BUS 710: Foundations of Information Systems

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BUS 710 Foundations of Information Systems

• Introduction to Course
• Introduction to Information Management

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Agenda

• Introductions
• Name cards
• Syllabus course overview
• Lecture
• Introduction to Information Management
• Group discussions

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Your Instructor

• Name Jakob Iversen
• Background
• Danish Citizen
• Software Engineer Masters Degree, 1996, Aalborg
  University, Denmark
• Ph.D. in Computer Science, 2000, Aalborg
  University, Denmark. Thesis title Data-Driven
  Intervention in software Process Improvment
• Assistant Professor at UW Oshkosh from Fall 2000
• Primary research interest Software development
  and Software Process Improvement (SPI)

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Course Goals

• Understand the relationship of the IS function to
  the general organization.
• Understand basic IS hardware and software
  concepts and terms at the computer and network
  levels.
• Understand basic database concepts.
• Understand basic telecommunications and
  networking concepts, including the Internet.

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Course Goals cont.

• Understand the business implications of the
  Internet and eCommerce.
• Understand IS project development methodologies.
• Develop team (group) work skills.
• Practice oral communication skills.
• Be ready for additional IS coursework at the
  graduate level.

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Course Overview / Policy

• Read before class ask questions
• Communication
• Web page and email (all slides will be available
  on web)
• Assignments/Exams/Grading
• Final Exam 50
• Team Presentations 30
• Individual assignments 20
• Changes, suggestions, etc.
• Schedule may change
• Check your email

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Next Week

• Until next time
• Make sure your student account is working
• Check email address listed on Blackboard
• Continue group discussions
• Blackboard groups will be created
• Access Course Web site
• http//www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/iversen/710-Osh
  
• Check out Individual Assignment 1
• Next Thursday
• Hardware and Software
• Stair, Chapter 2
• First two team presentations

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CHAPTER 1INTRODUCTION

• BUSINESS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

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Why did YOU take this course?

• Well, since this is a required course ... Why do
  you think it is required?

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Why You Need to Learn About Information Technology

• IT is Generally Interesting
• IT Facilitates Work in Organizations
• IT Offers Career Opportunities
• IT is Used by All Departments
• IT is Crucial to Society

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What Is Information?
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Transforming Data into Information
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What is a Computer-Based Information System?

• Collects, processes, stores, analyzes,
  disseminates information
• Specific purpose
• Uses information technology
• What information system did/will you interact
  with today?

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Functions of Information Systems
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Components of Information Systems
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Components of Information Systems
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Capabilities of Information Systems

• Fast and Accurate Transactions
• Large Capacity, Fast Access Storage
• Fast Communications (machine to machine, human to
  human)
• Reduce (and cause) Information Overload
• Span Boundaries
• Provide Support for Decision Making
• Provide a Competitive Weapon
• General Technological Trends for IT...
• What trends have you observed?
• What do you think will happen in the future?

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Types of Business Information Systems

• Electronic Commerce
• Transaction Processing Systems
• Supports basic transactions in a company
• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
• Unified system for an entire corporation
• Information and Decision Support Systems
• Systems that help managers make decisions
• Special-Purpose Business Information Systems
• Artificial Intelligence, Expert Systems, and
  Virtual Reality

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Organizations and Information Systems

• Organization
• A formal collection of people and other resources
  established to accomplish a set of goals
• Value Chain
• A series (chain) of activities that includes
  inbound logistics, warehouse and storage,
  production, finished product storage, outbound
  logistics, marketing and sales, and customer
  service

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General Model of an Organization
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Porters Value Chain
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Manufacturing Value Chain
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Technology Diffusion and Infusion

• Technology diffusion
• A measure of how widely technology is spread
  throughout an organization
• Technology infusion
• The extent to which technology is deeply
  integrated into an area or department
• Technology may be widely diffused but only highly
  infused in a few areas

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Porters Competitive Forces Model

• Competition
• a significant and (ideally) long-term benefit to
  a company over its competition
• at the core of a firms success or failure
• Porters Model can be used to develop strategies
  for companies to increase their competitive edge
• The model demonstrates how IT can enhance
  competitiveness
• 5 major forces Next slide

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Porters Five Forces Model
New Entrants
Threat of New Entrants
Industry Competitors Intensity of Rivalry
Suppliers
Buyers
Bargaining Power of Suppliers
Bargaining Power of Buyers
Threat of Substitutes
Substitute Products
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Strategic Planning

• Altering the industry structure
• Creating new products and services
• Improving existing product lines and services
• Using information systems for strategic purposes

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Competitive Advantage Factors and Strategies
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Competitive Advantage Factors and Strategies
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Other Strategies

• Cost leadership strategy - producing at lowest
  cost
• Differentiation strategy - being unique
• Focus strategy - selecting a narrow-scope segment
• Growth strategy - increasing market share
• Alliances strategy - working with business
  partners
• Internal efficiency strategy - improving the
  manner in which business processes are executed
• Customer-oriented strategy - concentrating on
  making customers happy

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Three Stages in the Use of IS
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The Evolution of IS
Stage 1 Cost reduction and Productivity
Stage 2 Competitive Advantage
Stage 3 Performance-Based Management
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Measuring Performance

• Productivity
• A measure of the output achieved divided by the
  input requirement
• Productivity(Output/Input) x 100
• Quality
• The ability of a product (including services) to
  meet or exceed customer expectations
• Return on Investment (ROI)
• One measure of IS value that investigates the
  additional profits or benefits that are generated
  as a percentage of the investment in information
  systems technology
• Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
• Measuring both expense and benefits of a system.
  For a PC, includes purchase price, training,
  software, support, etc.

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Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

• Not-so-obvious costs
• System downtime lost productivity,
  opportunities
• Being locked into a technology
• Moving to other technologies and platforms
• Having non-standard configurations
• Amount of training required

• Obvious costs
• Hardware
• Software license fees
• Personnel
• HW SW deployment
• Support service
• Custom application development
• Upgrades
• Energy space

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Information Systems Personnel
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Three IS Functions

• Operations
• Maintains and supports the use of corporate
  information systems
• Systems Development
• Development of corporate information systems
• Support
• Provides assistance to users

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Major IS Issues

• Outsourcing
• What services are best delivered by in-house
  expertise and what should be outsourced?
• Cost savings, access to larger labor pool
• On-shore, off-shore, near-shore
• Centralized vs. Decentralized organization
• Showing value of IS to the organization
• Disaster/Business Recovery
• Security

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IT Jobs

• www.salary.com
• http//www.computerworld.com/careertopics/careers/
  story/0,10801,75368,00.html
• http//marketing.dice.com/rateresults/

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The 10 Fastest-Growing Occupations 2003-2010
Read more in September 2003 issue of Business 2.0
(page 97)