– Virtual reality:
• Simulation of a real or imagined environment that can be
experienced visually in three dimensions.
– Multimedia:
• Can include photos and images, the manipulation of sound,
and special 3D effects.

Systems Development
• Systems development:
– The activity of creating or modifying existing business
systems
• Outsourcing:
– Allows a company to focus on what it does best and
delegate other functions to companies with expertise in
systems development.

Systems Development (continued)

Systems Investigation and Analysis
• Goal of systems investigation:
– To gain clear understanding of the problem to be
solved or opportunity to be addressed
• Systems analysis:
– Defines the problems and opportunities of the
existing system

Systems Design, Implementation, and
Maintenance and Review
• Systems design:
– Determines how new system will work to meet
business needs defined during systems analysis
• Systems implementation:
– Acquiring various system components defined in
design step, assembling them, and putting the new
system into operation
• Systems maintenance and review:
– Checks and modifies the system so that it continues
to meet changing business needs

Organizations and Information
Systems
• Organization:
– Formal collection of people and other resources
established to accomplish a set of goals
– A system
– Constantly uses money, people, materials, machines
and other equipment, data, information, and
decisions

Systems (continued)

Systems (continued)
• Value chain:
– Series (chain) of activities that includes inbound
logistics(‫ ) االمدادات‬and warehouse and storage
• Supply chain management (SCM):
– Determines:
• What supplies are required for value chain
• What quantities are needed to meet customer demand
• How supplies should be processed into finished goods
and services
• How shipment of supplies and products to customers
should be scheduled, monitored, and controlled
Systems (continued)

Systems (continued)
• Customer relationship management (CRM)
programs:
– Help companies manage all aspects of customer
encounters
– Can get customer feedback to help design new
products and services

Organizational Culture and Change
• Culture:
– Set of major understandings and assumptions
shared by a group
• Organizational culture:
– Major understandings and assumptions
– Influences information systems
• Organizational change:
– How organizations plan for, implement, and handle
change

User Satisfaction and Technology
Acceptance
• Technology acceptance model (TAM):
– Specifies the factors that can lead to better attitudes
about the information system
• Technology diffusion(‫) االنتشار‬:
– Measure of how widely technology is spread
throughout an organization
• Technology infusion(‫) صباو حقن‬:
– Extent to which technology permeates (‫) يتخلل‬a
department

User Satisfaction and Technology
Acceptance (continued)

Competitive Advantage
• Significant and (ideally) long-term benefit to a

company over its competition
• Can result in higher-quality products, better
customer service, and lower costs

Factors That Lead Firms to Seek
Competitive Advantage
• The five-forces model:
– Rivalry among existing competitors
– Threat of new entrants
– Threat of substitute products and services
– Bargaining power of buyers
– Bargaining power of suppliers

Strategic Planning for Competitive
Advantage
• Strategies:
– Cost leadership
– Differentiation
– Niche strategy
– Altering the industry structure
– Creating new products and services
– Improving existing product lines and service

Strategic Planning for Competitive
Advantage (continued)
• Other strategies:
– Growth in sales
– First to market
– Customizing products and services
– Hiring the best people
– Innovation

Performance-Based Information
Systems
• Major stages in the use of information systems:
– Cost reduction and productivity
– Competitive advantage
– Performance-based management

Productivity
• A measure of output achieved divided by input
required
• Higher level of output for a given level of input
means greater productivity
• Lower level of output for a given level of input
means lower productivity
• Productivity = (Output / Input) × 100%

Return on Investment and the Value of
Information Systems
• Return on investment (ROI):
– One measure of IS value
– Investigates the additional profits or benefits that are
generated as a percentage of the investment in IS
technology
• Earnings growth:
– The increase in profit that the system brings

Return on Investment and the Value of
Information Systems (continued)
• Market share and speed to market:
– The percentage of sales that a product or service
has in relation to the total market
• Customer awareness and satisfaction:
– Performance measurement is based on feedback
from internal and external users
• Total cost of ownership:
– The sum of all costs over the life of the information
system

Risk
• Managers must consider the risks of designing,
developing, and implementing systems.
• Information systems can sometimes be costly
failures

Careers in Information Systems
• Degree programs:
– Information systems
– Computer information systems
– Management information systems
• U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor
Statistics (www.bls.gov):
– Predicts that many technology jobs will increase
through 2012 or beyond

Roles, Functions, and Careers in IS
• Primary responsibilities in information systems:
– Operations:
• System operators primarily run and maintain IS
equipment
– Systems development:
• Focuses on specific development projects and
ongoing maintenance and review

Roles, Functions, and Careers in IS
• Primary responsibilities in information systems
(continued):
– Support:
• Provides user assistance in hardware and software
acquisition and use, data administration, user training
and assistance, and Web administration
– Information service units:
• A miniature IS department attached and directly
reporting to a functional area in a large organization

Typical IS Titles and Functions
• Chief information officer (CIO):
– Employs the IS department’s equipment and
personnel to help the organization attain its goals
• LAN administrators:
– Set up and manage the network hardware, software,
and security processes

Typical IS Titles and Functions
(continued)
• Internet careers:
– Internet strategists and administrators
– Internet systems developers
– Internet programmers
– Internet or Web site operators
• Certification:
– Process for testing skills and knowledge resulting in
an endorsement(‫ ) المصادقة‬by the certifying authority

Other IS Careers
• New and exciting careers have developed in
security and fraud (‫) تزوير‬detection and prevention
• Other IS career opportunities include being
employed by technology companies, such as:
– Microsoft (www.microsoft.com), Google
(www.google.com), Dell (www.dell.com), and many
others

Working in Teams
• It is always good for IS professionals to:
– Have good communications skills and the ability to
work with other people
• Getting the best team of IS personnel to work on
important projects is:
– Critical in successfully developing new information
systems or modifying existing ones

Chapter 2
Hardware and Software
• Computer hardware must be carefully selected to
meet the evolving needs of the organization and its
supporting information systems
– Identify and discuss the role of the essential
hardware components of a computer system
– Identify the characteristics of and discuss the usage
of various classes of single-user and multiuser
computer systems

Hardware Components
• Central processing unit (CPU):
– Arithmetic/logic unit, the control unit, and the register
areas
• Arithmetic/logic unit (ALU):
– Performs mathematical calculations and makes
logical comparisons
• Control unit:
– Sequentially accesses program instructions,
decodes them, and coordinates the flow of data in
and out of the ALU, registers, primary storage, and
even secondary storage and various output devices
Hardware Components (continued)

Processing and Memory Devices:
Power, Speed, and Capacity
• 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

