informatics exam

what is business informatics

Business informatics, as a subfield of applied informatics, is an interdisciplinary field combining informatics and business management

information and communication systems

Information systems: systems for processing information Communication systems: transferring and analyzing information

Main objective (your role)

Set-up of ICT systems in such a way that they are of optimal use in a business or organization.

Improvement of

the work environment for users (ergonomics),

the efficiency of processes, and

the performance level of the different functional areas in a company.

The Subject of Business Informatics (what it is actually doing)

Business informatics, as an interdisciplinary field between informatics and business management, deals with the design and implementation of computer-supported ICT systems for companies and organizations and with its three key components, people, tasks and technology.

Why IT maters for you?

huge changes in education, home, healthcare,AR

The jobs of the future will need both technology know-how and people skills. There are seven main areas where these jobs are growing. Some jobs are about using new tech, like in green energy or data analysis. Others focus on human interaction, like in healthcare or marketing.

These job areas need different skills. Some need tech skills, others need business skills, and some need both. The job market is changing, and it's important to have a mix of skills to keep up.

Some of the fastest-growing jobs are in fields like AI and data analysis. But there are also less common jobs, like working with renewable energy or social media.

To get these jobs, you'll need a mix of skills. Some jobs need technical skills, others need business skills, and some need both. These skills fall into five categories: Business Skills, Specialized Industry Skills, General Skills, Basic Tech Skills, and Advanced Tech Skills. Different jobs need different skills, so it's good to have a variety.

Why IT matters to you: opening case

- Problems:

Queensland Health implemented a new payroll information system. - "Queensland Health had not determined whether systems, processes and infrastructure were in place for the effective operation of the new system," the report said. - “The lack of a clear organisational structure within the project team” - “Queensland Health employees work under 13 separate award structures set out by five different industrial agreements “

- Results:

- Hundredths of workers were over, under paid or not paid at all: “government still did not know how many staff were being overpaid or underpaid and said Queensland Health was working with the union to determine a figure” …for several months - $220 million has been allocated to fix Queensland Health’s already disastrous payroll systems overhaul

- Implementation:

- Overall, the cost to taxpayers was an estimated AU$1.2 billion

- Consequences:

- “The rollout is subject to a legal dispute between the Queensland and SAP.” (and IBM) - “Deputy director general Michael Kalimnios and corporate services executive director Adrian Shea received notices of contract termination “FIRED” - “Queensland nurses are refusing to work certain shifts out of fear they won't be paid properly” - „The cost to taxpayers has been estimated at $1.2 billion and the debacle has been described as possibly the worst public administration failure in Australia.” - “I see fellow payroll officers working such long hours they miss their little girl growing up. Their relationships deteriorate, and the people you sit next to become more like your family” - “The QLD Health payroll fiasco should be enough to convince everybody NOT to vote Labour at the next election”

why IT matters to you? jobs of tomorrow 2023

adoption of LLMs(large language models) could significantly impact ; broad spectrum of job racs. Adoption of LLMs is likely to create new roles within categories of AI developers, AI content creators, interface…Implementing LLMs could providing valuable insights for policy - makers, educators and business leaders. ] 3 basic social institutions - education, health care and care-that can benefit from key investments to restart the engine of social mobility across economics, filling unmet demand for helathcare and childcare, as well as increasing quality of in education systems, increasing producticity.

Information Systems: Concepts and Definitions

data, information, knowledge

- Winners of the future: connect DATA into useful INFORMATION

- Data: facts (computer)

- Information: something that gives you useful insights to a particular domain (human perspective)

- Knowledge: is a familiarity, awareness, or understanding of someone or something, such as facts, information, descriptions, or skills, which is acquired through experience or education by perceiving, discovering, or learning.

- Information Technology Architecture

information system (IS)

An information system (IS) is any organized system for the collection, organization, storage and communication of information

application program

An application program is a computer program designed to support a specific task, a business process or another application program

data, information, knowledge

Data – elementary description of things, events, activities, and transactions that are recorded, classified and stored but not organized to convey any specific meaning

Information – data that have been organized so they have meaning and value to the recipient

Knowledge – data and/or information that have been organized and processed to convey understanding, experience, accumulated learning, and expertise as they apply to a current business problem

Homo Conexus

Homo Conexus – connected humans (we are the most connected generation in history, we practice continuous computing and are surrounded by a personal, movable information network at all times)

A computer based information system (CBIS)

A computer based information system (CBIS) is an information system that uses computer technology to perform some or all its intended tasks. Most of ISs today are computerized.

Hardware

Hardware consists of devices such as processor, monitor, keyboard, and printer. Together, these devices accept, process and display data and information.

Software

Software is a program or a collection of programs that enable hardware to process data.

A database

A database is a collection of related files and tables containing data.

A network

A network is a connecting system (wireline or wireless) that permits different computers to share resources.

Procedures

Procedures are instructions for combining the above components to process information and generate the desired output.

People

People are those individuals who use the hardware and software, interface with it, or utilize its output

Open-source

Open-source – represents software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redirected and modified (essential for uploading)

Outsourcing (≠ insourcing, offshoring

Outsourcing (≠ insourcing) – business practice of hiring a party outside a company to perform services and create goods that traditionally were performed by the company’s employees and staff, it is a cost-cutting measure

Adv.: good value, lots of experience, English spoken, decent culture fit

Disadv.: massive attrition (reduction in workforce without firing or layoff), hard to find experienced workers among juniors, communication issues (use different meanings), quality issues, long trips.

