5/25/2010

Black&WhiteBusinessComputing11 Chapter1 BusinessInformationTechnology ComputerInformationSystems105

BusinessInformationTechnology
Information technology (IT) is the study, design, development, implementation, support, and management of computerbased information systems, particularly software and hardware. Without people, a computer is just a plastic box of microchips and wires. People are smart, a computer is not. People use computers and are called the enduser. Gaining computer competency in business is paramount to success. Competency is the knowledge that enables a person to understand something, in this case, a computing system and its relationship to business.

ArizonaStateUniversity W.P.CareySchoolofBusiness ComputerApplications&InformationTechnology

Black&WhiteBusinessComputing11 Chapter1 BusinessInformationTechnology ComputerInformationSystems105

BusinessInformationTechnology
Attitude towardsinformationtechnologyplaysapivotalrole towardsgainingcomputercompetency.Acomputershouldnever bethoughtofasamysteriousboxwithamindofitsown,itisplainly atoolwhoseboundariesareonlylimitedbytheimagination and ingenuity ofitsuser. Criticalthinking isawayofthinkingthatinvolvesanalysisand evaluationandincludesconsideringallpossibleoutcomesinorder toformasoliddecision. Inbusiness,bestpractice isamanagementprocess,technique,or methodthatismosteffectiveatarrivingatadesiredoutcome,or bestoutcomethananyotherprocess,technique,ormethod.

ArizonaStateUniversity W.P.CareySchoolofBusiness ComputerApplications&InformationTechnology

Black&WhiteBusinessComputing11 Chapter1 BusinessInformationTechnology ComputerInformationSystems105

BusinessInformationTechnology
Enhancingcomputercompetencyisgreatlyfacilitatedbyhavinga specificapplication.Anapplication incomputingissomethingwith apracticaluseandexpectedoutcome.Alwaysquestionwhatyou wanttogetaccomplishedwithacomputer. GordonMoore,oneofthefoundingfathersofIntelmadethe p gpower p observationin1965calledMooresLaw thatcomputing doubleseveryeighteenmonths,andthatpredictionstillholdstrue today,andismostlikelytocontinuewellintothecentury.

ArizonaStateUniversity W.P.CareySchoolofBusiness ComputerApplications&InformationTechnology

5/25/2010

Black&WhiteBusinessComputing11 Chapter1 BusinessInformationTechnology ComputerInformationSystems105

BusinessInformationTechnology
Businesscomputerhardware isthetangibleorphysicalaspectsof acomputer,likecircuitboards,chipsets,andkeyboards. Mainframecomputers aremassiveroomsizedcomputersthat processandstoreenormousamountsofbulkdataandinformation, andaretypicallyusedbyverylargeorganizationslikecreditcard processersthatemploythemfortransactionprocessingandvital applications applications. Midrangecomputers arelesspowerfulandsmallerinphysicalsize thanmainframecomputers,butdomanyofthesamethings, simplyonasmallerscale. Microcomputers aresmallerthanmainframesandminicomputers, andaresocommonthattheyaremostcommonlyreferredtoas simplycomputers,andsometimesjustreferredtoasabox. (desktop,laptop,andhandheld.)

ArizonaStateUniversity W.P.CareySchoolofBusiness ComputerApplications&InformationTechnology

Black&WhiteBusinessComputing11 Chapter1 BusinessInformationTechnology ComputerInformationSystems105

BusinessInformationTechnology
SystemSoftware
Acomputerismadeupofhardware anduses systemsoftware tomakeitwork. Themostimportantaspectsofsystemsoftwareisthatanoperating system isenabledandbecomesaplatform forapplicationsoftware towork. Applicationsoftwaredoesnotworkwithoutsystemsoftwareoran operatingsystem.

