Fundamental of Information System

(IS 2121)

Instructor: Tsegaye Berhanu

Email: [email protected]
 Chapter 1

Overview of Information System

 Outline
 Overview of Information System

 Overview of a System

 Characteristics of a system

 Components of a system

 Data Vs Information

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 Information System
 An Information System (IS) is a set of interrelated
components that collect, manipulate, store, and
disseminate data and information and provide a
feedback mechanism to meet an objective.
 Information systems (IS) is the study of
complementary networks of hardware and software
that people and organizations use to collect, filter,
process, create, and distribute data
 Examples of IS:
 ATM, Airline reservation systems, Course enrollment
systems, Portal system
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 System
• A set of elements or components that
interact to accomplish goals
• A combination of components working
together
• A system is an orderly grouping of
interdependent components linked
together according to a plan to achieve a
specific objective.
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 Components of a system
Control

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 Input
 Involves capturing and assembling elements that enter
the system to be processed
 collecting and capturing data manually or via
computer
 Input can be in various forms or media (e.g. phone
calls, grade sheets, barcodes)
 Data can be input via keyboard or by an automated
process, such as scanning

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 Processing
 Involves transformation processes that convert input
into output
 Processing may involve calculations, comparisons,
summarizing, or grouping
 E.g.. calculating your grade involves weighting your
scores on various tests or assignments, adding them
together, and then converting the resulting percentage
or point total to an A, B, C, etc.

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 Output
 Involves transferring elements that have been
produced by a transformation process to their
ultimate destination
 Output is the production of useful information.
 An output can be a report displayed on a monitor, a
printed report, a paycheck, a verbal response, or an
image

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 Output
 Output from one system might be the
input for another.
 E.g., a point of sale system might create a file
of all items sold during a day. That file might
be used as input to an inventory system to
adjust stock levels to reflect the sales

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 Feedback
 Data about the performance of a system
 Feedback is a kind of output used to adjust the input or
processing activities
 Feedback can be evaluated to determine whether a
system is moving toward the achievement of its goals.
 necessary adjustments based on feedbacks are made to
a system’s input and processing components to ensure
that it produces proper output

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 Control
 The control elements guide the system.
 It is the decision-making subsystem that
controls the pattern of activities
governing input, processing, and output.

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 Characteristics of a systems
1. Component
 A component is part or an aggregate of parts of a system, also
called a subsystem
 we can repair or upgrade the system by changing individual
components without having to make changes throughout the
entire system
2. Interrelated/Interdependent
 The components are interrelated; that is, the function of one is somehow
tied to the functions of the others
3. Boundary
 A system has a boundary, within which all of its components are
contained and which establishes the limits of a system, separating it
from other systems
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 Characteristics of a systems
4. Purpose
 All of the components work together to achieve some overall
purpose for the larger system: the system’s reason for existing.
5. Environment
 A system exists within an environment—everything outside
the system’s boundary that influences the system.
 An information system interacts with its environment by
receiving data (raw facts) and provide information (data
processed in a useful format) to envt.
6. Interface
 The points at which the system meets its environment are
called interfaces; an interface also occurs between subsystems.
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Characteristics of a systems

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 Characteristics of a systems
7. Input
 System takes input from its environment
8. Output
 System returns output to its environment as a result of
its functioning to achieve the purpose. Output from
individual subsystems may be inputs to other
subsystems.
9. Constraint
 In its functioning, a system must face constraints—the
limits (in terms of capacity, speed, or capabilities) to
what it can do and how it can achieve its purpose
within its environment
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 Components of Information System
 The components of Information System store,
transform and disseminates information in an
organization.
oHardware
oSoftware
oData/Database
oCommunication/network/Internet
oPeople
oProcedures
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 Components of Information System

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 Hardware
 Hardware represents the physical components of
an information system. Some can be seen or
touched easily, while others reside inside a device
that can only be seen by opening up the device's
case.
 Keyboards, mice, disk drives,, printers, and flash
drives, computer chips, motherboards, and
internal memory chips are the hardware.
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 Software
 Software is a set of instructions that tell the
hardware what to do.
 Programmers create software programs by
following a specific process to enter a list of
instructions that tell the hardware what to do.
 There are several categories of software, with the
two main categories being operating-system and
application software.
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 Data
 Data is a collection of raw facts.
 Data is a collection of numbers, figures, characters
 Data don’t give you any additional meanings beyond the
data itself.
 The information systems is responsible to manage data.
 A processed data is called information. Information is
useful to make decisions.
 Database - an organized collection of facts and
information, typically consisting of two or more related
data files.
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 Telecommunications, Network,
and the Internet
 Telecommunications - the electronic
transmission of signals for communications.
 Networks - used to connect computers and
computer equipment in a building, around the
country, or around the world to enable electronic
communications.
 Internet - the world’s largest computer network,
actually consisting of thousands of interconnected
networks

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 People
 People are the most important element in most
computer-based information systems.
 People built computers for people to use. This means
that there are many different categories in the
development and management of information systems
to help organizations to create value and improve
productivity, such as:
• Users
• Technical Developers (IS Professionals)
• Business Professionals
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 Process
 A business process is a step undertaken to achieve a
desired outcome or goal.
 Information systems are integrated with organizational
processes to deliver value in revenue-generating and
cost-saving activities that can give companies
competitive advantages over their competitors.
 business process management
 enterprise resource planning

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 Procedure
 Procedures - include the strategies, policies, methods,
and rules for using the computer based information
system.

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 Data Vs Information
Data
 Data are raw facts about anything
 Data items have little meaning or no meaning.
 Data are plain facts.
 Data in themselves are fairly useless.
 when data are interpreted, structured, organized
and processed to determine its true meaning, they
become useful and can be called Information.
 Data is computer's language. Information is our
translation of this language.
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 Information
 Information is data that has been refined and
organized by processing and purposeful intelligence.
 Information is data processed for some purpose
 Information is any form of communication that
provides understandable and useful knowledge for
the person receiving it
 Information can only be considered to be 'real'
Information if it meets certain criteria i.e.

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 Data Vs Information

Data Information
• raw facts • data with context
• no context • processed data
• just numbers and text • value-added to data
– summarized
– organized
– analyzed
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 Example for Data vs. Information
 Data: 51007
 Information:
 5/10/07 The date of your final exam.
 $51,007 The average starting salary of an
accounting major.
 51007 Zip code of Bronson Iowa.

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 Data  Information  Knowledge Wisdom

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 Characteristics of information

Information that is meaningful for the people and the

organization must have certain characteristics
 Accurate: Information must not contain any errors.
Sufficiently accurate for its purpose
 Accessible: Authorized users should be able to
access the information whenever required.
 Complete: Information must contain all important
and related data and Complete enough for the
problem.
 Reliable: Reliable and targeted to the right person.
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 Characteristics of information
 Economical: Information should be economical
to produce both in terms of time and cost.
 Format: Information should be available in the desired
format. Communicated by an appropriate channel, i.e.
one that is understandable to the user.
 Flexible: Information should be flexible enough to be
used for different purposes.
 Timely: Information must be available when it is
needed. Communicated in time for its purpose. Late
or outdated information is of no use.
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 Characteristics of information
 Relevant: Information must be relevant for its
purpose, so that it can be used by the
organization.
 Verifiable: There should be a means to
crosscheck the available information.
 Secure: Unauthorized users should not be able to
access the information. Access is allowed only to
authorized individuals.
 Simple: Information must be easily understandable
and usable. Complex information is difficult to use
and may not serve its purpose.
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 Types of Information System

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