Offshoring - the process of relocating the business operations unit (production or services) to a different country (usually in developing nations) where cheap labor or resources are available Industry

One general worry about IT/AI graduates (not-specific to India): People choose that profession because it is „advertised“/well-paid not because they are interested/talented in the field.

Business pressures

The business environment is a combination of social, legal, economic, physical and political factors in which businesses conduct their operations. Changes in any of these factors can create business pressures on organizations. Organizations respond to these pressures with activities supported by IT.

1. Market pressures are generated by global economy (globalization), intense competition, the changing nature of the workforce (increasing number of women, single parents, minorities… are employed, work from home), and powerful customers (consumer sophistication and expectations increase with knowledgeableness).

2. Technological pressures include Technological innovation and obsolescence (improved technologies rapidly create or support substitutes for products, alternative service options, and superb quality; as a result today’s best can become obsolete tomorrow), and Information overload (internet and other telecommunications networks are bringing a flood of information to managers, to make effective and efficient decisions they must be able to access, navigate, and utilize data, information, and knowledge; IT provides support in these efforts.)

3. Societal, political, legal pressures include social responsibility (spending time and money to address various social problems), government regulation, spending for social programs and to protect against terrorism, and ethics (ethical issues).

social responsibility, policy recommendations

Software

● Computer programs that are sequences or instructions for the hardware to provide business value.

● Includes documentation: written description of the program’s functions. Crucial for knowledge how the program works.

Types of Software

◼ System software

◼ Application software

● Systems software: instructions that are an intermediary between hardware and application programs. (Self-regulatory functions – loading itself…)

o OS: supervises the overall operation of the computer. Interface between user and hardware. Manage the actual computer resources.

▪ Functions: Multitasking and Multiprogramming, Multithreading, Multiprocessing, Virtual memory, GUI

● Application software: instructions to users and direct computer system to perform specific information-processing activities. Provides info for the users.

o Off-the-shelf: purchased from vendor, customizable (Personal application software)

▪ Pros: Lower initial cost, ok for basic business needs, high quality

▪ Cons: Features behind paywall, no customization, might not fit process o Package/software suite: group of programs purchasable from vendors

o Proprietary software: purchased software with restrictions on use, copying and modification. Closed-source.

▪ Pros: No redundant feature, involvement in developing, modifications

▪ Cons: Long and expensive development, lack of in-house support…

o Cloud computing: online, convenient, on-demand, pay-as-you-go computing

▪ SaaS (Software as a service): ready to use application software made available through a web browser (Google Docs)

▪ PaaS (Platform as a Service): a hosting platform for custom software development (Scratch)

▪ IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service): internet access to raw infrastructure (Servers, VMs, Storage…) (Microsoft Azure)

▪ Pros: On demand self-service, single IT environment, modularity, broad network access, pools network resources.

Case of Nokia

- Went bankrupt because it didn’t adapt to changes

- It had the best hardware equipment & transmition of voice (phone calls) - relying on hardware

- Phones are now not just used for phone calls: more like computers - software become more IMPORTANT

Different approaches for software development:

1. Buy & Install: cheaper

2. Develop Software: suits specific needs

- have own programmes

- ex. Student-net is contract software developed for EF (why not buy? specific needs, if not they can buy it)

3. Cloud Software: subscription fee

- rent & use from cloud

- ex. Google: use over internet, you don’t need to install it

- + you don’t have to pay, + no need to install

4. Open Source Software:

- + allowed and able to change the code, + usually free

- - not as good as the one you buy

- ex. Zinux, Open Office

TG2.2 Systems Software

- System control programs (Android, iOS)

- Operating systems: operating equipment (Windows, Linux, OS X) - Functions of the Operating System: Multitasking/multiprogramming, Multithreading, Multiprocessing, Virtual Memory, Graphical user interface (GUI)

Functions of the Operating System

◼ Multitasking/multiprogramming

◼ Multithreading

◼ Multiprocessing

◼ Virtual Memory

◼ Graphical user interface (GUI)

Application software

Personal application software

TG2.3 Application Software : how to get it

◼ Proprietary application software
◼ Contract software

◼ Off-the-shelf application software

◼ Package

◼ Cloud „software“ (software-as-a-service)

Software Issues

- Software defects

- Software evaluation and selection

- Software licensing

- Open systems

- Open source software/free software2

programming languages at a glance

Programming is carried out in a programming language

→ Programming languages tend to be grouped in generations according to their chronological development:

1 st generation: machine languages

2 nd generation: assembler languages

3 rd generation: higher programming languages

4 th generation: 4GL language and alternative programming languages

→ Machine languages and assembler languages are machine-based languages

 The CPU can only process machine language

→ Machine languages

 All commands and operators are encoded in binary (in ones and zeros)

 Each machine language is specifically designed for the processor

 Hard to read and prone to errors

→ Assembler languages

 Allow the user to write in simple, easy to remember abbreviations …

 … which are translated into machine code by an assembler

 Also designed to work with a specific processor

→ Higher level programming languages allow more abstract commands and are not dependent on a specific processor (referred to as problem-based languages)

→ The translation of higher programming languages into a machine language is done by a translator, e.g., a compiler

4GL languages

→ Allow the programmer to write programs using very few commands and without requiring a deep knowledge of programming

→ One example is the database language SQL (Structured Query Language)

 SQL compresses long program codes by using concise commands Example: SELECT statement (also see “Database Systems”)

Alternative programming languages

→ Designed to work in specific contexts, such as artificial intelligence (AI) languages, visual languages, etc.

