Chapter 1
Information Systems are systems that process data into information. They are also products that must
satisfy their consumers and be developed by following a methodology that ensures the best quality and
use of resources.
Information system – input, output, processing, storage, security, communication.
Information Automation – a nonhuman device can apply information logic to data through a set of
stored instructions or a “program”.
Commoditization – an increasing consequence, packaging information logic into software has allowed
information systems and applications to become market products.
Commercial products three basic traits:
They must satisfy certain requirements or take advantage of opportunities
They are human artifacts and must be built
Their development must follow a methodology that helps to lower cost, raise quality and make
success more likely.
-An information system is not concerned with every kind of information, but only those that can be
obtained by processing data through a system. It is not any system, but an open system that accepts
input, produces output, and has understandable logic.
Information is an organized collection of data that allows its recipient to:
Gain knowledge,
Draw meaning,
Arrive at conclusions, or
Execute a set of actions to reach an objective
Information has three main constituents: data, purpose, and logical organization
Data are the raw materials for information. They are facts or assumptions
Goal - Information must have a purpose, a meaning that it wants to impart or a goal that it
wants to achieve. Information is pointless if it lacks an understandable purpose. Information
must follow a logic in order to arrive from data to meaning.
Logic - Information uses data selectively – the data must relate to the purpose.
-Information is only as valid as the logic that produces it – if the logic is wrong,
distorted, or incomplete, the resulting knowledge will be wrong distorted or
incomplete as well.
-Both information and data can be delivered by sound, pictures, or multimedia in which we call symbols. -Data and information are both hierarchical – some information at one level may be used as data in a
higher level depending on the purpose.
System boundary contains manual parts as well as automated parts while system automation only
contains the automated parts.
System – a collection of elements that work together to perform a task. System: elements,
interrelationships, organization, and the identifiable whole
Elements of system: The constituent elements of a system can be real objects, virtual
objects, concepts, or a combination of all. These constituent elements are also called
components and may consist of other elements or components by itself.
Interrelated Elements: An element in a system must interact with at least one other element
and the interactions must, directly or indirectly, link all elements.
Organization: elements of a system must have a formal structure. Must have coordination
and direction of activities, it is not a system without a formal structure.
Subsystem: An element within a system can be a system in its own right. Any system can be
a subsystem of a bigger system.
Open and Closed Systems:
o A perfect open system: accepts input, logic of its internal workings can be
understood and/or changed, can chang
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