Chapter 2

Information System
Building Blocks

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright 2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Objectives
Differentiate between front- and back-office
information systems.
Describe the role of information systems
architecture in systems development.
Identify three high-level goals that provide
system owners and system users with a
perspective of an information system.
Identify three technologies that provide system
designers and builders with a perspective of an
information system.
Identify three areas of focus for an information
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system
 Objectives (cont.)
Describe four building blocks of the
KNOWLEDGE goal for an information system.
Describe four building blocks of the
PROCESS goal for an information system.
Describe four building blocks of the
COMMUNICATIONS goal for an information
system.
Describe the role of network technologies as it
relates to Knowledge, Processes, and
Communications building blocks.
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 A Review of Fundamentals of
Information Systems

What is the difference

between Data and
Information?

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 A Review of Fundamentals of
Information Systems

What are Information Systems

and what do they do?

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 A Review of Fundamentals of
Information Systems

Define information technology

and discuss its impact on
information systems.

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 Chapter Map

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 Front- and Back-Office
Information Systems
Front-office information systems support
business functions that extend out to the
organizations customers (or constituents).
Marketing
Sales
Customer management
Back-office information systems support internal
business operations of an organization, as well as
reach out to suppliers (of materials, equipment,
supplies, and services).
Human resources
Financial management
Manufacturing
Inventory control
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 A Federation of
Information Systems

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 Information System Applications
A transaction processing system (TPS) is an
information system that captures and
processes data about business transactions.
A management information system (MIS) is
an information system that provides for
management-oriented reporting based on
transaction processing and operations of the
organization.
A decision support system (DSS) is an
information system that either helps to identify
decision making opportunities or provides
2-10 information to help make decisions.
 Information System Applications

An Executive Information System (EIS) is an

information system designed for top-level managers that
integrates data from all over the organization into at-a-
glance graphical indicators and controls.
An expert system is an information system that captures
the expertise of workers and then simulates that
expertise to the benefit of nonexperts.
A communications and collaboration system is an
information system that enables more effective
communications between workers, partners, customers,
and suppliers to enhance their ability to collaborate.
An office automation system is an information system
that supports the wide range of business office activities
2-11 that provide for improved work flow between workers.
 Chapter 2

Read Minicase #1
Page #63
Do you think this happens often in
business?
Was the IT managers request well
thought out?
What basic fundamental did the IT
2-12 manager fail to realize?
 Chapter 2

Was the IT managers request well

thought out?

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 Chapter 2

What basic fundamental did the IT

manager fail to realize?

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 Chapter 2

Back office information

systems are ones that support
business functions that reach
out to customers (or
constituents). T or F

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 Chapter 2

What is a transaction
processing system? How are
transaction processing
systems being affected by
business process redesign?

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 Chapter 2

Differentiate between
management information
systems and decision support
systems.

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 Chapter 2

What is an expert system? How

is it different from a decision
support system?

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 Information System Applications

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 Data Warehouse
A data warehouse is a read-only,
informational database that is
populated with detailed, summary, and
exception data and information
generated by other transaction and
management information systems. The
data warehouse can then be accessed by
end-users and managers with DSS tools
that generate a virtually limitless variety
of information in support of
unstructured decisions.
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 Information Systems
Architecture
Information systems architecture - a
unifying framework into which various
stakeholders with different perspectives can
organize and view the fundamental building
blocks of information systems.

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 High-Level Goals of
System Owners and System Users
Improve business knowledge
Improve business processes and services
Improve business communication and
people collaboration

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 Technology Perspectives of
System Designers & System Builders

Database technologies that support

business accumulation and use of
business knowledge
Software technologies that automate and
support business processes and services
Interface technologies that support
business communication and
collaboration
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 Focuses for Information
Systems
Knowledge the raw material
used to create useful information.
Process the activities (including
management) that carry out the
mission of the business.
Communication how the system
interfaces with its users and other
information systems.
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 Information System Building
Blocks

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 Stakeholders
System owners pay for the system to be built and
maintained
Systems users use the system to perform or support the
work to be completed.
System designers design the system to meet the users
requirements.
System builders construct, test and deliver the system
into operation.
System analysts facilitate the development of
information systems and computer applications by
bridging the communications gap that exists between
non-technical system owners and users and technical
system designers and builders
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 Chap 2

What is the difference between a

perspective and focus in this
chapters information frame
work?

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 Chap 2

Differentiate between business

policies and business
procedures.

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 Chap 2

Differentiate between business

functions and business
processes.

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 Chap 2

Differentiate between the

business network and a computer
network?