IDEs (Integrated Development Environments)

 Comprise a number of functions which aid in using complex programming languages

 Focus on the programming activity

CASE tools

 A set of tools which supports the entire software development process (e.g., tools for modelling processes as part of the status-quo analysis)

 CASE tools are particularly effective in object-oriented software engineering

Programming Languages

Cloud software (and also hardware)

Note

Programming – old languages

◼ A scary story (read this from April, 5 2020)

◼ „Computer languages don’t “die”, they just go to sleep.“

The coronavirus crisis has sparked all manner of unexpected consequences, including the Tokyo summer Olympics being postponed and auto insurers reaping extra profits as people stay home. In New Jersey, it’s resulted in something that few people outside that state’s tech department would have foreseen: a dire need for COBOL coders.

Standing for Common Business-Oriented Language, COBOL initially made a splash by giving coders a programming language that could work across the proprietary computers of multiple manufacturers. That was in the early 1960s. After becoming a staple of mainframes, it eventually came to represent dusty legacy code, including during the Y2K crisis 20 years ago. Despite this it’s still widely used to support many business systems, including ATMs and credit card networks, and the developers involved do need COBOL skills.

In New Jersey, experts are now needed to fix COBOL-based unemployment insurance systems that are overwhelmed due to pandemic-related job losses. At a press conference yesterday, governor Phil Murphy asked for the help of volunteer coders who know how to work in COBOL.

Of course, as cyber-security expert Joseph Steinberg noted on his blog, many such volunteers would likely be elderly, making them especially vulnerable to Covid-19. Whether they would risk venturing out (or work on a volunteer basis, for that matter) to fix creaky systems is an open question.

Meanwhile, New Jersey residents are clamoring about delays on their unemployment claims. The state recently experienced a 1,600% increase in claims volume in a single week, said labor commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo during yesterday’s briefing (video below, at 46:35), noting that “over the prior two weeks we saw more than 362,000 people apply for unemployment as a result of this public health emergency.”

He added, “We’ve made no secrets about the inflexibility of our legacy technology.”

This piece has been updated to clarify that COBOL remains in wide use in many systems today, despite being considered a legacy language. 

Software – summary of the main principles

◼ Systems and application software are critical in helping individuals and organizations achieve their goals.

◼ Organizations use off-the-shelf application software for common business needs and proprietary application software to meet unique business needs and provide a competitive advantage.

◼ Organizations should choose programming languages with functional characteristics that are appropriate for the task at hand and well suited to the skills and experience of the programming staff.

◼ The software industry continues to undergo constant change; users need to be aware of recent trends and issues to be effective in their business and personal life

SOFTWARE

Computer hardware is only as effective as the instructions you give it. Those instructions are contained in software. Software consists of computer programs, which are sequences of instructions for the computer. The process of writing or coding programs is called programming. Individuals who perform this task are called programmers. Computer programs include documentation, which is a written description of the program’s functions. Documentation helps the user operate the computer system, and it helps other programmers understand what the program does and how it accomplishes its purpose. Documentation is vital to the business organization. Without it, the departure of a key programmer or user could deprive the organization of the knowledge of how the program is designed and functions. The computer can do nothing until it is instructed by software. Software enables the user to instruct the hardware to perform specific functions that provide business value. There are two major types of software: systems software and application software.

Systems software

System software is a set of instructions that serves primarily as an intermediary between computer hardware and application programs. Systems software enables computer systems to perform self-regulatory functions by loading itself when the computer is first turned on and providing commonly used sets of instructions for all applications. The programs contained in systems software control and support the computer system and its information-processing activities. Systems programming refers to both the creation and the maintenance of systems software. The operating system (OS) is the “director” of your computer system’s operations. It super-vises the overall operation of the computer by monitoring the computer’s status, scheduling operations, and managing input and output processes. Well-known desktop operating systems include Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS X, Linux, and Google Chrome. The operating system also provides an interface between the user and the hardware. This user interface hides the complexity of the hardware from the user. That is, you do not have to know how the hardware actually operates; you simply have to know what the hardware will do and what you need to do to obtain the desired results. Operating systems manage the actual computer resources (the hardware). They schedule and process applications (jobs); manage and protect memory; manage the input and output functions and hardware; manage data and files; and provide security, fault tolerance, graphical user interfaces, and windowing. Functions of the Operating System: - Multitasking and multiprogramming - Multithreading - Multiprocessing - Virtual memory - Graphical user interface (GUI) – allows users to directly control the hardware by manipulating visible objects (such as icons) and actions that replace complex commands