Processing Characteristics and
Functions
• Clock speed:
– Series of electronic pulses produced at a
predetermined rate that affects machine cycle time
– Often measured in:
• Megahertz (MHz): millions of cycles per second
• Gigahertz (GHz): billions of cycles per second
• Physical characteristics of the CPU
– Most CPUs are collections of digital circuits
imprinted on silicon wafers(‫)رقائق‬, or chips, each no
bigger than the tip of a pencil eraser

Memory Characteristics and Functions
• Memory:
– Provides the CPU with a working storage area for
programs and data
– Rapidly provides data and instructions to the CPU
• Storage capacity:
– Eight bits together form a byte (B)

(continued)

(continued)
• Types of memory:
– Random access memory (RAM):
• Temporary and volatile
– Read-only memory (ROM):
• Nonvolatile
• Provides permanent storage for data and instructions
that do not change

Multiprocessing
• Multiprocessing:
– Simultaneous execution of two or more instructions
at the same time
• Multicore microprocessor:
– Combines two or more independent processors into
a single computer

Multiprocessing (continued)
• Parallel computing:
– Simultaneous execution of the same task on multiple
processors to obtain results faster
• Grid computing:
– Use of a collection of computers to work in a
coordinated manner to solve a common problem

Secondary Storage and Input and
Output Devices
• Secondary storage:
– Compared with memory, offers the advantages of
nonvolatility, greater capacity, and greater economy
– Considerably slower than memory

Access Methods
• Sequential access:
– Data must be retrieved in the order in which it is
stored
– Devices used called sequential access storage
devices (SASDs)
• Direct access:
– Records can be retrieved in any order
– Devices used are called direct access storage
devices (DASDs)

Secondary Storage Devices
• Magnetic tapes:
– Primarily for storing backups of critical organizational
data
• Magnetic disks:
– Direct-access storage device
• Redundant array of independent/inexpensive disks
(RAID):
– Method of storing data that generates extra bits of data
from existing data
• Virtual tape:
– Storage technology for less frequently needed data
Multiple-User Computer Systems
• Server:
– Used by many users to perform a specific task, such
as running network or Internet applications
• Blade server:
– Houses many computer motherboards
– The approach requires much less physical space
than traditional server farms

Multiple-User Computer Systems
(continued)
• Mainframe computer:
– Large, powerful computer shared by hundreds of
concurrent users connected to the machine over a
network
• Supercomputers:
– The most powerful computers with the fastest
processing speed and highest performance

Green Computing
• Concerned with:
– Efficient and environmentally responsible design,
manufacture, operation, and disposal of IS-related
products
• Goals:
– Reduce the use of hazardous(‫ )خطير‬material
– Enable companies to lower their power-related costs
– Enable the safe disposal or recycling of some

700,000 tons of computers each year

Overview of Software
• Computer programs:
– Sequences of instructions for the computer
• Documentation:
– Describes program functions to help the user
operate the computer system
• Types of software:
– Systems software
– Application software

Systems Software
• Includes:
– (a) Operating systems
– (b) Utility programs

(a) Operating Systems
• Set of programs that controls computer hardware
and acts as an interface with application programs
• Can control one computer or multiple computers, or
• Can allow multiple users to interact with one
computer
• Combinations of OSs, computers, and users:
– Single computer with a single user
– Single computer with multiple users
– Multiple computers with multiple users
– Special-purpose computers
Operating Systems (continued)

List at least four of operating system activities:
• Activities performed by the operating system:
– Perform common computer hardware functions
– Provide a user interface and input/output
management
– Provide a degree of hardware independence
– Manage system memory
– Manage processing tasks
– Provide networking capability
– Control access to system resources
– Manage files
• Common hardware functions:
– Get input from keyboard or another input device
– Retrieve data from disks
– Store data on disks
– Display information on a monitor or printer

• User interface and input/output management:
– User interface:
• Allows individuals to access and command the
computer system
– Command-based user interface:
• Requires that text commands be given to the
computer to perform basic activities
– Graphical user interface (GUI):
• Uses icons and menus displayed on screen to send
commands to the computer system

• Hardware independence:
– Application program interface (API):
• Allows applications to make use of the operating
system
• Memory management:
– Allows computer to execute program instructions
effectively and to speed processing


• Processing tasks:
– Multitasking:
• More than one program can run at the same time
– Time-sharing:
• Allows more than one person to use a computer
system at the same time
– Scalability:
• Ability of the computer to handle an increasing
number of concurrent users smoothly

• Networking capability:
– Allows computers in a network to send and receive
data and share computing resources
• Access to system resources and security:
– Protection against unauthorized access
– OS establishes a logon procedure
• File management:
– Ensures that files in secondary storage are available
when needed and that they are protected from
access by unauthorized users

(b) Utility Programs
• Help to perform maintenance or correct problems
with a computer system
• Some can help computer systems run better and
longer without problems
• Can help to secure and safeguard data

Utility Programs (continued)

Application Software
• Application programs:
– Interact with systems software
– Help you perform common tasks, such as:
• Creating and formatting text documents
• Performing calculations
• Managing information

1. Mobile Application Software
• Operating systems designed for smartphones
include:
– OS X iPhone, Android, and WebOS
• Tens of thousands of applications have been:
– Developed by third parties for the iPhone
• Palm WebOS:
– Has only recently released its software development
kit

2. 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 effectively

Workgroup Application Software
(continued)

3. Enterprise Application Software
• Software that benefits an entire organization
• Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software:
– Set of integrated programs that manage a
company’s vital business operations for an entire
multisite, global organization

Application Software for Information,
Decision Support, and Specialized
Purposes
• Available in every industry:
– Specialized application software for information,
decision support, and other purposes

Programming Languages
• Sets of keywords, symbols, and a system of rules
for constructing statements:
– By which humans can communicate instructions to
be executed by a computer
• Programming:
– Involves translating what a user wants to accomplish
into instructions that the computer can understand
and execute

Software Issues and Trends
• Software bug:
– Defect in a program that keeps it from performing as
it should
• Some tips for reducing impact of software bugs:
– Register all software
– Check read-me files for workarounds
– Access support area of the manufacturer’s Web site
for patches
– Install latest software updates

Copyrights and Licenses
• Most software products are protected by law using
copyright or licensing provisions:
– In some cases, you are given unlimited use of
software on one or two computers
– In other cases, you pay for your usage:
• If you use the software more, you pay more
• Some software now requires that you register or
activate it before it can be fully used

Software Upgrades
• When software companies stop supporting older
software versions or releases:
– Some customers feel forced to upgrade to the newer
software
• Deciding whether to purchase the newest software:
– Can be a problem for corporations and people with a
large investment in software

Global Software Support
• Supporting local operations:
– One of the biggest challenges IS teams face when
putting together standardized, company-wide
systems
• Trend:
– Outsourcing global support to one or more third-
party distributors