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 Views of KNOWLEDGE
System owners view
Interested not in raw data but in information that adds new business
knowledge and helps managers make decisions.
Business entities and business rules.
System users view
View data as something recorded on forms, stored in file cabinets,
recorded in books and spreadsheets, or stored on computer.
Focus on business issues as they pertain to data.
Data requirement a representation of users data in terms of
entities, attributes, relationships, and rules independent of data
technology.
System designers view
Data structures, database schemas, fields, indexes, and constraints
of particular database management system (DBMS).
System builders view
SQL
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DBMS or other data technologies
 Views of PROCESS
System owners view
Concerned with high-level processes called
business functions.
Business function a group of related processes
that support the business. Functions can be
decomposed into other subfunctions and eventually
into processes that do specific tasks.
A cross-functional information system a system
that supports relevant business processes from
several business functions without regard to
traditional organizational boundaries such as
divisions, departments, centers, and offices.
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 Views of PROCESS (cont.)
System users view
Concerned with work that must be performed to
provide the appropriate responses to business
events.
Business processes activities that respond to
business events.
Process requirements a users expectation of the
processing requirements for a business process and
its information systems.
Policy a set of rules that govern a business
process.
Procedure a step-by-step set of instructions and
logic for accomplishing a business process.
Work flow the flow of transactions through
business processes to ensure appropriate checks and
2-33 approvals are implemented.
 Views of PROCESS (cont.)
System designers view
Concerned with which processes to automate and how to automate
them
Constrained by limitations of application development technologies
being used
Software specifications the technical design of business
processes to be automated or supported by computer programs to
be written by system builders.
System builders view
Concerned with programming logic that implements automated
processes
Application program a language-based, machine-readable
representation of what a software process is supposed to do, or
how a software process is supposed to accomplish its task.
Prototyping a technique for quickly building a functioning, but
incomplete model of the information system using rapid application
development tools.
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 Views of COMMUNICATION
System owners view
Who (which business units, employees,
customers, and partners) must interact with the
system?
Where are these business units, employees,
customers, and partners located?
What other information systems will the system
have to interface with?

System users view

Concerned with the information systems inputs
and outputs.
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 Views of COMMUNICATION
(cont.)
System designers view
Concerned with the technical design of both the user and the
system-to-system communication interfaces.
Interface specifications technical designs that document how
system users are to interact with a system and how a system
interacts with other systems.
User dialogue a specification of how the user moves from
window to window or page to page, interacting with the
application programs to perform useful work.
System builders view
Concerned with the construction, installation, testing and
implementation of user and system-to-system interface solutions.
Middleware utility software that allows application software
and systems software that utilize differing technologies to
interoperate.
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 Network Technologies and the
IS Building Blocks

Clean-layering approach allows any one building block

to be replaced with another while having little or no
impact on the other building blocks
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 Mini Case
Read Mini
Case
(Class Handout)
1-38
 Chap 2

What role does a data warehouse

play in a decision support
system?

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 Chapter 2

Improving data capture is the

fundamental goal of an
information system. T or F

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 Chap 2

What is information systems

architecture?

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 Chap 2

Explain how the systems

designers and the systems
builders views of data differ.

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 Chapter 2

The average system owner is

extremely interested in raw data.
T or F

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 Chapter 2

The primary role of a system

owner in a development project
should be to allocate proper
funding for resources to complete
the project on time. T or F

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 Chapter 2

Middleware is the layer of

software that allows the system
software to talk to the Internet. T
or F

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 Chapter 2

Interface specifications are non

technical designs that document
how system designers interact
with a system and how system
interacts with other systems.
T or F
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 Chapter 2

The goal of an information system are:

A) improve business knowledge
B) improve business processes
C) improve services
D) improve business
communications and people
collaboration.
E) all of the above
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 Chapter 2
An information system's architecture is:
A) the latest version of the existing
computer system
B) a new schema for an information
system
C) structured information technology
D) a knowledge based system
E) high level framework for
understanding different views of
the fundamental building blocks of
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an information system.
 Chapter 2

Business Knowledge is derived from:

A) data
B) knowledge
C) upper management
D) information system
E) both a and b.

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 Chapter 2

System designer's translate the system

users' business data requirements into:
A) executive system design
B) expert system design
C) decision making system design
D) database design
E) none of the above
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 Chapter 2

A _______________________
supports relevant business
processes from several business
functions without regard to
traditional organizational
boundaries such as divisions,
departments, centers and offices.
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 Chapter 2

________________ is a layer of
utility software that sits between
application software and systems
software to transparently
integrate differing technologies so
that they can interoperate.
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