Application software

Application software is a set of computer instructions that provide more specific functionality to a user and direct a computer system to perform specific information-processing activities and also to provide functionality for users. This functionality may be broad, such as general word processing, or narrow, such as an organization’s payroll program. Essentially, an application program applies a computer to a certain need. Application programming refers to the creation, modification, and improvement of application software. Application software may be proprietary or off-the-shelf. How to get application software? - Proprietary application software - Contract software - Off-the-shelf application software - Package - Cloud “software” (software-as-a-service) Application software may be developed in-house by the organization’s information systems personnel, or it may be commissioned from a software vendor. Alternatively, the software can be purchased, leased, or rented from a vendor that develops applications and sells them to many organizations. This “off-the-shelf” software may be a standard package, or it may be customizable. A package, or software suite, is a group of programs with integrated functions that has been developed by a vendor and is available for purchase in a prepackaged form. Microsoft Office is a well-known example of a package, or software suite. Off-the-shelf application programs designed to help individual users increase their productivity are referred to as personal application software. (Word processing, spreadsheet, database, graphics, project management, financial management, desktop publishing) Proprietary software is purchased software that has restrictions on its use, copying, and modification. They are usually closed-source, meaning the developer does not provide the source code to anyone outside the company. Software consists of computer programs (coded instructions) that control the functions of computer hardware. There are two main categories of software: systems software and application software. Systems software manages the hardware resources of the computer system; it functions between the hardware and the application software. The major type of systems software is the operating system. Application software enables users to perform specific tasks and informationprocessing activities. Application software may be proprietary or off-the-shelf.

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is a type of computing that delivers convenient, on-demand, pay-as-you-go access for multiple customers to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., servers, networks, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly and easily accessed over the Internet. Cloud computing allows customers to acquire resources at any time and then delete them the instant they are no longer needed. Today, organizations and individuals can use the power of cloud computing. Cloud computing provides access to a shared pool of computing resources, including computers, storage, applications, and services, over a network, typically the Internet. Advantages of Cloud Computing: - Provides on-demand self-service - Pools various hardware and software components to create a single IT environment with shared resources - Makes computing resources and infrastructure management available to a customer as needed - Utilizes broad network access - Pools computing resources

Programming languages

A programming language is a formal language comprising a set of instructions that produce various kinds of output. Programming languages are used in computer programming to implement algorithms. Most programming languages consist of instructions for computers. Most commonly used languages are Java and C language. Organizations should choose programming languages with functional characteristics that are appropriate for the task at hand and well suited to the skills and experience of the programming staff.

Software Issues

The importance of software in computer systems has brought new issues to the forefront for organizational managers. These issues include software defects (bugs), licensing, open systems, and opensource software. Software defects: All too often, computer program code is inefficient, poorly designed, and riddled with errors. As our dependence on computers and networks increases, the risks associated with software defects are becoming more serious. The problem is enormous, and the industry is taking only initial steps to resolve it. Software licensing: Many people routinely copy proprietary software. However, making copies without the manufacturer’s explicit permission—a practice known as piracy—is illegal. To protect their investment, software vendors must prevent their products from being copied and distributed by individuals and other software companies. A company can copyright its software, which means that the Copyright Office grants the company the exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish, and sell that software. Open systems: The open systems concept refers to a group of computing products that work together. In an open system, the same operating system with compatible software is installed on all computers that interact within an organization. A complementary approach is to employ application software that will run across all computer platforms. Where hardware, operating systems, and application software are all designed as open systems, users can purchase the best software, called best of breed, for a job without worrying whether it will run on particular hardware. Open-source software: In contrast, the source code for open-source software is available at no cost to both developers and users. This software is distributed with license terms that ensure that its source code will always be available. Open-source development produces high-quality, reliable, low-cost software. This software is also flexible, meaning that the code can be changed to meet users’ needs. Because the code is available to many developers, more bugs are discovered early and quickly, and they are fixed immediately. However, companies that use open-source software depend on the continued good will of an army of volunteers for enhancements, bug fixes, and so on, even if they have signed a contract that includes sup-port. Further, organizations that do not have in-house technical experts will have to purchase maintenance-support contracts from a third party. In addition, open-source software poses questions concerning ease of use, the time and expense needed to train users, and compatibility with existing systems either within or outside the organization. Software evaluation and selection: A software evaluation is a type of assessment that seeks to determine if software or a combination of software programs is the best possible fit for the needs of the company. Program evaluation is a valuable tool for program managers who are seeking to strengthen the quality of their programs and improve outcomes for the children and youth they serve. Program evaluation answers basic questions about a program's effectiveness, and evaluation data can be used to improve program services.

Computers Want to be Helpful...

• Computers are built for one purpose - to do things for us

• But we need to speak their language to describe what we want done

• Users have it easy - someone already put many different programs (instructions) into the computer and users just pick the ones they want to use

Introduction

Hardware refers to the physical equipment used for the input, processing, output and storage activities of a computer system.

Hardware consists of:

• Central processing unit (CPU): Runs the Program - The CPU is always wondering “what to do next”. Not the brains exactly - very dumb but very very fast. Manipulates the data and controls the tasks performed by the other components.

• Primary storage: Fast small temporary storage - lost on reboot - aka RAM. Temporarily stores data and program instructions during processing.