Summary
• Hardware:
– The physical components of a computer that perform
the input, processing, storage, and output activities of
the computer
• Green computing:
– Concerned with the efficient and environmentally
responsible design, manufacture, operation, and
disposal of IS-related products
• Software:
– Consists of programs that control the workings of the
computer hardware
Summary (continued)
• Operating system (OS):
– Set of computer programs that controls the computer
hardware to support users’ computing needs
– Manages tasks to allocate computer resources
through multitasking and time-sharing
• Application software:
– Applies the power of the computer to solve problems
and perform specific tasks

Chapter 3
Database Systems, Data Centers,
and Business Intelligence
• Data management and modeling are key aspects
of organizing data and information
– Define general data management concepts and
terms, highlighting the advantages of the database
approach to data management
– Describe logical and physical database design
considerations, the function of data centers, and the
relational database model

(continued)
• A well-designed and well-managed database is an
extremely valuable tool in supporting decision
making
– Identify the common functions performed by all
database management systems, and identify popular
database management systems
• The number and types of database applications will
continue to evolve and yield real business benefits
– Identify and briefly discuss business intelligence,
data mining, and other database applications

Why Learn About Database Systems,
Data Centers, and Business
Intelligence?
• Database:
– Organized collection of data
• Database management system (DBMS):
– Group of programs that manipulate the database
– Provide an interface between the database and its
users and other application programs
• Database administrator (DBA):
– Skilled IS professional who directs all activities
related to an organization’s database

Data Management
• Without data and the ability to process the data:
– An organization could not successfully complete
most business activities
• Data consists of raw facts
• To transform data into useful information:
– It must first be organized in a meaningful way

The Hierarchy of Data
• Bit (a binary digit):
– Circuit that is either on or off
• Byte:
– Typically made up of eight bits
• Character:
– Basic building block of information
• Field:
– Name, number, or combination of characters that
describes an aspect of a business object or activity

The Hierarchy of Data (continued)
• Record:
– Collection of related data fields
• File:
– Collection of related records
• Database:
– Collection of integrated and related files
• Hierarchy of data:
– Bits, characters, fields, records, files, and databases

Data Entities, Attributes, and Keys
• Entity:
– General class of people, places, or things (objects)
for which data is collected, stored, and maintained
• Attribute:
– Characteristic of an entity
• Data item:
– Specific value of an attribute

(continued)

(continued)
• 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

The Database Approach
• Traditional approach to data management:
– Each distinct operational system used data files
dedicated to that system
• Database approach to data management:
– Pool of related data is shared by multiple application
programs

The Database Approach (continued)

The Database Approach (continued)

List the four Database Characteristics
Data Modeling and Database
Characteristics
• When building a database, an organization must
consider:
– Content: What data should be collected and at what
cost?
– Access: What data should be provided to which
users and when?
– Logical structure: How should data be arranged so
that it makes sense to a given user?
– Physical organization: Where should data be
physically located?

Data Center
• Climate-controlled building or set of buildings that:
– Houses database servers and the systems that
deliver mission-critical information and services
• Traditional data centers:
– Consist of warehouses filled with row upon row of
server racks and powerful cooling systems

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
– Physical design:
• Starts from the logical database design and fine-tunes
it for performance and cost considerations
• Planned data redundancy:
– Done to improve system performance so that user
reports or queries can be created more quickly

Data Modeling (continued)
• Data model:
– Diagram of data entities and their relationships
• Enterprise data modeling:
– Starts by investigating the general data and
information needs of the organization at the strategic
level
• Entity-relationship (ER) diagrams:
– Data models that use basic graphical symbols to
show the organization of and relationships between
data

The Relational Database Model
• Relational model:
– Describes data using a standard tabular format
– Each row of a table represents a data entity (record)
– Columns of the table represent attributes (fields)
– Domain:
• Allowable values for data attributes

(continued)
• Manipulating data:
– Selecting:
• Eliminates rows according to certain criteria
– Projecting:
• Eliminates columns in a table
– Joining:
• Combines two or more tables
– Linking:
• Manipulating two or more tables that share at least
one common data attribute

(continued)

(continued)

Database Management Systems
• Creating and implementing the right database
system:
– Ensures that the database will support both business
activities and goals
• Capabilities and types of database systems vary
considerably

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 Pro, and InfoPath
• Multiple users:
– Allow dozens or hundreds of people to access the
same database system at the same time
– Examples: Oracle, Sybase, and IBM

Providing a User View
• Schema:
– Used to describe the entire database
– Can be part of the database or a separate schema
file
• DBMS:
– Can reference a schema to find where to access the
requested data in relation to another piece of data

Creating and Modifying the Database
• Data definition language (DDL):
– Collection of instructions and commands used to
define and describe data and relationships in a
specific database
– Allows database’s creator to describe data and
relationships that are to be contained in the schema
• Data dictionary:
– Detailed description of all the data used in the
database

(continued)

(continued)

Storing and Retrieving Data
• When an application program needs data:
– It requests the data through the DBMS
• Concurrency control:
– Method of dealing with a situation in which two or
more users or applications need to access the same
record at the same time

Storing and Retrieving Data
(continued)

Manipulating Data and Generating
Reports
• Data manipulation language (DML):
– Commands that manipulate the data in a database
• Structured Query Language (SQL):
– Adopted by the American National Standards
Institute (ANSI) as the standard query language for
relational databases
• Once a database has been set up and loaded with
data:
– It can produce reports, documents, and other
outputs

Database Administration
• DBA:
– Works with users to decide the content of the
database
– Works with programmers as they build applications
to ensure that their programs comply with database
management system standards and conventions
• Data administrator:
– Responsible for defining and implementing
consistent principles for a variety of data issues

Popular Database Management
Systems
• Popular DBMSs for end users:
– Microsoft’s Access and FileMaker Pro
• Database as a Service (DaaS):
– Emerging database system
– Database administration is provided by the service
provider
– The database is stored on a service provider’s
servers and accessed by the client over a network

Selecting a Database Management
System
• Important characteristics of databases to consider:
– Database size
– Database cost
– Concurrent users
– Performance
– Integration
– Vendor

Distributed Databases
• Distributed database:
– Database in which the data may be spread across
several smaller databases connected via
telecommunications devices
– Gives corporations more flexibility in how databases
are organized and used
• Replicated database:
– Holds a duplicate set of frequently used data

Distributed Databases (continued)

Data Warehouses, Data Marts, and
Data Mining
• Data warehouse:
– Database that holds business information from many
sources in the enterprise
• Data mart:
– Subset of a data warehouse
• Data mining:
– Information-analysis tool that involves the automated
discovery of patterns and relationships in a data
warehouse

Business Intelligence
• Involves gathering enough of the right information:
– In a timely manner and usable form and analyzing it
to have a positive impact on business strategy,
tactics, or operations
• Competitive intelligence:
– Limited to information about competitors and the
ways that knowledge affects strategy, tactics, and
operations

