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Introduction
The global information system has been influenced by various factors including culture at various levels of an organization, national and local. Global culture has played an important role in influencing IT processes. The result is a global information system that evolves according to the situation varying across national cultures. It has been evident in global multinational corporations. Studies provide a rich narrative of how national values and organizational values have impacted the adoption and development of Information Systems. This impact has been upon the management, strategy, use and outcomes of IT in MIS (Karahanna, Evaristo, & Srite, 2002, pp. 49). One of the greatest challenges in defining a global Information system is the measure of the impact of the culture upon Information System. Global systems initiated by a single unit of organization and introduced and implemented across the whole organization in other units and countries cause constraints because of the impact of local culture (Leidner & Kayworth, 2006). Lehmann in his study of a global agricultural co-operative observes that an MIS developed and prototyped in North America region is not acceptable in other regions. The reason for the difficulty in implementing the system was that the other regions were not convinced that the designed system fully represented their requirements (Lehmann, 2004).
Major components of Information Systems Infrastructure
Information System is a discipline that is formed by computer science and business elements. Information System impacts each of the different types. There can be a healthcare information system or a management Information System or a Global Information System. There are three elementary components in any Information System; those are input, process and output. Further, the components of Information System also include data, hardware, software, telecommunications, procedures and users (Laudon & Laudon, 2011).
Data is the elementary component of Information System, and it is the input that the system takes to transform and produce output information. Hardware constitutes of the computer device and supported peripheral equipment. The hardware also includes all the devices for storage data input and output and any communication equipment. The software component of Information System consists of the processes for taking the data input, applying the relevant business logic, storing the data and displaying the Information in the form of the final output. Telecommunication component of the Information System consists of software and hardware for the reception and transmission of electronic data including text, sound, animation and pictures. Procedures are the set of rules that define the data processing capabilities of Information System and the relevant security measures. These set of rules are implemented as software applications. Users of Information System are the people who are involved in the complete lifecycle of the Information System starting from the design development, operation and maintenance of hardware and software components (Laudon & Laudon, 2011).
Emerging Technologies
Information System has been impacted by the development of technology in software and hardware equipment. The advancements in the technology show some clear trends of the applicability of emerging technologies for the Global Information Systems. Cloud computing is the most influential concept of Information Technology that is impacting the dissemination and consumption of Management Information Systems. Cloud computing impacts all the components of Information System. Cloud computing typically has three broad level services, namely infrastructure as a service (IAS), software as a service and platform as a service. The benefits provided by cloud computing reduces the cost of Information System with regards to its management, operations, and maintenance. Software as a service paradigm of cloud computing changes the way how Information Systems have been implemented across different organizations. It is no longer required to install a particular software process. It can be accessed through an internet browser. IaaS changes the way of hardware and storage devices through the concept of virtualization, not only reducing the cost for the company but also enabling business continuity. PaaS changes the way how the software for Information Systems are developed through continuous integration and development operations (DevOps).
The other emerging trends impacting the Information System is the use of mobile applications and development of smartphones. The mobile applications provided by smartphones are coming up as a disruptive technology that is influencing all business processes and the way users interact with the system. Smartphone mobile applications are the new input components for the Information Systems (MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS TRENDS, 2016).
Big data and analytics are in emerging trend that is impacting the data component of Information System. Data analytics provide a valuable tool for decision-making processes by converting raw data into some useful information. However, data analytics requires a change in the data storage mechanism of an Information System. It must implement data warehouse and high availability, data storage mechanism to benefits from the capabilities of Big Data analytics. Data Mining is another major trend impacting the Management Information System (MIS). Data mining enables combing through Big Data to identify the trends, patterns, and useful insights. Data mining has come up as an important part of Global Information Systems and also as one of the core responsibilities of MIS professionals.
Smart machines are another trend that is increasingly becoming important for Management Information System (MIS). Smart machines include the concepts of machine learning and artificial intelligence making them capable of solving problems and decision-making without human involvement. The new age Information Systems are embracing smart machines to enhance efficiency and productivity (Wong & Ma, 2013).
Information System as an Enabler of Commerce
Global Information Systems that facilitate inter-organizational and inter-business communications are coming up as prime enablers of a new form of commerce between organizations, individuals, and government. The capabilities are provided because of the resource sharing, learning, technology and available information that are produced and processed by Global Information Systems. The technological advancements in hardware and software technologies facilitate the Information, communication and access providing a collaborative platform for point marketing and production efforts (Småros & Främling, 2001).
Summary & Conclusion
The Global Information System has evolved over time with the advent of high technologies, hardware and software capabilities. The organizational culture has changed leading to a mix of cultures from the merge of different cultures, regions and thought processes. The impact is evident in the use of Information Technology for Management Information Systems and the adaptation of latest trends and practices. It is evident from the trends that each of the components of information systems has undergone transformation due to a direct or indirect impact of emerging technologies. Cloud computing, data mining, big data analytics and smart machines have acted as major disruptive technologies that have changed the shape of information systems input, output, and data transformation processes. The new and emerging technologies have enhanced the efficiency and productivity of management information systems. Global information systems have acted as an enabler of commerce between individuals and organizations generating new streams of businesses and revenue. An enhanced level of collaboration is visible as information systems adapt the new trends and ride upon the emerging technologies of software and hardware.
Reference
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