• Secondary storage: Slower large permanent storage - lasts until deleted - disk drive / memory stick. Stores data and programs for future use.

• Input technologies: Keyboard, Mouse, Touch Screen. Accept data and instructions and convert them to a form that the computer can understand.

• Output technologies: Screen, Speakers, Printer, DVD Burner

• Communication technologies - Provide for the flow of data from external computer networks (e.g., the Internet and intranets) to the CPU, and from the CPU to computer networks.

Generic computer – Von Neumann architecture

The Central Processing Unit

Central processing unit (CPU) performs the actual computation or “number crunching” inside any computer.

• Microprocessor

• Control unit (Fetching and decoding data from the RAM)

• Arithmetic-logic unit (ALU) (Performing arithmetic/ logic operations)

• Registers

How the CPU Works

• Binary form

• Machine instruction cycle

• Clock speed

• Word length

• Bus width

• Line width

Moore‘s Law

"The number of transistors on a computer chip will double every 18 months"

Evolution of Computer Power/Cost

Sidenote: singularity (jedinstvenost)

Technological singularity, a hypothetical moment in time when artificial intelligence will have progressed to the point of a greater-than-human intelligence

Memory Capacity

• Bit

• Byte

Hierarchy of Memory Capacity

• Kilobyte

• Megabyte

• Gigabyte

• Terabyte

• Petabyte

• Exabyte

• Zettabyte

Computer Memory

Two basic categories of computer memory:

• Primary Storage

• Secondary Storage

Primary Storage

• Primary storage or main memory stores three types of information for very brief periods of time:

• Data to be processed by the CPU;

• Instructions for the CPU as to how to process the data;

• Operating system programs that manage various aspects of the computer’s operation.

- Primary storage takes place in chips mounted on the computer’s main circuit board, called the motherboard.

Main Types of Primary Storage

• Registers

• Random access memory (RAM)

• Cache memory

• Read-only memory (ROM)

Secondary storage

Secondary storage (also known as external memory or auxiliary storage), differs from primary storage in that it is not directly accessible by the CPU. The computer usually uses its input/output channels to access secondary storage and transfer the desired data to primary storage. Secondary storage is non-volatile (retaining data when power is shut off). Modern computer systems typically have two orders of magnitude more secondary storage than primary storage because secondary storage is less expensive.

In modern computers, hard disk drives (HDDs) or solid-state drives (SSDs) are usually used as secondary storage. The access time per byte for HDDs or SSDs is typically measured in milliseconds (one thousandth seconds), while the access time per byte for primary storage is measured in nanoseconds (one billionth seconds). Thus, secondary storage is significantly slower than primary storage. Rotating optical storage devices, such as CD and DVD drives, have even longer access times. Other examples of secondary storage technologies include USB flash drives, floppy disks, magnetic tape, paper tape, punched cards, and RAM disks.

- Memory capacity that can store very large amounts of data for extended periods of time.

- Magnetic tape (sequential access)

- Magnetic disks (direct access)

Why understanding history is important?

Electronic archiving!

Legacy systems! - in operations - »out-of-date« hardware

Hardware – legacy issues

for example: Agencies reported using several systems that have components that are, in some cases, at least 50 years old. For example, Department of Defense uses 8- inch floppy disks in a legacy system that coordinates the operational functions of the nation's nuclear forces. In addition, Department of the Treasury uses assembly language code—a computer language initially used in the 1950s and typically tied to the hardware for which it was developed.

Optical storage devices:

A form of secondary storage in which a laser reads the surface of a reflective plastic platter.

- Compact Disk, Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM)

- Digital Video Disk (DVD)

Flash Memory Devices

- Flash memory

- Flash memory devices

- Thumb drive

Enterprise Storage Systems

• Enterprise storage system: An independent, external system with intelligence that includes two or more storage devices.

Three types of enterprise storage:

• Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks (RAID: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID)

• Storage Area Network (SAN)

• Network Attached Storage (NAS)

A business challenge connected to hardware!

Allow Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) or not?

According to Gartner’s numbers, 47 percent of today’s businesses use containerization, 30 percent embrace BYOD, 15 percent block it, and 8 percent ignore it. But what’s more interesting are Gartner’s projections for how the next three years will shape up: The embrace model will double to 60 percent, containerization* will drop to around 38 percent, block will plummet to below 3 percent, and ignore will completely cease being an option.

* containerization: using tools to create an encrypted space or folder on the device to house more sensitive data and applications OR the use of hypervisors to effectively create a virtual phone within a phone…to split an employee device into two isolated segments for personal pursuits and work tasks.

BYOD: On the frontlines of BYOD and enterprise mobility we can see an obvious trend. We've all seen the headlines - the PC industry continues its steady decline, Intel's ditching the motherboard business and Gartner shows a 4Q12 4.9% decrease in PC shipments.