Summary
• Data:
– One of the most valuable resources that a firm
possesses
• Entity:
– Generalized class of objects for which data is
collected, stored, and maintained
• Traditional file-oriented applications:
– Often characterized by program-data dependence
• Relational model:
– Places data in two-dimensional tables

Summary (continued)
• DBMS:
– Group of programs used as an interface between a
database and its users and other application
programs
– Basic functions:
• Providing user views
• Creating and modifying the database
• Storing and retrieving data
• Manipulating data and generating reports

Summary (continued)
• Data warehouses:
– Relational database management systems
specifically designed to support management
decision making
• Data mining:
– Automated discovery of patterns and relationships in
a data warehouse
• Business intelligence:
– Process of getting enough of the right information in
a timely manner and usable form

Chapter 4
Telecommunications, the Internet,
Intranets, and Extranets
• A telecommunications system has many fundamental
components that must be carefully selected and work
together effectively to enable people to meet personal
and organization objectives
– Identify and describe the fundamental components of a
telecommunications system
– Identify several network types and describe the uses
and limitations of each
– Name three basic processing alternatives for
organizations that require two or more computer
systems and discuss their fundamental features

An Overview of Telecommunications
• Telecommunications:
Electronic transmission of signals for communications
• Communication medium:
–Any material substance that carries an electronic signal
to support communications between a sending and
receiving device

An Overview of Telecommunications
(continued)

Channel Bandwidth
• Rate at which data is exchanged
• Broadband communications:
– Telecommunications system that can exchange data
very quickly

Communications Media
• Guided transmission media types:
– Available in many types
• Wireless technologies:
– Wireless telecommunications involves the broadcast
of communications in one of three frequency ranges:
• Microwave, radio, and infrared
• Microwave transmission:
– Microwave is a high-frequency (300 MHz–300 GHz)
signal sent through the air

Communications Media (continued)

Communications Media (continued)
• 3G wireless communications:
– Supports wireless voice and broadband speed data
communications in a mobile environment
• 4G wireless communications:
– 4G will also provide increased data transmission
rates in the 20–40 Mbps range
• Worldwide interoperability for microwave access
(WiMAX)
– Operates like Wi-Fi, only over greater distances and
at faster transmission speeds

Networks and Distributed Processing
• Computer network:
– Consists of communications media, devices, and
software needed to connect two or more computer
systems or devices
– Can transmit and receive information to improve
organizational effectiveness and efficiency

Network Types
• Personal area networks:
– Support interconnection of information technology
within a range of about 33 feet
• Local area networks: LAN
– Connect computer systems and devices within a
small area (e.g., office or home)
• Metropolitan area networks: MAN
– Connect users and their devices in a geographical
area that spans a campus or city
• Wide area networks: WAN
– Connect large geographic regions
Distributed Processing
• Centralized processing:
– All processing occurs in a single location or facility
• Decentralized processing:
– Processing devices are placed at various remote
locations
• Distributed processing:
– Processing devices are placed at remote locations
but are connected to each other via a network

Client/Server Systems
• Client/server architecture:
– Multiple computer platforms are dedicated to special
functions
• Server:
– Distributes programs and data to the other
computers (clients) on the network as they request
them

Telecommunications Software
• Network operating system (NOS):
– Systems software that controls the computer
systems and devices on a network
• Network management software:
– Protects software from being copied, modified, or
downloaded illegally
– Locates telecommunications errors and potential
network problems

Use and Functioning of the Internet
• ARPANET:
– Ancestor of the Internet
– Project started by the U.S. Department of Defense
(DoD) in 1969
• Internet Protocol (IP):
– Enables computers to route communications traffic
from one network to another

How the Internet Works
• IP protocol:
– Set of rules used to pass packets from one host to
another
• IP address:
– 64-bit number that identifies a computer on the
Internet
• Uniform Resource Locator (URL):
– Web address that specifies the exact location of a
Web page

How the Internet Works (continued)

• Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers (ICANN):
– Responsible for managing IP addresses and Internet
domain names
– Has authority to resolve domain name disputes


• Accessing the Internet:
– Access method determined by the size and
capability of your organization or system
• Connect via LAN server:
– Business LAN servers are typically connected to the
Internet at very fast data rates
• Connecting via Internet service providers:
– An ISP is any organization that provides Internet
access to people

Cloud Computing
• Computing environment in which:
– Software and storage are provided as an Internet
service and accessed with a Web browser
• Extremely scalable and often takes advantage of
virtualization technologies
• Advantages to businesses:
– Businesses can save on system design, installation,
and maintenance
– Employees can access corporate systems from any
Internet-connected computer

The World Wide Web
• Developed by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN
• Originally conceived of as an internal document-
management system
• The Web has grown to become:
– A primary source of news and information
– An indispensible conduit for commerce
– A popular hub for social interaction, entertainment,
and communication

How the Web Works
• The Internet:
– Made up of computers, network hardware such as
routers and fiber-optic cables, software, and the
TCP/IP protocols
• The Web:
– Consists of server and client software, the hypertext
transfer protocol (http), standards, and mark-up
languages that combine to deliver information and
services over the Internet

How the Web Works (continued)
• Hyperlink:
– Highlighted text or graphics in a Web document that,
when clicked, opens a new Web page
• Web browser:
– Web client software such as Internet Explorer,
Firefox, and Safari used to view Web pages
• Hypertext Markup Language (HTML):
– Standard page description language for Web pages

How the Web Works (continued)
• HTML tags:
– Tell the Web browser how to format text
• Extensible Markup Language (XML):
– Markup language for Web documents containing
structured information
• Cascading Style Sheet (CSS):
– Markup language that defines the visual appearance
of content in a Web page

Web Programming Languages
• Java:
– Object-oriented programming language from Sun
Microsystems based on C++
– Allows small programs (applets) to be embedded
within an HTML document
• Other languages:
– JavaScript, VBScript, and ActiveX
– Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP)

Web Services
• Standards and tools that streamline and simplify
communication among Web sites
• XML:
– The key to Web services

Developing Web Content
• Web publishing tools:
– .NET, Bubbler, Homestead QuickSites, and JobSpot
• Mashup:
– Named for the process of mixing two or more hip-
hop songs into one song

Internet and Web Applications
• Popular uses for the Internet and Web:
– Publishing information
– Assisting users in finding information
– Supporting communication and collaboration
– Building online community
– Providing software applications
– Providing a platform for expressing ideas
– Delivering media of all types
– Providing a platform for commerce
– Supporting travel and navigation
Online Information Sources
• News and opinion:
– The Web is a powerful tool for keeping informed
about local, state, national, and global news
• Education and training:
– Web is ideally suited:
• As a tool for sharing information and a primary
repository of information on all subjects
– Distance education:
• Conducting classes over the Web with no physical
class meetings

