Information Systems
The Components of Information Systems
Information systems can be viewed as having five major
components: hardware, software, data, people, and processes. The
first three are technology. These are probably what you thought of
when defining information systems. The last two components,
people and processes, separate the idea of information systems from
more technical fields, such as computer science. In order to fully
understand information systems, you will need to understand how
all of these components work together to bring value to an
organization.
Technology
Technology can be thought of as the application of scientific
knowledge for practical purposes. From the invention of the
wheel to the harnessing of electricity for artificial lighting,
technology has become ubiquitous in daily life, to the degree that
it is assumed to always be available for use regardless of
location. As discussed before, the first three components of
information systems – hardware, software, and data – all fall
under the category of technology.
Hardware
Hardware is the tangible, physical portion of an information system
– the part you can touch. Computers, keyboards, disk drives, and
Flash drives are all examples of systems hardware.
Software
Software comprises the set of instructions that tell the hardware
what to do. Software is not tangible – it cannot be touched.
Programmers create software by typing a series of instructions
telling the hardware what to do. Two main categories of software
are: Operating Systems and Application software. Operating
Systems software provides the interface between the hardware
and the Application software. Examples of operating systems for
a personal computer include Microsoft Windows and Ubuntu
Linux. The mobile phone operating system market is dominated
by Google Android and Apple iOS. Application software allows
the user to perform tasks such as creating documents, recording
data in a spreadsheet, or messaging a friend.
Data
The third technology component is data. You can think of data
as a collection of facts. For example, your address (street, city
state, postal code), your phone number, and your social networking account are all pieces of data. Like software, data is also
intangible, unable to be seen in its native state. Pieces of unrelated
data are not very useful. But aggregated, indexed, and organized
together into a database, data can become a powerful tool for
businesses. Organizations collect all kinds of data and use it to make
decisions which can then be analyzed as to their effectiveness. The
analysis o f data is then used to improve the organization's
performance .
Networking Communication
Besides the technology components (hardware, software, and data) which have long been considered the core technology of information systems, it has been suggested that one other component should be added: communication. An information system can exist without the ability to communicate – the first personal computers were stand-alone machines that did not access the Internet. However, in today's hyper-connected world, it is an extremely rare computer that does not connect to another device or to an e-network. Technically, the networking communication component is made up of hardware and software, but it is such a core feature of today's information systems that it has become its own category.
People
Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO
When thinking about information
systems, it is easy to focus on the technology
components and forget to look beyond these
tools to fully understand their integration into
an organization. A focus on the people
involved in information systems is the next
step. From the front-line user support staff, to
systems analysts, to developers, all the way
up to the chief information officer (CIO), the
people involved with information systems are an essential element.
Process
The last component of information systems is process. A
process is a series of steps undertaken to achieve a desired outcome
or goal. Information systems are becoming more integrated with
organizational processes, bringing greater productivity and better
control to those processes. But simply automating activities using
technology is not enough – businesses looking to utilize information
systems must do more. The ultimate goal is to improve processes
both internally and externally, enhancing interfaces with suppliers
and customers. Technology buzzwords such as "business process
re-engineering," "business process management," and "enterprise
resource planning" all have to do with the continued improvement
of these business procedures and the integration of technology with
them. Businesses hoping to gain a competitive advantage over their
competitors are highly focused on this component of information systems.