BYOD - disadvantages: Further reading: „Security boundaries must extend to personal devices to mitigate data exfiltration, thereby infringing on employees’ privacy by monitoring their personal devices. These monitoring mechanisms play a critical role in employee participation in a BYOD program.“ (Lee et al., 2017)

SIDENOTE: „A key issue of BYOD which is often overlooked is BYOD's phone number problem, which raises the question of the ownership of the phone number. The issue becomes apparent when employees in sales or other customer-facing roles leave the company and take their phone number with them. Customers calling the number will then potentially be calling competitors which can lead to loss of business for BYOD enterprises.[35]“

The most famous/notorious case of BYOD: The Democratic frontrunner in the race for the White House put the lives of numerous Americans at risk. And she did so by sending highly sensitive information from her private, unsecured email account U.S. spy agencies have told Congress that Hillary Clinton's home computer server contained some emails that should have been treated as "top secret„ Under the law and government rules, U.S. officials and contractors may not transmit any classified information - not only documents - outside secure, government-controlled channels.

Mobile Device Management - MDM

Mobile device management (MDM) is the mangement/administration of mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablet computers and laptops.

Input and Output Technologies

Input technologies allow people and other technologies to put data into a computer. The two main types of input devices are:

• human data-entry devices include keyboards, mouse, trackball, joystick, touchscreen, stylus and voice recognition;

• source-data automation devices input data with minimal human intervention (e.g. barcode reader or RFID tag).

• Speed up data collection;

• Reduce errors;

• Gather data at the source of a transaction or other event.

• Output generated by a computer can be transmitted to the user over several output devices and media, which include:

• Monitors

• Printers

• Voice

Innovations in Hardware Utilization

- Server Farms

- Virtualization

- Utility computing

- Nanotechnology

- Cloud computing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJncFirhjPg, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgujaIzkwrE, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYGQcmZUTaw)

Do you need your own hardware after all? “You don't generate your own electricity, why generate your own computing?”

Cloud computing „You don't generate your own electricity, why generate your own computing?“ (attributed to Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon)

my: Simply put, cloud computing is the delivery of computing services—including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence—over the internet (“the cloud”) to offer faster innovation, flexible resources, and economies of scale.

3 ways to cloud computing:

- Software as a Service- SaaS

- Platform as a Service - PaaS

- Infrastructure as a Service- IaaS

Strategic Hardware Issues

• How do organizations keep up with the rapid price and performance advancements in hardware?

• How often should an organization upgrade its computers and storage systems?

• Will upgrades increase personal and organizational productivity?

• How can organizations measure such increase?

• How do organizations manage telecommuting?

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

The central processing unit (CPU) performs the actual computation or “number crunching” inside any computer. The CPU is a microprocessor made up of millions of microscopic transistors embedded in a circuit on a silicon wafer or chip. For this reason, microprocessors are commonly referred to as chips. Microprocessor has different parts, which perform different functions. The control unit sequentially accesses program instructions, decodes them, and controls the flow of data to and from the arithmeticlogic unit, the registers, the caches, primary storage, secondary storage, and various output devices. The arithmetic-logic unit (ALU) performs the mathematic calculations and makes logical comparisons. The registers are high-speed storage areas that store very small amounts of data and instructions for short periods. In the CPU, inputs enter and are stored until they are needed. At that point, they are retrieved and processed, and the output is stored and then delivered somewhere. The inputs consist of data and brief instructions about what to do with the data. These instructions come into the CPU from random access memory (RAM). Data might be entered by the user through the keyboard, for example, or read from a data file in another part of the computer. The inputs are stored in registers until they are sent to the next step in the processing. Data and instructions travel in the chip via electrical pathways called buses. The size of the bus—analogous to the width of a highway—determines how much information can flow at any time. The control unit directs the flow of data and instructions within the chip. The ALU receives the data and instructions from the registers and makes the desired computation. These data and instructions have been translated into binary form—that is, only 0s and 1s. The CPU can process only binary data. All types of data, such as letters, decimal numbers, photographs, music, and so on, can be converted to a binary representation, which can then be processed by the CPU. The data in their original form and the instructions are sent to storage registers and then are sent back to a storage place outside the chip, such as the computer’s hard drive. Meanwhile, the transformed data go to another register and then on to other parts of the computer (to the monitor for display or to storage, for example).

Computer Memory

There are two basic categories of computer memory. The first is primary storage. It is called “primary” because it stores small amounts of data and information that the CPU will use immediately. The second category is secondary storage, which stores much larger amounts of data and information (an entire software program, for example) for extended periods. Memory Capacity: CPUs process only binary units—0s and 1s—which are translated through computer languages into bits. A particular combination of bits represents a certain alphanumeric character or a simple mathematical operation. Eight bits are needed to represent any one of these characters. This 8-bit string is known as a byte. The storage capacity of a computer is measured in bytes. Bits typically are used as units of measure only for telecommunications capacity, as in how many million bits per second can be sent through a particular medium. - Kilobyte is approximately 1,000 bytes. Actually, a kilobyte is 1,024 bytes. - Megabyte is approximately 1 million bytes. - Gigabyte is approximately 1 billion bytes. - Terabyte is approximately 1 trillion bytes. - Petabyte is approximately 1,000 terabytes. - Exabyte is approximately 1,000 petabytes. - Zettabyte is approximately 1,000 exabytes.