Online Information Sources
(continued)
• Business information:
– Businesses often use Internet and Web-based
systems for knowledge management
• Personal and professional advice and support:
– Medical and health Web sites assist in diagnosing
health problems and advising on treatments
– The Web is an excellent source of job-related
information

Search Engines and Web Research
• Search engine:
– Enables you to find information on the Web by
specifying keywords
– Market is dominated by Google
– Uses an automated approach that scours the Web
with automated programs called spiders
• Wikipedia:
– Can be used for online research
• Wikimedia:
– Has wikis for books, news, media, and open learning

Intranets and Extranets
• Intranet:
– Internal corporate network built using Internet and
World Wide Web standards and technologies
• Extranet:
– Network that links selected resources of a
company’s intranet with its customers, suppliers, or
other business partners

Intranets and Extranets (continued)

Summary
• Telecommunications:
– The electronic transmission of signals for
communications, including telephone, radio, and
television
• The Internet:
– Truly international in scope, with users on every
continent
• Cloud computing:
– Computing environment where software and storage
are provided as an Internet service and accessed
with a Web browser
Summary (continued)
• The Web:
– Collection of tens of millions of servers that work
together as one in an Internet service
– Has become the most popular medium for
distributing and accessing information
• Web 2.0:
– The Web as a computing platform that supports
software applications and the sharing of information
between users

Chapter 5
Electronic and Mobile Commerce and
Enterprise Systems
• Electronic and mobile commerce are evolving,
providing new ways of conducting business that
present both potential benefits and problems
– Describe the current status of various forms of e-
commerce, including B2B, B2C, C2C, and m-
commerce
– Identify several e-commerce and m-commerce
applications
– Identify several advantages associated with the use
of e-commerce and m-commerce

An Introduction to Electronic
Commerce
• Electronic commerce:
– Conducting (manage) business activities
electronically over computer networks
• Business activities that are strong candidates for
conversion to e-commerce:
– Paper-based
– Time-consuming
– Inconvenient for customers

Business-to-Business (B2B)
E-Commerce
• Subset of e-commerce
• All the participants are organizations
• Useful tool for connecting business partners in a
virtual supply chain to cut resupply times and
reduce costs

Business-to-Consumer (B2C)
E-Commerce
• Form of e-commerce in which customers deal
directly with an organization and avoid
intermediaries
• Disintermediation:
– The elimination of intermediate organizations
between the producer and the consumer

Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)
E-Commerce
• Subset of e-commerce that involves consumers
selling directly to other consumers
• Popular sites:
– Bidzcom, Craigslist, eBid, Kijiji
– ePier, Ibidfree, Ubid, and Tradus
• Etsy is a C2C Web site that:
– Specializes in the buying and selling of handmade
and vintage items
– Facilitates sales worth more than $10 to $13 million
each month

Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)
E-Commerce (continued)

e-Government
• Use of information and communications technology
to:
– Simplify the sharing of information
– Speed formerly paper-based processes
– Improve the relationship between citizen and
government
• Forms of e-Government
– Government-to-consumer (G2C)
– Government-to-business (G2B)
– Government-to-government (G2G)

Mobile Commerce
• Mobile commerce (m-commerce) relies on the use
of wireless devices
• The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers (ICANN):
– Created a .mobi domain to help attract mobile users
to the Web

Applications
• Many B2B, B2C, C2C, and m-commerce
applications are being used in:
1) Retail and wholesale
2) Manufacturing
3) Marketing and advertising
4) Price comparison
5) Couponing
6) Investment and finance
7) Banking

Manufacturing
• Electronic exchange:
– Electronic forum where manufacturers, suppliers,
and competitors buy and sell goods, trade market
information, and run back-office operations
• Private exchanges:
– Owned and operated by a single company
• Public exchanges:
– Owned and operated by industry groups

(((Draw)))
E-Commerce and M-Commerce Technology
Infrastructure

Hardware
• Key e-commerce infrastructure ingredient:
– Web server hardware platform complete with the
appropriate software
• Key decision facing new e-commerce companies:
– Whether to host their own Web site or to let
someone else do it

Web Server Software
• Each e-commerce Web site must have Web server
software to perform fundamental services:
– Security and identification
– Retrieval and sending of Web pages
– Web site tracking
– Web site development
– Web page development

E-Commerce Software
• Investigate and install e-commerce software to
support five core tasks:
– Catalog management to create and update the
product catalog
– Product configuration to help customers select the
necessary components and options
– Shopping cart facilities to track the items selected for
purchase
– E-commerce transaction processing
– Web traffic data analysis to provide details to adjust
the operations of the Web site
Mobile Commerce Hardware and
Software
• For m-commerce to work effectively:
– The interface between the wireless, handheld device
and its user must improve
• Encryption can provide secure transmission
• Wireless Application Protocol (WAP):
– Standard set of specifications for Internet
applications that run on handheld, wireless devices

Electronic Payment Systems
• Digital certificate:
– Attachment to an e-mail message or data embedded
in a Web site that verifies the identity of a sender or
Web Site
• Certificate authority (CA):
– Trusted third-party organization or company that
issues digital certificates

Electronic Payment Systems
(continued)
• Secure Sockets Layer (SSL):
– Used to secure sensitive data
• Electronic cash:
– An amount of money that is computerized, stored,
and used as cash for e-commerce transactions
• Credit, charge, debit, p-, and smart cards:
– Smart card:
• Credit card-sized device with an embedded microchip
to provide electronic memory and processing
capability

An Overview of Transaction
Processing Systems
• Transaction processing systems (TPSs):
– Capture and process detailed data necessary to
update records about fundamental business
operations
– Include order entry, inventory control, payroll,
accounts payable, accounts receivable, general
ledger, etc.
– Provide (help) employees with data to help them
achieve their goals
Fundamentals
Fundamentals of Information Systems,
of Information Sixth Edition
Systems, Sixth Edition 210
210
An Overview of Transaction Processing
Systems (continued)

Traditional Transaction Processing
Methods and Objectives
• Batch processing system:
– Data processing in which business transactions are:
• Accumulated over a period of time
• Prepared for processing as a single unit or batch
• Online transaction processing (OLTP):
– Data processing in which each transaction is
processed immediately

Transaction Processing Activities
• TPSs:
– Capture and process data that describes
fundamental business transactions
– Update databases
– Produce a variety of reports
• Transaction processing cycle:
– The process of data collection, data editing, data
correction, data manipulation, data storage, and
document production

Data Collection
• Capturing and gathering all data necessary to
complete the processing of transactions
• Data collection can be:
– Manual
– Automated via special input devices
• Data should be:
– Collected at source
– Recorded accurately, in a timely fashion

Data Collection (continued)

