Unit 1

1. Information Systems Unit 1

2. Data • The word ‘Data’ is derived from the plural form of latin word ‘Datum’, which means ‘to give’. • Originated at mid 17th century. • Data is a collection of raw facts. • May or may not be meaningful. • Input to any system may be treated as Data. • Understanding is difficult. • Data must be processed to understand. • Data may not be in the order.

3. Information The word ‘Information’ is derived from latin word ‘Informare’, which means ‘to instruct’. • Information is the outcome derived after processing the data. • Information is always meaningful. • Output after processing the system is Information. • Understanding is easy. • Information is already in understandable form, it may be processed further to make it more understandable. • Information should be in the order.

4. Data and Information • Data is raw material for data processing. Data relates to fact, event and transactions. Data refers to unprocessed information. • Information is data that has been processed in such a way as to be meaningful to the person who receives it. it is any thing that is communicated. • For example, researchers who conduct market research survey might ask a member of the public to complete questionnaires about a product or a service. These completed questionnaires are data; they are processed and analyze in order to prepare a report on the survey. This resulting report is information.

5. What is a System A system can be broadly defined as an integrated set of elements that accomplish a defined objective. • People from different engineering disciplines have different perspectives of what a "system" is. For example, software engineers often refer to an integrated set of computer programs as a "system.“ • System with feedback and control is called Cybernetic System (self regulatory or self monitoring)e.g. Thermostate Controlled Heating.

6. Open and Close System • Subsystem: One part of a system where the products of more than one system are combined to reach an ultimate goal Closed system: Stand-alone system that has no contact with other systems • Self-contained system • Have no influence upon the system and • Has no possible exchange of information with the surrounding environment. • After a period of time all internal activity within a closed system will stop. Open system: System that interfaces with other systems. • An open system has a discrete number of interfaces to allow the exchange of matter, energy or information with its surrounding environment.

7. System Components • Input • Process • Output • Feedback is data about the performance of a system. • Control monitor and evaluate feedback to determine whether system is moving towards goal. • 'Input' consists of acquisition of the 'raw data', which is transformed into more meaningful packets of 'Information' by means of 'Processing'. • The processed information now flows to the users or activities also called as 'Output'. • The shortcomings are analyzed and the information is sent back to the appropriate members of the organization to help them evaluate and refine the input. This is termed as 'feedback'.

8. Nature of Information System • In the past, organizations recognized the importance of managing resources such as labor, capital, and raw materials. Today, it is widely accepted that managing the information resource is very often equally important. • Information systems are implemented within an organization for the purpose of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of that organization.

9. Information Need • Senior managers need information to help with their business planning. • Middle management need more detailed information to help them monitor and control business activities. • Employees with operational roles need information to help them carry out their duties.

10. Information System An Information System can be defined technically as a set of interrelated components that collect (or retrieve), process, store and distribute information to support decision making and control in an organization. A system which assembles, stores, processes, and delivers information relevant to an organization (or to a society), in such a way that the information is accessible and useful to those who wish to use it, including managers, staff, clients and citizens.

11. Information System

12. Business as an Information System • A business is an example of information system where economic resources are transformed by various business processes into goods and services. • Information System provide feedback on the operations of the system to management for the direction and maintenance of the system

13. Role of Information Systems in Management • Information Systems help managers in effective decision making. • Organization gain edge in competitive environment. • Right decision at right time. • Innovative ideas for solving critical problems.

14. Factors on which information requirement depends • Operational Function • Types of decisions making • Programmed decisions are made with respect to routine, repetitive ,recurring problems for which well defined rules and procedures are there. • Non Programmed decisions are made for the situations and problems which are non repetitive and for which little information and knowledge is available. • Levels of Management activity • Strategic-Plant location, raising fund for investment, launching a new product.

15. Information System Resources • Hardware Resources: Machines and media • Software Resources :Programs and Procedures • People Resources :Specialist-SA,SD,SO and end users. • Data Resources :Product descriptions, customer records, inventory databases. • Network Resources : Communication media, communications processors, network access and control software's

16. Classification of IS Information Systems Operations Support System Management Support System Process control systems Transaction processing systems Office automation systems Decision support systems Executive information systems Management information systems

17. Types of Information systems 1. Operations support systems process data generated by business operations Major categories are: • i) Transaction processing systems • ii) Process control systems • iii) Office automation systems 2. Management Support Systems provide information and support needed for effective decision making by managers Major categories are • Management Information System • Decision Support Systems • Executive Information System

18. Operation Support System • Operations support systems (also called operational support systems or OSS) are computer systems used by telecommunications service providers. • The term OSS most frequently describes "network systems" dealing with the telecom network itself, supporting processes such as maintaining network inventory, provisioning services, configuring network components, and managing faults.

