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Information Usage and Flow in Organizations

Stephanie Wells
CIS207/Information Systems Fundamentals
Due September 29, 2014
Instructor Nellis Freeman

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Information Usage and Flow in Organizations
There are many uses for the information an organization manages. The uses are not limited
to for-profit organizations, but are handled in similar ways to accomplish similar tasks. Volatile
data helps with an organization's immediate functions, but must be handled with the use of other
technologies to make the data more usable for additional functions. The flow of information must
be monitored at every entry and access point to ensure its integrity and security.

Information Can Be Used In Every Type Of Organization

Information is used in various ways in an organization. Much of the information regarding
general operations, finance, human resources and sales and marketing are interconnected through
the use of a database. Volatile information, such as input generated from purchasing inventory,
customer orders, and employee activity (such as hourly logging), is often purged from the
working database into a central database or data warehouse where it can be accessed and
analyzed in the future to assist in activities such as forecasting purchases to filtering an individual
customer's particular preferences. Paper documents may need to be stored in order to be
compliant with regulations. However, those paper documents can also be scanned into the
information system and become immediately accessible to authorized personnel, auditors and
government regulators.
Information use and flow is not limited to commercial organizations. Schools, including
virtual academies must manage various forms of information. This information management
includes a web interface that allows the students, teachers and parents to access it to attend
classes, meetings, complete courses, and turn in assignments. The virtual academy has a main
platform that provides a daily/weekly/monthly lesson plan view and a unique user interface

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depending on the role assigned to the authenticated user. Child/student users are allowed to
access their "live contact" classes, monitor their own progress, and complete online coursework.
Parent users are granted additional privileges such as entering attendance and grading
assignments. Parents can also review courses before the student begins a lesson, and set vacation
days, if any are available. There are several shared privileges including the ability to contact
teachers and the ability to download relevant course materials. The virtual academy also ties in
some third party applications to provide additional services to their clients. One of these third
party applications is a collaboration tool for "live contact" classes, and another is a Dropbox
interface so that students can perform file sharing activities with their teachers to hand in hard
copy assignments which must be scanned in. Since this organization is a regulated educational
information, they must also collect and store relevant documents regarding birth, vaccinations and
other records that traditional schools also monitor. This confidential data, along with logged
attendance records and grades is accessible by school administrators and the Local, State and
Federal Government.
The very nature of the sensitive documents required for enrolling and readmission mean
that measures must be put into place to not only insure the information is kept safe, but the
integrity of the information being received has not been compromised. Incoming sensitive
documents must not contain a digital signature, and if a parent is enrolling a child for the first
time, this new set of data must be taken in person to the closest administrative office to be
scanned in. Parents and students must maintain unique login information to prevent the corruption
of attendance and grading records by students of their parent accounts. Unique login information
also validates a child's actual presence in his or her classroom, and ensures proper participation in
activities by the correct participant. All users must comply with an Acceptable Use Policy which
forbids activities that may expose a child, parent, teacher or other affiliated staff to an invasion of

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privacy, a denial of service through excessive abuse of the service, and which also upholds the
academy's Academic Integrity Policy.

Conclusion
In conclusion, there are many types of data that are handled by all types of organizations.
The data helps the organization function by recording various aspects of operation, although they
vary by the type of organization. In a for-profit organization, the types of data that can be
collected are often used for accounting, general operations and human resources. In a not-forprofit organization, the information may differ depending on the focus of the organization, but it is
equally essential to the function of the organization. Regardless of the information or the
organization managing it, strong security measures must be put into place to ensure the safety and
integrity of the information, the organization, and the users of said information.