Primary Storage

Primary storage or main memory stores three types of information for very brief periods of time: - Data to be processed by the CPU - Instructions for the CPU as to how to process the data - Operating system programs that manage various aspects of the computer’s operation Primary storage takes place in chips mounted on the computer’s main circuit board, called the motherboard. The four main types of primary storage are register, cache memory, random access memory (RAM), and read-only memory (ROM). Registers are part of the CPU. They have the least capacity, storing extremely limited amounts of instructions and data only immediately before and after processing. Cache memory is a type of high-speed memory that enables the computer to temporarily store blocks of data that are used more often and that a processor can access more rapidly than main memory (RAM). Cache memory is physically located closer to the CPU than RAM. Blocks that are used less often remain in RAM until they are transferred to cache; blocks used infrequently remain in secondary storage. Cache memory is faster than RAM because the instructions travel a shorter distance to the CPU. Random access memory (RAM) is the part of primary storage that holds a software program and small amounts of data for processing. When you start most software programs (such as Microsoft Word) on your computer, the entire program is brought from secondary storage into RAM. As you use the program, small parts of the program’s instructions and data are sent into the registers and then to the CPU. Compared with the registers, RAM stores more information and is located farther away from the CPU. However, compared with secondary storage, RAM stores less information and is much closer to the CPU. RAM is temporary and, in most cases, volatile—that is, RAM chips lose their contents if the current is lost or turned off, as from a power surge, brownout, or electrical noise generated by lightning or nearby machines. Read-only memory (ROM) is the place—actually, a type of chip—where certain critical instructions are safeguarded. ROM is nonvolatile, so it retains these instructions when the power to the computer is turned off. The read-only designation means that these instructions can only be read by the computer and cannot be changed by the user. An example of ROM is the instructions needed to start or “boot” the computer after it has been shut off.

Secondary Storage

Secondary storage (also known as external memory or auxiliary storage), differs from primary storage in that it is not directly accessible by the CPU. The computer usually uses its input/output channels to access secondary storage and transfer the desired data to primary storage. Secondary storage is non-volatile (retaining data when power is shut off). Modern computer systems typically have two orders of magnitude more secondary storage than primary storage because secondary storage is less expensive. Secondary storage is designed to store very large amounts of data for extended periods. It takes more time to retrieve data from it than from RAM, is cheaper than primary storage, and can utilize a variety of media, each with its own technology. In modern computers, hard disk drives (HDDs) or solid-state drives (SSDs) are usually used as secondary storage. Secondary storage is significantly slower than primary storage. Examples of secondary storage technologies include USB flash drives, floppy disks, magnetic tape, paper tape, punched cards, and RAM disks. Enterprise Storage Systems Enterprise Storage System is an independent, external system with intelligence that includes two or more storage devices. Three types of enterprise storage are Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks (RAID), Storage Area Network (SAN) and Network Attached Storage (NAS). BYOD (Bring-Your-Own-Device) BYOD is a term referring to a trend where employees are bringing or connecting their own computing devices to the workplace for use and connectivity on the secure corporate network. Advantages: lower costs, increases trust, better customer service, increases employee engagement Disadvantages: security issues, more vulnerable to damage, loss and theft The inherent risks of a bring your own device policy has given rise to mobile device management (MDM) software used by an IT department to monitor, manage, and secure employees' laptops, smartphones, tablets, and other devices that are being used in the workplace. Mobile device management (MDM) is the management/administration of mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablet computers and laptops.

Input and Output Technologies

Input technologies allow people and other technologies to enter data into a computer. The two main types of input devices are human data-entry devices and source-data automation devices. Human data-entry devices require a certain amount of human effort to input data and include keyboards, mouse, trackball, joystick, touchscreen, stylus and voice recognition. Source-data automation devices input data with minimal human intervention (e.g. barcode reader or RFID tag). These technologies speed up data collection, reduce errors, and gather data at the source of a transaction or other event. The output generated by a computer can be transmitted to the user via several output devices and media. These devices include monitors, printers, plotters, and voice.

Opening stories

What is a business process

”a collection of activities that take one or more kinds of input and create an output that is of value to the customer” [Hammer & Champy 1993]

”a set of logically related tasks performed to achieve a defined business outcome for a particular customer or market” [Davenport 1992]

A business process is as a collection of inter-related events, activities, and decision points that involve a number of actors and objects, which collectively lead to an outcome that is of value to at least one customer (Dumas et al. 2018).

A business process is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks that produce a specific service or product (serve a particular goal) for a particular customer or customers

Business process

Each company is composed of several business processes; their understanding and improvement is crucial for survival and success of the company

Process

a particular course of action intended to achieve a result

Business processes

• Business processes are a complex interplay of activities, therefore business process modeling is usually needed:

• A process model is developed and analyzed

Business processes are everywhere:

- Products and services are provided by activities

- Execution of activities requires coordination

- Success of this coordination influences costs, time, and quality of products and services

- Includes several departments

- Hammer & Champy: a collection of activities that take one or more kinds of input and create an output that is of value to the customer.

- Davenport: a set of logically related tasks performed to achieve a defined business outcome for a particular customer or market.