Data Editing
• Checking data for validity and completeness to
detect any problems
• Examples:
– Quantity and cost data must be numeric
– Names must be alphabetic

Data Correction
• Reentering data that was not typed or scanned
properly
• Error messages must specify the problem so
proper corrections can be made

Data Manipulation
• Performing calculations and other data
transformations related to business transactions
• Can include:
– Classifying data
– Sorting data into categories
– Performing calculations
– Summarizing results
– Storing data in the organization’s database for
further processing

Data Storage
• Updating one or more databases with new
transactions
• After being updated, this data can be further
processed and manipulated by other systems

Enterprise Resource Planning
• ERP systems:
– Central to the organization
– Ensure information can be shared across all
business functions
– Employ a database of key operational and planning
data that can be shared by all

Enterprise Resource Planning
(continued) ‫هام جدا‬

An Overview of Enterprise Resource
Planning
• ERP systems:
– Evolved from materials requirement planning
systems (MRP)
• Large organizations:
– The first to take on the challenge of implementing
ERP

Advantages of ERP
• Improved access to data for operational decision
making
• Elimination of costly, inflexible legacy systems
• Improvement of work processes
• Upgrade of technology infrastructure

Disadvantages of ERP Systems
• Expense and time in implementation
• Difficulty implementing change
• Difficulty integrating with other systems
• Difficulty in loading data into new ERP system
• Risks in using one vendor
• Risk of implementation failure

ERP for Small and Medium-Size
Enterprises (SMEs)
• Many SMEs elect to implement open-source ERP
systems
• With open-source software:
– Anyone can see and modify the source code to
customize it to meet their needs

(1) Supply Chain Management (SCM)
• A system that includes:
– Planning, executing, and controlling all activities
involved in raw material sourcing and procurement
– Converting raw materials to finished products and
warehousing and delivering finished product to
customers

Supply Chain Management (SCM)
(continued)
• Process for developing a production plan:
– Sales forecasting
– Sales and operations plan (S&OP)
– Demand management
– Detailed scheduling
– Materials requirement planning (MRP)
– Purchasing
– Production

(2) Financial and Managerial
Accounting
• General ledger:
– Main accounting record of a business
• ERP system:
– Captures transactions entered by workers in all
functional areas of the business
– Creates associated general ledger record to track
the financial impact of the transaction

(3) Customer Relationship
Management
• Key features of a CRM system:
– Contact management
– Sales management
– Customer support
– Marketing automation
– Analysis
– Social networking
– Access by smartphones
– Import contact data

Summary
• Electronic commerce:
– Conducting business activities electronically over
computer networks
• Mobile commerce:
– The use of wireless devices such as cell phones and
smartphones to facilitate the sale of goods or
services—anytime, anywhere
• Electronic payment systems:
– Key component of the e-commerce infrastructure

Summary (continued)
• Transaction processing system:
– An organized collection of people, procedures,
software, databases, and devices
• Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software
– Supports the efficient operation of business
processes
• Production and supply chain management process
starts with sales forecasting

Summary (continued)
• A CRM:
– Helps an organization build a database about its
customers
• Challenges faced by multinational corporations
when planning, building, and operating their TPSs:
– Dealing with different languages and cultures
– Disparities in IS infrastructure
– Varying laws and customs rules
– Multiple currencies

Chapter 6
Systems
236
• Good decision-making and problem-solving skills
are the key to developing effective information and
decision support systems
– Define the stages of decision making
– Discuss the importance of implementation and
monitoring in problem solving

Decision Making as a Component of
Problem Solving
• Decision-making phase:
– Intelligence stage:
• Identify and define potential problems or opportunities
– Design stage:
• Develop alternative solutions to the problem and
evaluate their feasibility
– Choice stage:
• Select a course of action (( select best alternative))

Decision Making as a Component of
Problem Solving (continued)
• Problem solving (Implementation):
– Includes and goes beyond decision making
– Includes implementation stage
• Monitoring stage:
– Decision makers evaluate the implementation

Programmed versus Nonprogrammed
Decisions
• Programmed decision:
– Made using a rule, procedure, or quantitative method
– Easy to computerize using traditional information
systems
• Nonprogrammed decision:
– Decision that deals with unusual or exceptional
situations
– Not easily quantifiable

Optimization, Satisficing, and Heuristic
Approaches
• Optimization model:
– Finds the best solution, usually the one that will best
help the organization meet its goals
• Satisficing model:
– Finds a good, but not necessarily the best, problem
solution
• Heuristics:
– Commonly accepted guidelines or procedures that
usually find a good solution

The Benefits of Information and
Decision Support Systems
• Decision support systems:
– Performance is typically a function of decision quality
and problem complexity
• Problem complexity:
– Depends on how hard the problem is to solve and
implement

The Benefits of Information and
Decision Support Systems
(continued)

An Overview of Management
Information Systems
• Management information system (MIS)
– Integrated collection of people, procedures,
databases, and devices
– Can give the organization a competitive advantage

Management Information Systems in
Perspective
• Purpose of an MIS:
– To help an organization achieve its goals
– Provide the right information to the right person in
the right format at the right time
• Business transactions:
– Can enter the organization through traditional
methods, or via the Internet, or via an extranet

Inputs to a Management Information
System
• Internal data sources:
– TPS and ERP systems and related databases
• External data sources:
– Customers, suppliers, competitors, and stockholders
whose data is not already captured by the TPS and
ERP systems
– Business intelligence:
• Can be used to turn a database into useful information
throughout the organization

Outputs of a Management Information
System
• Scheduled reports:
– Produced periodically, such as daily, weekly, or
monthly
– Key-indicator report summarizes the previous day’s
critical activities
• Demand reports:
– Developed to provide certain information upon
request

Outputs of a Management Information
System (continued)
• Exception reports:
– Automatically produced when a situation is unusual
or requires management action
– Trigger points should be set carefully
• Drill-down reports:
– Provide increasingly detailed data about a situation

An Overview of Decision Support
Systems
• DSS:
software, databases, and devices used to help make
decisions that solve problems
– Used at all levels
• Focus of a DSS:
– Is on decision-making effectiveness regarding
unstructured or semistructured business problems

Capabilities of a Decision Support
System
• Support for problem-solving phases:
– A specific DSS might support only one or a few
phases
• Support for various decision frequencies:
– Ad hoc DSS is concerned with situations or
decisions that come up only a few times
– Institutional DSS handles situations or decisions that
occur more than once

System (continued)
• Support for various problem structures:
– Highly structured problems are straightforward,
requiring known facts and relationships
– Semistructured or unstructured problems are more
complex
• Support for various decision-making levels:
– DSSs can provide help for managers at various
levels within the organization

System (continued)

Group Support Systems
• Group support system (GSS):
– Consists of most elements in a DSS, plus software
to provide effective support in group decision making
– Also called group decision support system or
computerized collaborative work system

