Management Information Systems

Information System

A system of components (hardware, software, people, data, processes) that offer services (assisting decision making, working with data, communications, analysis) to organizations

MIS

People and tech working together, automated system assisting in business decisions and data analysis, assist in effective/efficient operations, gathers data from internal and external sources, affects every level of management, improves business decision making, aligned with company goals, assist in decision making, analyze data, field of study

Characteristics of MIS

System approach, long-term planning/solution, sub system concept, management oriented

IT Facts

IT is everywhere, the cost of IT has declined over time, companies without it are at a competitive disadvantage

The Key to IT

Align IT with corporate goals and strategies to achieve strategic competitive advantages

Moore’s Law

The number of transistors per square inch on an integrated chip doubles every 18 months. Computers are getting exponentially faster. The cost of data processing is approaching zero.

Metcalfe’s Law

The value of a network is equal to the square of the number of users connected to it. More digital devices are being connected together. The value of digital and social networks is increasing exponentially.

Nielsen’s Law

Network connection speeds for high end users will increase by 50 percent each year. Network speed is increasing. Higher speeds enable new products, platforms, and companies.

Kryder’s Law

The storage density on magnetic disks is increasing at an exponential rate. Storage capacity is increasing exponentially. The cost of storing data is approaching zero.

Data

A fact or observation without context

Information

Meaning discerned from data applied to a context

Knowledge

Analyzed information used to make decisions

Wisdom

Deep understanding based on combining knowledge with experience over time

Data Integrity

Accuracy, completeness, and quality of data as it is maintained over time and across formats

Primary threats to data integrity

Human error, inconsistent data format across systems, collection error, intentional manipulation

Why is Data Integrity Important?

Garbage in garbage out, legal mandate, health and safety, efficient use of resources

Processing Data

Collect, organize, analyze, evaluate

How do we make sense of data? (organize)

To be useful, data must have some form (classification). Classification by characteristic. Classification by application.

What us the data saying? (analytics)

database queries, statistical analysis, analytics, trends

What does this information mean? (evaluate)

What actions can/should we take? Is money being effectively and efficiently?

What is a database?

Electronic, organized collection of data, allowing for easy access/management/updating

DB Structure

database>folders>table: record, field, data

Types of Databases

FLA, hierarchical, relation, NoSQL, object oriented

Database management system (DBMS)

software, data, technology, policies, system, database, people, management

Enterprise Systems

Enterprise wide IS built on large scale databases: ERP, CRM, SCM

ERP (enterprise resource planning)

Large, cross-functional, process-oriented systems built on databases housing data about the business

CRM (customer relationship management)

DBMS systems about customers: responses, purchases

SCM (supply chain management)

Systems that work with suppliers

Components of Computers

CPU, output devices, input devices

CPU

processor, memory, hard drive, video card, network interface card, motherboard

Output Devices

monitor, speakers

Input Devices

mouse, keyboard, microphone, touchpad

Software

system, utility, application

System

usually called operating system, translates commands from application software into commands for devices, controls the hardware and user interface

Utility

device drivers (software that translates operating system commands into the machine language spoken by each individual device), security software, performance optimizers

Application

software with interface for the user to perform functions on the device, server (performs centralized functions/services available to users based on security policies), client (accesses server resources on behalf of the user

Connections

wired, light, and wireless

Wired connection

electronic impulses, twisted pair, copper wire, 2 or 4 pairs

Light connection

fiber optic

Wireless

electromagnetic radiation waves, radio waves, satellite, microwave

Network Devices

switch/hub, router, access point, firewall

Switch/hub

connects end devices together and to routers

Router

connects networks together. routes data from one network to another

Access Point

connects wireless end devices together. often wired to a switch or router to connect to the rest of the network

Firewall

security device used to protect internal network resources from external threats

Types of Networks

PAN (personal area network), LAN (local area network), MAN (metropolitan area network), WAN (wide area network), backbone (support network used to connect multiple sites)

VPN

Virtual private network, can be used to connect multiple locations/networks across the public internet, encrypted tunnel for a secured reliable connection 

Confidentiality

data in the system is only available to those who need access to that data to do their day to day work, applies to network security, database security, policies, physical security

Integrity

data in the system is indeed the data that was originally stored, data has not changed from tampering, electronic transfer, poor programming

Availability

data and services can be accessed when access is needed, covers network, reliability, redundancy, accessibility

Threats

Electronic and physical

Electronic threats

virus, IP spoofing, denial of service, worm, password access

Physical threats

theft, destruction, sabotage, unauthorized access, user error

What is “the cloud”

online computing resources made available to a customer on demand by a third party service provider, software applications/data storage/processing capacity are stored and accessed over the internet instead of at a company’s premises via a physical database, is a model for enabling ubiquitous/convenient/on demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction

Key elements in the cloud 

online (internet), third party (CSP), resources (software, data storage, processing), on demand (any time, from any where)

5 Essential Characteristics of the Cloud

on demand self service, broad network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity, measured service

Service Models

software as a service, platform as a service, infrastructure as a service

Advantages of the Cloud

reliability, redundancy, cost savings and efficiency, ease of system management

What is Data Analytics

applying various innovative statistical analysis to very large data sets to look for trends, commonalities, patterns, or relationships

Data Preparation

must have way to record and organize datapoint observations with multiple variables, tables format is most common, data in several types (text, numerical, binary), binary turns into 0/1 format, categorical turns into numerical format

Binary Data

two possible outcomes, can be numerical or non-numerical

Categorical

textual data with a finite/limited set of options

Integer (Discreet)

whole numbers only

Continuous

integer and decimal numbers

Unsupervised Learning

idea is to use algorithms to find these patterns, data must be represented in tabular format, patterns in data are not readily apparent

Supervised Learning

known patterns in data used to predict future outcomes

Reinforcement Learning

evolving supervised learning, revises pattern based on new incoming data

Overfit

too restrictive, treats outliers as valid data points

Underfit

too general, not as useful a model