The growth of technology amazes me; how rapid
the production of new and advanced technologies and how it has become available
within a short period of time of its predecessor. This idea of rapid production
is further examined in James’ article about the growth of mobile technology, which
is linked below if you want to read further about the speed at which technology
is taking over human lives.
Isabella G.
Some people believe that the speed at which technology is
currently being produced is scary and potentially harmful, and causes people to
be sceptical about how to handle such change, but that’s a discussion for
another day.
So keep posted, I will write a new article discussing the
speed of technology soon. Today though I want to discuss how information
systems are a must have for companies.
Have you ever wondered how businesses control the flow of
their company? How they keep organised and how they manage all their work?
Well I have come to the conclusion that information systems
are the answers to these questions.
Since we live in a world where technology is constantly
being produced, information systems are needed to keep businesses up-to-date
and organised. Information systems collect, process and store information
within a business, which are both useful for the business itself and for
customers. That is, for business it allows them to bill customers, identify
products as well as allows them to stay organised and stay focused on achieving
their business goals. It also allows customers to purchase products, browse,
and ask questions.
What are information systems, you might ask?
Well after much research I have tried to explain this
question to the best of my ability.
Firstly a system is made up of 5 components:
·
Hardware:
Which are the physical elements which allow the system to function
·
Software:
Which are the programs that run the system
·
Data:
The facts and information that is stored within the system
·
Procedures:
The elements that do the processing within the system
·
People:
The employees that maintain and use and allow the system to have purpose
Hardware, software and Data can be categorised as IT
(Information Technology) and hence IS (Information Systems) are a combination
of IT and people and procedures.
IS = IT + people +
procedures
There are different types of Information systems, but the one
information system that I have looked at is TPS, which is a system that takes
data that a customer has selected and generates output according to the stock
level of the business.
For example I did some research on the liquor store that I work at, which uses MYPOS
system software. When a customer purchases a product online, the business can
pick the products and by looking at the system can figure out if they have the
stock at hand. When all products are collected the billing process takes place,
which charges the customer for the products and prints out a receipt for the goods.
If the customer is on the rewards card program (assuming the business has a
rewards card program) the system will look up their name in their database and
apply new points to their account. Once the billing has taken place, the stock
level of the products on the system change according to the purchase being
made. Once the purchase has been paid for and the package is ready to be
shipped, an email is sent relating to the status of their purchase as well as
their tracking number.
You can see how efficient an information system is when
processing an order and hence is an asset to a business.
Picture from: My Works Information System
So coming back to the topic of discussion, why are companies
so reliant on information systems?
Well as this article shows, information systems allow
businesses to interact with customers, stay organised and allows them to
achieve their business goals.
We have also discussed that with technology rapidly
advancing, information systems allow for quick changes to be made to meet the
needs of the customers and the new emerging technology.
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