ArizonaStateUniversity W.P.CareySchoolofBusiness ComputerApplications&InformationTechnology

Black&WhiteBusinessComputing11 Chapter1 BusinessInformationTechnology ComputerInformationSystems105

BusinessInformationTechnology
OperatingSystems
Anoperatingsystem(OS),oftencalledaplatform isacollectionof computerprogramsworkingtogetherthatmanagethehardware andsoftwareofacomputersotheyworkproperly. Someofthemorepopularplatformsintodays today smarketareMicrosoft Windows,MacOS,Linux,andUNIX. Filemanagement OneofthemostimportantjobsofanOSisfile management;awaytostoreandorganizecomputerfilestothe memoryofacomputer.Operatingsystemsaremadeupofa hierarchyofdirectories,typicallycalledfolders.MicrosoftWindows representsitsfilemanagement systemvisuallywithagraphicaluser interface (GUI)environment.
ArizonaStateUniversity W.P.CareySchoolofBusiness ComputerApplications&InformationTechnology

5/25/2010

Black&WhiteBusinessComputing11 Chapter1 BusinessInformationTechnology ComputerInformationSystems105

BusinessInformationTechnology
OperatingSystems
Anytaskacomputerperformsiscalledaprocess.Whena computercanrunmorethanoneprocessatatimeitisreferredto asmultitasking. ymanagement g Operating p gsystems y coordinatea Memory computersmemory,whichincludescache,randomaccess memory (RAM),registers,andvirtualmemory.RandomAccess Memory (RAM)whichisprimarystorage.Virtualmemory is memorytheoperatingsystemusestocoordinate,track,and efficientlyallocatetheuseofCPUcache,registers,RAM,anddisk storage. Diskmanagement AnOSisinchargeofreadingandwritingdata andinformationtoadisk,typicallyaharddrive.
ArizonaStateUniversity W.P.CareySchoolofBusiness ComputerApplications&InformationTechnology

Black&WhiteBusinessComputing11 Chapter1 BusinessInformationTechnology ComputerInformationSystems105

BusinessInformationTechnology
ApplicationSoftware
Applicationsoftware performsparticulartaskspeopleneed,like creatingabudgetforaccountingorsupplychain,creatingaresume, ormakingaprofessionalpresentationforabusinessproposal. Themostcommonlyusedapplicationsoftwareinbusinessisare email,wordprocessors,spreadsheets,databases,presentation softwares, andprojectmanagementsoftware. Othercommonapplication softwareinbusinessisabrowser to accesstheInternet,andnetworkingoperatingsystems

ArizonaStateUniversity W.P.CareySchoolofBusiness ComputerApplications&InformationTechnology

Black&WhiteBusinessComputing11 Chapter1 BusinessInformationTechnology ComputerInformationSystems105

BusinessInformationTechnology
BusinessComputingSoftware
Asoftwaresuite,oftencalledaproductivitysuite isacollectionof computerapplicationprogramsofassociatedfunctionalitythat shareacommongraphicaluserinterface(GUI)andthecapacityto smoothlyexchangedatawitheachother. Productivitysuitesofferthreewaysofsharingdataandinformation. ThemostfirstandmostbasicisCutandPaste. Thesecondandthirdmethodofsharinginformationanddatais calledObjectLinkingandEmbedding (OLE).Objectlinking issimilar toobjectembedding,butdiffersinoneveryimportantway.Object linkingisdynamic.Whenthesourcefileislinkedintothe destinationfile,bothfilesstayuptodate.

ArizonaStateUniversity W.P.CareySchoolofBusiness ComputerApplications&InformationTechnology

5/25/2010

Black&WhiteBusinessComputing11 Chapter1 BusinessInformationTechnology ComputerInformationSystems105

BusinessInformationTechnology
WordProcessingSoftware
Awordprocessor likeMicrosoftWord2007 isanapplication softwareusedtocreate,compose,edit,formatandprint documents. y p powerfulwordprocessor p that AdobeAcrobatisanothervery allowsausertocreate,edit,formatandprintportabledocument files (PDF)andhasenormousbusinessimplications.

ArizonaStateUniversity W.P.CareySchoolofBusiness ComputerApplications&InformationTechnology

Black&WhiteBusinessComputing11 Chapter1 BusinessInformationTechnology ComputerInformationSystems105

BusinessInformationTechnology
SpreadsheetSoftware
Aspreadsheet likeMicrosoftExcel2007 isanelectronicgridof columnsandrowsoftenusedtocreate,model,andmanipulate numericalandoftenfinancialinformation. Manybusinesseswouldarguethatspreadsheetsarethemost powerfulandusefulbusinessapplicationsoftwarebecauseofits abilitytomodelfinancialinformationandperformwhatif analysis.