19. OSS generally refers to the system that perform management of inventory, service management and fault management which includes repair functions for telecommunication service networks. • OSS is mainframe based standalone system designed to support telephone company staff members in their daily jobs such as order processing, line assignment, line testing and billing, etc • Operations Support Systems (OSS) provides unified management for all technologies across all network domains; radio, core and IT networks.

20. Applications of OSS • Order processing, accounting, billing and cost management • Network inventory, service provision, design and assign • Network discovery and reconciliation,trouble and fault management, capacity management • Network elements, asset and equipment management, field service management

21. OSS Infrastucture

22. Work flow Engine • Work Flow engine is the heart of an integrated OSS infrastructure. • The engine manages the flow of information from system to system ,essentially checking out the task associated with any process as it goes. • Once an order or proposal is submitted, the associated workflow appropriately controls movement with respect to the activities required to fulfill the order or complete the proposal. • Managing and coordinating the interactions between integrated systems.

23. Types of Operations Support System i) Transaction processing systems • Process business exchanges • Maintain records about the exchanges • Handle routine, yet critical, tasks • Perform simple calculations ii) Process control systems monitor and control industrial processes. iii) Office automation systems automate office procedures and enhance office communications and productivity.

24. Transaction Processing System • TPS records and process the data resulting from business transactions. • A transaction processing system collects, store, modify, and retrieve the transactions of an organization. A transaction is an event that generates or modifies data that is eventually stored in an information system such as sales, purchases, withdrawals,refunds and payments. • Typical examples of such systems would be Airline Reservation Systems, Banking Systems, or the Accounting System of almost any large company.

25. Features of TPS • Rapid response – fast performance with rapid results • Reliability – well designed backup and recovery with a low failure rate • Inflexibility – Every transaction to be processed in the same way. Operation must be standardized. • Controlled processing – maintain specific requirements for the roles and responsibilities of Organisation.

26. StandardisationTransactions must be processed in the same way each time to maximise efficiency. To ensure this, TPS interfaces are designed to acquire identical data for each transaction, regardless of the customer.

27. Real Time Processing • Data is processed immediately after a transaction occurs. • Real time processing is where all details of the transaction are recorded and changed at the time as it occurs. • Examples of real time processing are ATM’s. • Real Time Processing requires interaction with a user.

28. Types of TPS-Batch and Real Time • Batch Processing • Batch processing is a resource-saving transaction in which a batch of requests is stored and then executed all at one time. • Batch processing is useful for enterprises that need to process large amounts of data using limited resources. • Examples of batch processing include credit card transactions. credit card transactions need only be processed once a month in order to produce a statement for the customer, so batch processing saves IT resources from having to process each transaction individually. • Processing occurs without user interaction. • Occupy much of the network capacity. • Data errors will stop a batch process E.g. Payroll, cheques, billing for electricity, E-way and telephone.

30. Difference between Real Time Processing and Batch Processing • Each transaction in real-time is unique . Transaction are stand-alone both in the entry to the system and also in the handling of output. • Real-time processing requires the master file to be available more often than batch processing • The DB is not accessible all of the time for batch processing. • Real-time processing has fewer errors than batch processing : data is validated and entered immediately. With batch , data is organised and stored before the master file is updated. Errors can stop processing • More operators required in real-time processing. • Difficult to maintain real-time system than batch processing system.

31. ACID properties of TPS • Atomicity :- means that a transaction is either completed in full or not at all. If one account is debited, then another account has to be credited. • Consistency :- ensure that at the end of any transaction the system is in a valid state. If the transaction completes successfully, then all changes to the system will have been properly made, and the system will be in a valid state. • If any error occurs in a transaction, then any changes already made will be automatically rolled back. This will return the system to its state before the transaction was started. Since the system was in a consistent state when the transaction was started, it will once again be in a consistent state.

32. ACID Properties • For example in case of account transfer system, the system is consistent if the total of all accounts is constant. If an error occurs and the money is removed from account A and not added to account B, then the total in all accounts would have changed. The system would no longer be consistent. By rolling back the removal from account A, the total will again be what it should be, and the system back in a consistent state. • Isolation :- transactions must be independent of each other. The Isolation property requires that the behaviour of a transaction is not impacted by the presence of other transactions that may be accessing the same data items concurrently. • Durability :- Once transactions are completed they cannot be undone. the effects of a completed transaction should be lasting.

33. Process Control Systems Process control refers to the methods that are used to control process variables when manufacturing a product. Process Control System helps to monitor a physical process , capture and process data selected by sensors and make real time adjustments to the process. The raw materials, which either pass through or remain in a liquid, gaseous, or slurry (a mix of solids and liquids) state during the process, are transferred, measured, mixed, heated or cooled, filtered, stored, or handled in some other way to produce the end product.

