Features of an Information System

Information Systems Features of an Information System

Rhiannon Jones

22/02/2012

Rhiannon Jones 22 Feb. 12

Features of an Information System

Task 1

Data

Data are facts and figures that by themselves have no meaning on their own. Data is turned into information once it has been processed into a form that is useful to the user. For example sales figures (data) can be used to produce reports (information) on the best-selling products of the week.

People

Without people there couldn’t be an information system they assist with the design, input, manipulation and maintenance of information systems. People need be involved to make sure the

completed system meets the requirements of the end users without the correct user requirements the managers will have doubts about the MIS which defeats the object of have an MIS system they will therefore make decisions based on their knowledge and not use the information collected in the MIS which can cause failures in the company.

Hardware & Software

Hardware needs to be robust enough to make sure that large volumes of data can be processed and stored failure of this could result in a crash of the system or data can be lost to for there not being anywhere of it to go. Software needs to be able to cope with a range of analytical, predictive and intelligent tasks and requests to insure all data can be processed to give out the end results of information. Software should be easy to use for everyone who might need information from the system so everyone in the company can work it.

Telecommunications

Information has to be delivered in a secure, reliable and speedy format and possibly to a wide audience at the same time around the world. This can be done by using a synchronous method of

communication for example use of synchronous would be a transmission of files from one point to another. As each transmission is received, a response is returned indicating success or the need to resend back to the other computer that sent the files. Having a slow telecommunication will affect the way they have meetings when having a video conference it could be jumpy, delayed or completely crash causing the company lose out on viral information.


Task 2

Open and Closed MIS systems

An open MIS system is a system that will automatically produces a report on what stock is running low and will produce it in a list and will automatically send the report to the wholesalers as an order and get the stock delivered to the store without doing a count up first and writing the list yourself this saves time and reduces human error and reduces over ordering saving money.

A closed system is a system that is only confined to the company so it doesn’t connect to any suppliers or other companies the user can choose what to print or generate a report on a predefined output. The closed systems are manly used by management for example the manager of HR would generate a report on staff hours and a report on wages which would just be defined to one output.

Input

For the input of data there are many ways in which this can be done using many pieces of hardware for example a keyboard for data to be manual entered, optical readers which can detect a particular colour pen when being scanned though to the computer and barcode scanners that can scan barcodes or QR codes thought the computer however will need an operator still. For input of data there is the detail data which is stored and processed and forms the basis for the output from the system. The user must also tell the system what sort of analyses they want form the system. Sometime this is hidden from the user and the IT department sets this up is advance of users using the system.

Storage

The data should be stored at the most detailed level possible, the IT departments may also chose to store various summarise of data for ease of use and consistency. The IT departments should take regular backups of the data. Some of these should be kept in a different location in case of disaster.

Processing

Processing is what turns data into information. At tits simplest, it may just be adding up all of the individual items sold by supermarket and producing totals by store, by product, by time of day or by any other classification. At its most complexes a computer program, of the user, will perform complex calculations, make assumptions about missing data and select criteria to include or exclude. For example, a complex mathematical model might be used as part of a stock control system – as well as looking at sales this might consider lead times, the cost of being out of stock, the effect of the weather and expected future demands.


Output

Output can be in two formats, graphical and textual. Graphical output is often the best for seeing the big picture, understanding trends and presenting the information to management textural output is best where it is important to analyse the detail and to know exact values. A common way of using both formats is to use graphical output to identify areas of interest then to use graphical again to focus in on the details and to switch to textual output to see the lowest level of detail. Output is best presented in the form that each user wants for example for supermarket sales a product or products group. The store managers are mainly interested in what is happening in their own store, a regional manager wants to see what is happening across all stores in their region. The default output for each of these users should be the one that they are interested in.

Control and Feedback loops

A control and feedback loop is what happens in the organisation as a result of the output from an information system. It should have some effect, direct or not, on future inputs to the information system.

An automated example is a fata feed of actual sales data to a computerised stock control system. This could note which products have increasing sales and re order these products from suppliers in order to reduce the likelihood of being out of stock. A similar example is managements looking at the sales reports to see which products are selling well and which are not. To maximise profit, they may choose to increase the price of the products that are selling well and reduce the price or offer a promotion on those that are not selling well.


Task 3


Task 4

Features

A management information system is a decision support system in which the form of input query and response is predetermined. It is often summarised from an information system. It is used where management wants to ask the same question frequently, though perhaps about different subjects. For example Primark’s head office may ask list top ten stores for sales this month, by product type, together with last month’s data and percentage change. This will show the top management the best stores sell that product compare to last month to weather send more stock of that product to that store.

Benefits

A benefit of an MIS is that it is easy to use by senior management, as much of the complexity is hidden from them. The answers are often provided as both tables and graphics and for import into spreadsheets for flexibility the MIS also provides these answers very quickly.

Accuracy

It must be as accurate as any other source of this information this can be done using the following criteria and deciding whether the data is Valid, Reliable, Timely, Fit-for-purpose, Cost-effective, Relevant, Having the right level of detail, Understandable by the user. If the data inputted into Primark’s MIS system is not accurate then the information they get out the MIS system will not be accurate for example if when stocktake takes place staff don’t count up the right amount of stock and place that number into the MIS then the system will give information to the management team that stock needs to be ordered and it doesn’t management will lose all confidence in the system and stop using it to make decisions Sustainability

The information must be reliably available, to be entered into the system each quarter of the year for example Primark have stocktake 4 times a year to keep all the data up to date. The stocktake and the till system work together so if someone buys an item it will automatically reduce that item in the stock system and will reproduce a report at the end of each quarter with the stocktake report and are then compared with each other to see if the system is working. If the reports have a big difference in the numbers then the management team will lose confidence in the system.

Response Times

Where information is displayed by time period, then these times must be consistent. For example if Primark were to see when they need to do a cash lift they will check the till system in the cash office at the same time each day to see how much money has been generated so far and make a decision on whether to do a cash lift or not.


The Confidence Factor

The users must have confidence in the MIS system for it to be used. This means that any faults found with the data, processes or computer system must quickly be put right. The users need to be informed of the upgrade and reassured that it has improved the quality of the system. So if the management team at Primark don’t have any confidence in the system because it keeps giving out the wrong information then they will stop using it to make decisions.

Documents

Features of an Information System