Session 1:

Overview of Information
System

Credit :3 By Shaily Gandhi

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
 System, System Variables and
Parameters
System
A set of elements or components that interact to
accomplish goals
A combination of components working together
System variable
A quantity or item that can be controlled by the decision
maker
E.g. the price a company charges for a product
System parameter
A value or quantity that cannot be controlled by the
decision maker
E.g. cost of a raw material
 Modeling a System
Model
An abstraction or an approximation that is used to
represent reality

Types of models
Narrative (descriptive)
Physical
Schematic
Mathematical
Why do we need to Study Information
System

Ease the managing task

Guide for problem solving & decision making
Opportunities and meet personal and
company goals
In Business: used in all functional areas
 Information System (IS)

Definition
A set of interrelated elements or components that collect (input),
manipulate (process), and disseminate (output) data and
information and provide a feedback mechanism to meet an
objective
(IS) Pronounced as separate letters, and short for Information
Systems or Information Services. For many companies, IS is the
name of the department responsible for computers, networking
and data management. Other companies refer to the department
as IT (Information Technology) and MIS (Management Information
Services).
 Difference between System and
Information system
A system is simply a group of activities and
elements, which have been arranged to
achieve a certain objective.

An information system is a combination of

hardware, software and telecommunication
systems, which can support business
operations to increase productivity, and help
managers make decisions.
 Information System (IS)
versus
Information Technology (IT)

IS is all the components and resources

necessary to deliver information and functions
to the organization

IT is hardware, software, networking and data

management
 Information system components
An information system contains FIVE main components the hardware, software,
data, process and human
 Hardware
Hardware is the physical embodiment of an
information system. It is one of the main
elements which creates the information system
cycle.
Information system's hardware refers to all types
of hardware and the media used for input,
processing, managing, distributing and saving
information that are being used in an
organization. Examples of the hardware are the
physical computers, networks, communication
equipment, scanners, digital drives, and so on.
Basic hardware of a computer
 Software
Software consists of two categories the system
software and the application software.

- System Software controls the computer and contains

the operating system and device drivers, which can
communicate with the hardware. It can also modify
data into a new form, prevent viruses and make copies.

- Application Software contains programs which can

help users and enable companies to perform business
functions. Users can increase productivity with the
presence of application software such as spreadsheets,
word processing, ordering systems, and accounts
receivable.
 Data and Process
Data refers to the raw facts on any thing or
entities like student names, courses and
marks. The raw data that has not yet been
provided can be processed to become more
useful information.

Process is a guide consisting of orderly steps,

which need to be followed and implemented
in order to get a certain decision on a certain
matter.
 Human
The main objective of an information system is to provide invaluable
information to managers and users, whether inside or outside the
company.

Users can be broken up into three categories, which are:

- End-Users, consisting of the staff, customers, suppliers and others who
communicate with the information system.
- Internal Users, including the managers, technicians, sales
representatives and corporate officers.
- External Users, consisting of the customers who use the companys for
performing transactions, suppliers who use the system for planning sales,
and the staff who use the system outside office hours.

The success or failure of an information system depends on whether the

system that has been developed can fulfill the user's requirements, and
the users feel satisfied with the results and the system's operation. A
successful system requires integrated efforts from information technology
experts such as the system analysts, programmers and the information
technology managers so as to fulfil business needs and to support
companys objectives.
IS Knowledge Framework for Business
Professionals
 What should a Business Professional
know about IS?
Foundation Concepts: fundamental behavioral, technical,
business and managerial concepts

Information Technology: Hardware, software, networks, data

management and Internet-based technology

Business Applications: Major uses of the IS in the organization

Development Processes: How to plan, develop and implement

IS to meet business opportunities

Management Challenges: The challenges of effectively and

ethically managing IT
17
 Fundamental Roles of IS in Business

Support of business processes and operations.

Support of decision making by employees and

managers.

Support of strategies for competitive

advantage.
Types of IS
 Client Server Architecture
A network
architecture in which
each computer or
process on the
network is either a
client or a server.

Source: http://webopedia.lycos.com
 Components of network

Clients
Servers
Communication Networks

Server

Client
 Clients
Applications that run on computers
Rely on servers for
Files Clients runs Applications

Devices
Processing power
Example: E-mail client
An application that enables you to send and
receive e-mail
 Servers
Computers or processes that manage network
resources
Servers Manage Resources
Disk drives (file servers)
Printers (print servers)
Network traffic (network servers)
Example: Database Server
A computer system that processes database
queries
Communication Networks

Networks Connect Clients

and Servers
 Email application

Server
Client Client

Email client sends Later, recipients

message to server email client
Message is stored
retrieves message
on POP server
from server
 ClientServer Computing
Process takes place
on the server and
Client-Server Computing Optimizes
on the client Computing Resources

Servers
Store and protect data
Process requests from clients
Clients
Make requests
Format data on the desktop
 Application Functions

Software application
functions are separated
into three distinct parts

Server:
Data Management

Client: Presentation & Application Logic

Application Components

3 2 Client Types
Data Management

2 Application Logic Fat

Thin Client
1 Presentation Client
3 Logical Tiers

Database Applications:
Most common use of client-server architectures
 Middleware
Software that connects two
otherwise separate applications Database Server:
Manages Data
Example: Middleware product
linking a database system to a Web
server Middleware Links
Applications

Web Server:
Presents Dynamic Pages

Client: Requests Data via Web

 I want to
collaborate
with my
I want to access colleague
some information

Client

Server Peer-to-peer

Client/server
Introduction to HTML
What the following term mean:

Web server: a system on the internet containing one

or more web site

Web site: a collection of one or more web pages

Web pages: single disk file with a single file name

Home pages: first page in website

 What is HTML?
Stands for Hyper Text Markup Language

The glue that holds the content on a web page

together

Every page on the web is created in HTML, or

some variant of it
 HTML Files
Merely text files that contain hyperlinks and markup
Hyperlinks: ?
Markup:
HTML instructions that dictate how the web page is displayed
Read by browsers

But each web browser interprets HTML in its own way

With basic HTML, variances arent significant
But pages with advanced elements like multimedia and
scripting can get hairy
 Comments
Good programming practice to use comments
in code to explain code functionality
Comments are not displayed in the final web
page
Begin comment with the string <!--
End comment with the string -->
 Structure of HTML Document
1. HTML version declaration
<html></html>
Contains info about the pages HTML version
2. Header section
<head></head>
Contains info about web page
3. Body section
<body></body>
Contains content of web page
 Example of HTML Structure

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>My first HTML document</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<P>Hello world! </P>
</BODY>
</HTML>
 Saving your HTML file
File > Save As
Save as Type:
All Files
Encoding: ANSI
File name:
Example.html
 Viewing your HTML page
Find the file on your
hard disk
Open the file using
your web browser
If make a change to
the html file, save in
text editor, then
refresh the page in
the browser
 Summary of Text Blocks
Tag Description Example
<p></p> Paragraph <p>This is a class for
Most common block Geomatics </p>
element used on pages
<h1></h1> Headings and <h1>Welcome to the Home
<h2></h2> subheadings Page of Geomatics
h6 is the smallest World!</h1>
<h6></h6> heading

<br> Line break <p>Today in class we

Like hitting the Enter learned computer
key programing using
<br>
HTML!</p>
<hr> Solid straight line <h1> Home</h1>
<hr>
<h2>Announcements</h2>
 References
Fundamentals of Information Systems, Sixth
Edition

Web Enabled Commercial Applications

Development Using HTML, DHTML, Java
Scripting by Ivan Bayross