ArizonaStateUniversity W.P.CareySchoolofBusiness ComputerApplications&InformationTechnology

Black&WhiteBusinessComputing11 Chapter1 BusinessInformationTechnology ComputerInformationSystems105

BusinessInformationTechnology
DatabaseSoftware
Database softwareoradatabasemanagementsystem (DBMS) softwareisacollectionofrelatedfilescalledtablesthatconsistof records(rows)ofdataseparatedbyfields(columns)thatcanbe queriedtoproducesubsetsofinformation. Databasescanconsistofhundredsofrelatedtablessotheyare referredtoasrelational.

ArizonaStateUniversity W.P.CareySchoolofBusiness ComputerApplications&InformationTechnology

5/25/2010

Black&WhiteBusinessComputing11 Chapter1 BusinessInformationTechnology ComputerInformationSystems105

BusinessInformationTechnology
PresentationSoftware
Presentationsoftware isusedtopresentinformationinaslide showformat.Presentationsareusuallydisplayedonscreen,and oftenareprojectedforanaudience. yheavily yonpresentation p softwarestovisually y Businessesrely communicateandcollaborateinstrategic andtacticalmeetings.

ArizonaStateUniversity W.P.CareySchoolofBusiness ComputerApplications&InformationTechnology

Black&WhiteBusinessComputing11 Chapter1 BusinessInformationTechnology ComputerInformationSystems105

BusinessInformationTechnology
SpecificuseBusinessApplicationSoftware
Businessapplicationsoftwareisnotjustthedomainofsoftware suites.Twoapplicationsoftwaresnottypicallyincludedinsoftware suitesbutjustasimportanttobusinessarebrowser software andnetwork software. Abrowser orwebbrowser isuserinterfacesoftwarethatletsauser todisplaywebpagesontheWorldWideWeb.Browserscandisplay text,pictures,video,andmuchmore. Acomputernetwork issimplytwoormorecomputersconnected togetherforresourcesharingandcommunication.Resourcesrefer tocomputerfiles,folders,software,andalsoperipheralhardware likeprinters,scanners,webcams,etc.
ArizonaStateUniversity W.P.CareySchoolofBusiness ComputerApplications&InformationTechnology

Black&WhiteBusinessComputing11 Chapter1 BusinessInformationTechnology ComputerInformationSystems105

BusinessInformationTechnology
Mainframe,MidrangeComputers

ArizonaStateUniversity W.P.CareySchoolofBusiness ComputerApplications&InformationTechnology

5/25/2010

Black&WhiteBusinessComputing11 Chapter1 BusinessInformationTechnology ComputerInformationSystems105

BusinessInformationTechnology
Microcomputer

ArizonaStateUniversity W.P.CareySchoolofBusiness ComputerApplications&InformationTechnology

Black&WhiteBusinessComputing11 Chapter1 BusinessInformationTechnology ComputerInformationSystems105

BusinessInformationTechnology
Browser

ArizonaStateUniversity W.P.CareySchoolofBusiness ComputerApplications&InformationTechnology

Black&WhiteBusinessComputing11 Chapter1 BusinessInformationTechnology ComputerInformationSystems105

BusinessInformationTechnology
PresentationSoftware

ArizonaStateUniversity W.P.CareySchoolofBusiness ComputerApplications&InformationTechnology

5/25/2010

Black&WhiteBusinessComputing11 Chapter1 BusinessInformationTechnology ComputerInformationSystems105

BusinessInformationTechnology
SoftwareSuites

ArizonaStateUniversity W.P.CareySchoolofBusiness ComputerApplications&InformationTechnology

Black&WhiteBusinessComputing11 Chapter1 BusinessInformationTechnology ComputerInformationSystems105

BusinessInformationTechnology
OperatingSystems

ArizonaStateUniversity W.P.CareySchoolofBusiness ComputerApplications&InformationTechnology

Black&WhiteBusinessComputing11 Chapter1 BusinessInformationTechnology ComputerInformationSystems105

BusinessInformationTechnology
FileManagement

ArizonaStateUniversity W.P.CareySchoolofBusiness ComputerApplications&InformationTechnology