Group Support Systems (continued)

GSS Software
• Often called groupware or workgroup software
• Helps with joint work group scheduling,
communication, and management
• GSS software packages:
– Collabnet
– OpenMind
– TeamWare

GSS Software (continued)
• GSSs use a number of tools, including:
– E-mail, instant messaging (IM), and text messaging
(TM)
– Video conferencing
– Group scheduling
– Project management
– Document sharing

Executive Support Systems
• Executive support system (ESS)
– Specialized DSS
– Includes hardware, software, data, procedures, and
people used to assist senior-level executives
– Also called an executive information system (EIS)

Chapter 7
Knowledge Management and
Specialized Information Systems
260
• Knowledge management allows organizations to
share knowledge and experience among managers
and employees
– Discuss the differences among data, information, and
knowledge
– Describe the role of the chief knowledge officer (CKO)
– List some of the tools and techniques used in
knowledge management

Knowledge Management Systems
• Data consists of raw facts
• Information:
– Collection of facts organized so that they have
additional value beyond the value of the facts
themselves
• Knowledge:
– Awareness and understanding of a set of information
and the ways that information can be made useful to
support a specific task or reach a decision

(continued)
• Knowledge management system (KMS):
software, databases, and devices
– Used to create, store, share, and use the
organization’s knowledge and experience

(continued)

Overview of Knowledge Management
Systems
• Explicit knowledge:
– Objective
– Can be measured and documented in reports,
papers, and rules
• Tacit knowledge:
– Hard to measure and document
– Typically not objective or formalized

Data and Knowledge Management
Workers and Communities of Practice
• Data workers:
– Secretaries, administrative assistants, bookkeepers,
etc.
• Knowledge workers:
– Create, use, and disseminate knowledge
– Professionals in science, engineering, or business

Data and Knowledge Management
Workers and Communities of Practice
(continued)
• Chief knowledge officer (CKO):
– Top-level executive who helps the organization use
a KMS to create, store, and use knowledge to
achieve organizational goals
• Communities of practice (COP):
– Group of people dedicated to a common discipline or
practice
– May be used to create, store, and share knowledge

Obtaining, Storing, Sharing, and Using
Knowledge
• Knowledge workers:
– Often work in teams
• Knowledge repository:
– Includes documents, reports, files, and databases
• Knowledge map:
– Directory that points the knowledge worker to the
needed knowledge

Obtaining, Storing, Sharing, and Using
Knowledge (continued)

Components of Expert Systems
• Expert system:
– Consists of a collection of integrated and related
components
• Knowledge base:
– Stores all relevant information, data, rules, cases,
and relationships used by expert system
– Creates knowledge base by:
• Using rules
• Using cases

Components of Expert Systems
(continued)

The Inference Engine
• Purpose:
– To seek information and relationships from the
knowledge base
– To provide answers, predictions, and suggestions,
like a human expert

The Knowledge Acquisition Facility
• Provides convenient and efficient means of
capturing and storing all components of knowledge
base
• Knowledge acquisition software:
– Can present users and decision makers with easy-
to-use menus

The Knowledge Acquisition Facility
(continued)

The User Interface
• Permits decision makers to develop and use their
own expert systems
• Main purpose:
– To make development and use of an expert system
easier for users and decision makers

Participants in Developing and Using
Expert Systems
• Domain expert:
– Person or group with the expertise or knowledge the
expert system is trying to capture
• Knowledge engineer:
– Person who has training or experience in the design,
development, implementation, and maintenance of
an expert system
• Knowledge user:
– Person or group who uses and benefits from the
expert system

Chapter 8
Systems Development
277
• Effective systems development requires a team
effort of stakeholders, users, managers, systems
development specialists, and various support
personnel, and it starts with careful planning
– Identify the key participants in the systems
development process and discuss their roles
– Define the term information systems planning and
discuss the importance of planning a project

Participants in Systems Development
‫المشاركين فى تطوير النظام‬
1. Development team:
– Determines objectives of the information system
– Delivers system that meets objectives
2. Project:
– Planned collection of activities that achieves a goal
3. Stakeholders:
– People who ultimately benefit from project

Participants in Systems Development
(continued)
4. Users:
– People who will interact with the system regularly
5. Systems analyst:
– Professional who specializes in analyzing and
designing business systems
6. Programmer:
– Responsible for modifying or developing programs to
satisfy user requirements

Individual Systems Developers and
Users
• Individual ‫ شخص واحد‬systems developer:
– Person who performs all of the systems
development roles
• Individual users:
– Acquire applications for both personal and
professional use
• End-user systems development:
– Describes any systems development project in which
business managers and users assume the primary
effort

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:
– Critical for successful systems development effort

Information Systems Planning and
Aligning Corporate and IS Goals
(continued)

Systems Development Life Cycles
• The life of the system continues as it is maintained
and reviewed
• A new project will be initiated and the cycle will
start over:
– If the system needs significant improvement beyond
the scope of maintenance
– If it needs to be replaced because of a new
generation of technology, or
– If the IS needs of the organization change
significantly

The Traditional Systems Development
Life Cycle
‫المراحل العامة لتطوير النظام‬
1. Systems investigation:
– Identifies problems and opportunities and considers
them in light of business goals
2. Systems analysis:
– Studies existing systems and work processes to
identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for
improvement
3. Systems design:
– Defines how the information system will do what it
must do to obtain the problem’s solution

The Traditional Systems Development
Life Cycle (continued)
4. Systems implementation:
– Creates or acquires various system components
detailed in systems design, assembles them, and
places new or modified system into operation
5. Systems maintenance and review:
– Ensures the system operates as intended
– Modifies the system so that it continues to meet
changing business needs

Prototyping
• An iterative approach
• During each iteration:
– Requirements and alternative solutions to the
problem are identified and analyzed
– New solutions are designed, and a portion of the
system is implemented

Systems Investigation
• What primary problems might a new or enhanced
system solve?
• What opportunities might a new or enhanced
system provide?
• What new hardware, software, databases,
telecommunications, personnel, or procedures will
improve an existing system or are required in a
new system?
• What are the potential costs (variable and fixed)?
• What are the associated risks?
Feasibility Analysis
• Assesses:
– Technical feasibility
– Economic feasibility
– Legal feasibility
– Operational feasibility
– Schedule feasibility

Initiating Systems Investigation
• Systems request form:
– Filled out by someone who wants IS department to
initiate systems investigation
– Information included:
• Problems in or opportunities for system
• Objectives of systems investigation
• Overview of proposed system
• Expected costs and benefits of proposed system

Object-Oriented Systems Investigation
• Object-oriented approach
– Can be used during all phases of systems
development
• Use case diagram
– Part of the Unified Modeling Language (UML) that is
used in object-oriented systems development

