Information systems (IS) is defined to be the study of complementary networks of software and hardware which individuals and organizations use in collecting, processing ,filtering, creating, and distributing data .This study of information systems merges computer science with business by employing computation and information theoretical foundations.
Before the emergence of the modern discipline of computer science in the twentieth century, there existed a coincidence between the history of computer science and information systems. Generally, information systems mainly focus on processing information within organizations, which largely incorporates the business enterprises, and sharing the benefits with modern society. The circulation of information and ideas have been continually updated in the present day to promote ethnographic approaches hence ensuring data integrity improving the social effectiveness and the efficiency of the whole process. It has greatly improved the communication among individuals within an organization and therefore enhancing the efficiency of workers and the management of such an organization.
Despite emergence of the of information systems as a field of interest over the past thirty years, the main focus of Information System still poses a subject of discussion There exist two main views in this debate: The first view narrows on the Information Technology discipline just as the main subject of research on Information Systems , and the second view widely and focuses on the interlink between social aspects and technical aspects of information technology. Another view of this discussion urges the scholars of the Information Systems to give an equal attention to both the artifact and the context of information technology.
This is entirely an important aspect that should be seriously considered in the entire process. It is a requirement to have the artifacts considered in the entire process.
The study of information systems has been of great importance it the modern business and as the systems, software and networks become more powerful; they also increase in their abilities to assist in business. Business automation is an important revolution that is considered and getting the most attention. The extensive study of these systems in research by scholars has led to the generation of efficient communication within individuals.
It is indeed a fact that a greater percentage of organizations regardless of their size or scope, largely depend on information systems to a certain extent.
In some organizations which are small, these systems may not be of a greater need, but if employed, they enhance efficiency of work flow and improve the turnaround of the goods produced to the customer. For the larger organizations, it is of utmost importance to note that these systems are very crucial to the success of the business. There are quite a good number of business software solutions even though they can be broken down into a few general types of information systems. These types are categorized as follows: the Transaction Processing System (TPS), the Executive Information System (EIS), the Decision Support System (DSS), the Office Automation System (OAS) and the Expert System (ES).
The first type of the system, the TPS stands for Transaction Processing System and it is one of the most widespread. TPS is always used in processing of bank card where the transaction is send into the bank when a person pays for goods or services using their bank card. The bank will eventually approve or deny this transaction based on the success of the transaction. The guarantee is made on either success or failure of the transaction, if the transition fails to go through or partially goes through, and then the transaction completely fails. Such enables the protection of each participant involved in the transaction and transaction integrity is maintained. This system does not allow partial transmission and it ensures that the information is either completely or correctly stored in the database or it is not stored completely.
The second major type of information system is the EIS which is also referred to as the Executive Information System. This type of information systems supports the overall management of an organization and it contains the entire information system of the organization. It involves both the computers and the network, and also the people and the procedures. This system enhances progressive productivity of the organization by supporting its operations and hence facilitating decision making. The Decision Support System (DSS) is quite a common type of information system and majorly found in many types of automatic text completion systems. Among the most popular forms of this system is Google Suggest which possess the auto complete feature which automatically completes your search phrase on the basis of majority searches.
There are other systems which more complex and make use of DSS technology in various forms. Such forms include: model driven DSS in which a business strategy is developed by the user on the basis of various financial and business models, communication driven DSS. They enable people to develop a solution by interacting with the system and one another. The data driven DSS collects many different types of data and then makes it suitable for application by restructuring the data. There is also Document Driven DSS which majorly relies on the data to formulate strategies and finally the Knowledge Driven DSS which assist the users in determining whether a decision should actually be made or not.
The Office Automation System (OAS) usually has many forms but throughout their primary function does not change .The main purpose of this system is facilitating the exchange of information freely between individuals in an organization. Some of composition of these systems may incorporate word processors, spreadsheets, email clients, and file sharing systems, databases.
It is very evident that information systems have been of great important in the modern society not only in the improvement of business but also in health centers and academic centers. The technological progress has been utilized in organizations to enhance efficiency and to improve the accuracy as well as the speed of information transmission. There have emerged new technology issues on information systems with the primary purpose of enhancing effective communication and hence efficient transfer of information between individuals .The emergence of such systems also helps to increase productivity in many areas by integrating with almost any imaginable type of function in any organization.
Generally, almost in every section, ranging from mere office employees to advanced expert professionals, Information Systems are widely in use and have been of great help in enhancing the success of the organization by handling more information that a single person could handle by themselves. Most business processes are undergoing automation as this is considered to be something of competitive advantage. This is the reason why many businesses are undertaking this important enhancement to be more efficient and productive.
Reference
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Niederman, F., Brancheau, J. C., & Wetherbe, J. C. (1991). Information systems management issues for the 1990s. MIS quarterly, 15(4), 475-500.
Tosic, V., Mennie, D., & Pagurek, B. (2000). Dynamic Service Composition and Its Applicability to E-Business Software Systems–The ICARIS Experience. 2009. http://www. sce. carleton, ca/netmanage/papers/TosicEtA1WOOBS0i SV. pdf.