34. Process control is extensively used in industry and enables mass production of continuous processes such as oil refining, paper manufacturing, chemicals, power plants and many other industries like food and beverage industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the water treatment industry, and the power industry.

35. Example of Process Control System • For example, heating up the temperature in a room is a process that has the specific, desired outcome to reach and maintain a defined temperature (e.g. 20°C), kept constant over time. Here, the temperature is the controlled variable. At the same time, it is the input variable since it is measured by a thermometer and used to decide whether to heat or not to heat. The desired temperature (20°C) is the setpoint. The state of the heater (e.g. the setting of the valve allowing hot water to flow through it) is called the manipulated variable since it is subject to control actions.

36. Why Process Control System are important? • Safety: Prevent injury to plant personnel, protect the environment by preventing emission and minimizing waste and prevent damage to the process equipment. • Maintain product quality (composition, purity, color, etc.) on a continuous basis and with minimum cost. • Maintain plant production rate at minimum cost. • So, we can say that the reasons for automation of process plants are to provide safety and at same time maintain desired product quality, high plant throughput, and reduce demand on human labor.

37. Office Automation System • Office work include many administrative and management activities. • Office Automation Systems are computer based information systems that collects , process , store and transmit electronic messages , documents and other forms of communications among individuals, work groups and organisation. • Office Automation System facilitate data manipulation , document processing and communications in management system.

38. Major Functions of OAS • Document Management System These system include computerised tools for generation , storage , processing and distribution of documents. • Communication System These systems are used for sending messages , document and data within and outside the organisation. • Teleconferencing System An electronic means of communication for conducting seminars and training programmes in an organisation is achieved through various teleconferencing systems • Support System Support systems for managing the activities of work groups are used. Office Support Systems include groupware information sharing software such as lotus notes ,Microsoft Exchange, LAN,Computer based desktop organisers such as electronic calendars ,notepad etc

39. Tools for Document Management generation • Dictation Systems • Typewriters • Computers • Scanners • Archival Storage: is used to store large volume of archival data using magnetic tapes , optical disks , floppy disks ,hard disks. • Photocopiers • Word processing and Desktop Publishing are popular technologies used to generate documents. • Image Processing Systems are used to electronically capture, store , process and retrieve images of documents.

40. Communication Systems • Telex • VideoText • Fax • EPABX: Electronic Private Automatic branch Exchange • Emails

41. Teleconferencing Systems Build interactive communications within distant offices using latest technology and system. • cellular telephony • Audio Teleconferencing • Video Teleconferencing

42. Advantages of OAS • To facilitate efficient sharing of documents and knowledge between teams and individuals in an enterprise. • To reduce the cost of administrative overheads • To increase the efficiency of office tasks • To provide better services to the customers • To provide accurate information to the management. • To provide best and fastest way of communication. • It saves time and money. • Elimination of manual storages and spaces. • Reduction in travel cost due to telecommunication facilities • Reduction in costs of conducting in house meetings due to teleconferencing.

43. ECS-Microsoft SharePoint Technology • Enterprise Collaboration solution based Microsoft SharePoint technology • Central Repository of Information • Document Management Capabilities • Collaborative Workspaces • Administrative Controls

44. Management Support System • Management Support Systems provide information and support needed for effective decision making by managers Major categories are • Management Information System • Decision Support Systems • Executive Information System

45. Management Information System (MIS) • This is an information system that serves the function of planning ,controlling and decision making by providing routine summary and exception reports. • These system serves the middle management and can include on demand ‘standard” reports. • MIS normally draw data from a TPS and convert data into information for monitoring performance and managing an organization. • Transactions recorded in a TPS are analyzed and reported by a MIS. • An MIS provides managers with information and support for effective decision making, and provides feedback on daily operations

46. Management Information System contd.. • It’s a computer-based system that makes information available to the users with similar needs. • The information describes what has happened in past, what is happening now and what is likely to happen in the future. • The information is made available in the form of periodic reports, special reports and outputs of mathematical simulations. The information output is used by both managers and non managers as they make decisions to solve the firm’s problems.

47. Employees Corporate databases ofinternaldata Databasesofexternaldata Corporateintranet Decisionsupportsystems Databasesofvalidtransactions Application databases Businesstransactions Transactionprocessingsystems Managementinformationsystems Executivesupportsystems Operationaldatabases Expertsystems Drill-down reports Exception reports Demand reports Key-indicator reports Input anderror list Scheduledreports

48. Outputs of a Management Information System • Scheduled reports • Produced periodically, or on a schedule (daily, weekly, monthly) • Key-indicator report • Summarizes the previous day’s critical activities • Typically available at the beginning of each day • Demand report • Gives certain information at a manager’s request • Exception report • Automatically produced when a situation is unusual or requires management action

49. MIS in an organization

50. Scheduled Report Example