Systems Analysis
• Overall emphasis of analysis:
– Gathering data on existing system
– Determining requirements for new system
– Considering alternatives
– Investigating feasibility of solutions
• Primary outcome of systems analysis:
– Prioritized list of systems requirements

Data Collection
• Identifying sources of data:
– Internal and external sources
• Collecting data:
– Interviews
– Direct observation
– Questionnaires

Data Analysis
• Data modeling:
– Accomplished through the use of entity-relationship
(ER) diagram
• Activity modeling:
– Accomplished through the use of data-flow diagrams
– DFDs:
• Describe the activities that fulfill a business
relationship or accomplish a business task

Requirements Analysis
• Purpose is to determine user, stakeholder, and

organizational needs
• Techniques used to capture systems requirements:
– Asking directly
– Critical success factors (CSFs)
– The IS plan
– Requirements analysis tools

Requirements Analysis (continued)

Systems Design
• Answers the question:
– How will the information system solve a problem?
• Results in a technical design that:
– Details system outputs, inputs, and user interfaces
– Specifies hardware, software, databases,
telecommunications, personnel, and procedures
– Shows how these components are related

Logical and Physical Design
• Logical design:
– Describes functional requirements of a system
• Physical design:
– Specifies the characteristics of the system
components necessary to put the logical design into
action

Systems Implementation
• Includes:
1. Hardware acquisition
2. Programming and software acquisition or
development
3. User preparation
4. Hiring and training of personnel
5. Site and data preparation
6. Installation, testing, start-up, and user acceptance

Acquiring Hardware from an IS Vendor
• IS vendor
– Company that offers hardware, software,
telecommunications systems, databases, IS
personnel, or other computer-related resources
• Types of IS vendors include:
– General computer manufacturers
– Small computer manufacturers
– Peripheral equipment manufacturers

Acquiring Software: Make or Buy?
• Make-or-buy decision:
– Whether to obtain software from external or internal
sources
• Externally acquired software and Software as a
Service (SaaS):
– Software as a Service (SaaS) allows businesses to
subscribe to Web-delivered application software by
paying a monthly service charge

Acquiring Database and
Telecommunications Systems
• Databases:
– A blend of hardware and software
• Virtual databases and database as a service
(DaaS):
– Popular ways to acquire database capabilities

User Preparation
• Readying managers, decision makers, employees,
other users, and stakeholders for new systems
• Important but often ignored area of systems
implementation

IS Personnel: Hiring and Training
• An organization might have to hire and, in some
cases, train new IS personnel
• Personnel that might be needed for the new or
modified system:
– An IS manager
– Systems analysts
– Computer programmers
– Data entry operators

Site Preparation
• Preparing the location of a new system
• Developing IS sites that are energy efficient is
important
• Security is also important for site preparation

Data Preparation
• Also called data conversion
• Ensuring all files and databases are ready to be
used with new computer software and systems

Installation
• Process of physically placing computer equipment
on the site and making it operational
• Normally, manufacturer is responsible for installing
computer equipment
• Someone from the organization (usually IS
manager) should oversee the process

Testing
• Forms of testing:
– Unit testing
– System testing
– Volume testing
– Integration testing
– Acceptance testing

Start-Up
• Begins with the final tested information system
• Approaches:
– Direct conversion (plunge, direct cutover)
– Phase-in approach (piecemeal)
– Pilot start-up
– Parallel start-up

User Acceptance
• Formal agreement signed by user that states that a
phase of installation or the complete system is
approved
• Legal document that removes or reduces IS
vendor’s liability

Systems Operation and Maintenance
• Systems operation:
– Use of a new or modified system
• Systems maintenance:
– Checking, changing, and enhancing the system to
make it more useful in achieving user and
organizational goals

Systems Review
• Final step of systems development
• Analyzes systems to make sure that they are
operating as intended
• Can be performed during systems development

System Performance Measurement
• Monitoring the system:
– Number of errors encountered
– Amount of memory required
– Amount of processing or CPU time needed
– Other problems
• System performance products:
– Software that measures all components of the
information system

Chapter 9
The Personal and Social Impact of
Computers
322
• Policies and procedures must be established to
avoid waste and mistakes associated with
computer usage
– Describe some examples of waste and mistakes in
an IS environment, their causes, and possible
solutions
– Identify policies and procedures useful in eliminating
waste and mistakes
– Discuss the principles and limits of an individual’s
right to privacy

Computer Crime
• Top four categories of computer crime reported to
law enforcement organizations during 2009:
1. Undelivered merchandise or nonpayment
2. Identity theft
3. Credit card fraud
4. Auction fraud

The Computer as the Object of Crime
• Crimes fall into several categories:
– Illegal access and use
– Data alteration and destruction
– Information and equipment theft
– Software and Internet piracy
– Computer-related scams
– International computer crime

Illegal Access and Use
• Hacker:
– Learns about and uses computer systems
• Criminal hacker:
– Gains unauthorized use or illegal access to
computer systems
• Script bunny:
– Automates the job of crackers
• Insider:
– Employee who compromises corporate systems

Illegal Access and Use (continued)
• Virus:
– Program file capable of attaching to disks or other
files and replicating itself repeatedly
• Worm:
– Parasitic computer program that replicates but, unlike
viruses, does not infect other computer program files
• Trojan horse:
– Malicious program that disguises itself as a useful
application or game and purposefully does something
the user does not expect
Fundamentals
Fundamentals of Information Systems,
of Information Sixth Edition
Systems, Sixth Edition 328
328
Illegal Access and Use (continued)
• Rootkit:
– Set of programs that enable its user to gain
administrator level access to a computer or network
• Logic bomb:
– Type of Trojan horse that executes when specific
conditions occur
• Variant:
– Modified version of a virus that is produced by virus’s
author or another person

Spyware
• Software installed on a personal computer to:
– Intercept or take partial control over user’s
interaction with the computer without knowledge or
permission of the user
• Similar to a Trojan horse in that:
– Users unknowingly install it when they download
freeware or shareware from the Internet

Information and Equipment Theft
• Password sniffer(‫) الشم‬:
– Small program hidden in a network that records
identification numbers and passwords
• Portable computers such as laptops and portable
storage devices are especially easy for thieves to
take:
– Data and information stored in these systems are
more valuable than the equipment

Safe Disposal(
‫ ) التصرف‬of Personal
Computers
• Deleting files and emptying the Recycle Bin does
not make it impossible for determined individuals to
view the data
• Use disk-wiping software utilities that overwrite all
sectors of your disk drive, making all data
unrecoverable

Patent and Copyright Violations
• Software piracy(‫) قرصنة‬:
– Act of unauthorized copying or distribution of
copyrighted software
– Penalties can be severe
• Patent infringement(‫) انتهاك‬:
– Occurs when someone makes unauthorized use of
another’s patent

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