What is business process management - definition

BPM can be defined as all efforts in an organization to analyze and continually improve fundamental activities such as manufacturing, marketing, communications and other major elements of company’s operations (adapted from Zairi, 1997)

- Continually improving he process within the organization

- See the bigger picture:

1. Modelling

2. Execution: either electronically or with IT support or manually

3. Monitoring (Measuring): Measure how a process is being executed (how many mistakes are there in the process average stock level, how many activities does one employee do…)

4. Optimization (Improvement): when 1,2,3, you can optimize/improve the process

5. Design

BPM is a body of methods, techniques, and tools to identify, discover, analyze, redesign, execute, and monitor business processes in order to optimize their performance (Dumas et al. 2018).

The importance of business process management

You should improve the process first and then develop a proper IS

Business process modeling

Business process modeling is the graphical representation of a company's business processes or workflows, as a means of identifying potential improvements. This is usually done through different graphing methods, such as the flowchart, data-flow diagram, etc.

Benefits of BPM:

- BPM positively influences financial and non-financial performance of companies; early-adopters of BPM will get competitive advantage.

- Reduction of lead times and transaction costs: the redesign and IT support for procurement processes can reduce them by cca. 40-60%.

- Higher productivity of employees: it can increase between 15-150 %.

- Better realization of benefits from IT: According to Gartner companies lose up to 600 billion $ per year due to unsuccessful IT projects, 40% of IT expenses does not bring ANY business value to the organization! IT has positive influence only when it supports business processes.

- Possibility/importance of measurement at the process level: All core processes should be monitored with key performance indicators in various steps of the process.

Business process modelling notation; notation of the BPMN

picture: process model, example

The BPMN consists of 5 main elements:

1. flow objects

2. connecting objects

3. data

4. artifacts

5. participants

Why do we need modelling? last year exam

We need models when the reality is too complex to be mastered by a person or a group of persons. We used set of models to understand the subject of interest in order to take decision. So, a model is a formal construction to abstract a part of reality that could be understood by a human or a machine (software).

Computer modeling allows scientists to conduct thousands of simulated experiments by computer. The thousands of computer experiments identify the handful of laboratory experiments that are most likely to solve the problem being studied. Today's computational models can study a biological system at multiple levels.

BPM in shocks – the core message

BPM orientation

The problems of functional organization

Companies are divided into several business functions/departments (marketing, accounting, production etc.):

• employees (from lower hierarchical levels) do not cooperate

• business process spans over several departments

• who is in charge of satisfying the customer?

• how to track orders and solve everydays problems?

When you optimize one part of the organisation, you improve part of the whole.

The silo culture

You don’t care about the whole culture/process, but only about your assignments → you only concentrate on your part and don’t look at the whole picture.

Elon Musk: “One final point is that managers should work hard to ensure that they are not creating silos within the company that create an us vs. them mentality or impede communication in any way. This is unfortunately a natural tendency and needs to be actively fought. How can it possibly help Tesla for depts. to erect barriers between themselves or see their success as relative within the company instead of collective? We are all in the same boat. Always view yourself as working for the good of the company and never your dept.”Business processes

Business processes

• Business process has to be managed holistically (as a whole not just each individual part)

Types of business proceses:

• core processes: create value for the final customer

• support processes: enable the “execution” of other processes

• management processes: used to manage other processes

my notes: core process, support process:hiring a new employee; business process: provides values the final customers

Business process redesign is a thorough analysis of the processes:

-requires a strategic analysis of current processes and other strategic questions

-if needed processes need to be changed and supported by IS

The goals of BPM

- Research shows that between 60-80% of business process management programs is unsuccessful

Benefits of BPM

BPM positively influences financial and non-financial performance of companies (Skrinjar et al., 2008); early-adopters of BPM will get competitive advantage (Gartner, 2006)

Reduction of lead times and transaction costs: the redesign and IT support for procurement processes can reduce them by cca. 40-60% (Davila et al., 2003; Presutti, 2003).

Higher productivity of employees: it can increase between 15-150 % (Gartner, 2006).

Better realization of benefits from IT: According to Gartner companies lose up to 600 billion $ per year due to unsuccessful IT projects (Gartner, 2002), 40% of IT expenses does not bring ANY business value to the organization (Watters, 2004)! IT has positive influence only when it supports business processes (Karim et al., 2007).

Possibility/importance of measurement at the process level: All core processes should be monitored with key performance indicators in various steps of the process (Lee & Dale, 1998).

Research shows that between 60-80% of business process management programs is unsuccessful

Critical success factors of BPM

•Strategic alignment

•Level of IT investment

•Performance measurement

•Level of employee’s specialization

•Organizational changes

•Appointment of process owners

•Implementation of proposed changes (quick-win strategy),

•Use of a continuous improvement system

• Fit between IT and business processes

• Standardization of processes

• IS support

• Training and empowerment of employees

1. Strategic alignment:

1. Strategic alignment: the obvious one: BPM must be linked to the organizational strategy. Typical examples in our case: for the new services development process whether Skybank should actively encourage employee’s innovativeness or should it rather focus on cost reductions. The main question of account management process is whether all activities of this process should be provided at each branch or whether smaller branches should become specialized based on local market specifics.

2. Level of IT investment

2. Level of IT investment: The more is better approach does not work. In the words of the project leader from Skybank:”it may often be cheaper to perform certain activities in Excel than to provide IS support for everything”.

3. Performance measurement

3. Performance measurement: you get what you measure. It is important that it is measured at the activity/process level where the prime effects are expected. Here is one comic I use in every course I teach.