Computer Services Management

Introduction

The Nature of Business information age

In todays business environment information and Information Technology (IT) being used to gain and sustain competitive advantage. This is the information age Knowledge is Power All areas of business Marketing, Finance, HR, Higher Management - produce data / information as a product. Youll never find a successful business whose slogan is: ..what you dont know wont hurt you.. Organisations understand that what they dont know can become an Achilles heel and a source of advantage for the competition. In todays business world, Knowledge workers outnumber other types of worker by approx six to one. Hence Managing this knowledge (i.e. filtering out chaff and making decisions based on correct information) is vital to Business success.

Information Systems
The purpose of an IS is to get the right information to the right people at the right time in the right amount and in the right format. A goal of an IS is to economically process data into information or knowledge.

Data, Information & Knowledge

Data elementary description of things, events, activities and transactions that are recorded, classified and stored but not organised to convey any specific meaning. Information data that has been organised so that they have meaning and value to the recipient. Knowledge data and/or information that has been organised and processed to convey understanding, experience, accumulated learning and expertise as they apply to a current business problem.

Example
Data A student grade. Information The student name coupled with the students grade. Knowledge A company recruiting has found over time that students with a Merit 1 have had the most success. Based on this expertise, the company decides to interview only students with a minimum Merit 1.

IT Architecture
A high-level map or plan of the information assets in an organisation. It is both a guide for current operations and a blueprint for future directions. It integrates the entire organisations business needs for information, the IT infrastructure and all applications. Defines how the IS/IT systems are used by the organisation Draw analogy to the architecture of a house.

IT Infrastructure
Consists of the physical facilities, IT components, IT services and IT personnel that support the entire organisation.

Capabilities of Information Systems

Perform high-speed, high-volume, numerical computations. Provide fast, accurate communication and collaboration within and among organisations. Store huge amounts of information in an easy-to-access, yet small, space. Allow quick and inexpensive access to vast amounts of information. Facilitate the interpretation of vast amounts of data. Increase the effectiveness and efficiency of people working in groups. Automate both semiautomatic business processes and manual tasks.

Types of Information Systems

Departmental/Functional area IS supports a particular functional area in the organisation, eg., production /operations management (POM) IS, Finance IS, HR IS, etc., Enterprise Resource Planning system support the entire organisation and integrates the functional areas via a common database. Transaction Processing system supports the monitoring, collection, storage and processing of data from the organisations basic business transactions, each of which generates data. Interorganisational IS connects two or more organisations
B2B, Business to Business B2C, Business to consumer

MIS Integrating Themes

MIS deals with the co-ordination of three very important organisational resources: Information People Technology (IT)

Co-ordination of these for the purpose of achieving and sustaining competitive advantage

MIS Components

Hardware Software

Backup data Restart job Virus scan

People

Procedures

Data

Management Information Related Subsystems

Information Technology (IT)
is any computer based tool that people use to work with information and support the information-processing needs of an organisation. Includes Hardware, Software, Communications, networks, production automation, etc Any Kit concerned with the capture, storage, transmission, and presentation of information

Strategic Management Information Systems (SMIS)

Systems considered critical to the current or future business competitiveness of an organisation SMIS is a relative rather than an absolute term as one must assess the STRATEGY of a given organisation first before attaching the term SMIS to a technology Example: A web service offering a product online could be considered strategic i.e. Dell computers, Ryanair online booking system. Example: Business Process re-engineering modelling software

Management Information Related Subsystems contd

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Business information over layed on Geographical Maps Example: Google Earth shows Business locations, visitor attractions, etc in particular areas

Expert System (ES)

Also called a knowledge based system is an Artificial Intelligence system that applies reasoning capabilities to reach a conclusion. Expert systems are software systems which capture the knowledge and experience of experts in particular fields Accounting, Medicine, Production Control, etc. Expert Systems, through a series of carefully contrived questions to the user, can determine Whats wrong, and what to do. Example: Forensic accounting Example: HR Management to help personnel managers determine whether they are in compliance with National and EU regulations Example: Exsys Corvid

Dashboard System (DS)(EIS)

A dashboard is an Executive Information System user interface that (similar to an automobiles dashboard) is designed to be easy to read. For example, a product might obtain information from the local operating system in a computer, from one or more applications that may be running, and from one or more remote sites on the Web and present it as though it all came from the same source. Digital dashboards may be laid out to track the flows inherent in the business processes that they monitor. Graphically, users may see the high-level processes and then drill down into low level data.

Airline Executive Information System

The Changing Role of the Information Systems Department

Traditional Major IS Functions
Managing systems development and systems project management Managing computer operations, including the computer centre Staffing, training and developing IS skills Providing technical services Infrastructure planning, development and control

Traditional / Classical Organisation

Commands

CEO

Condensed reports

VP Finance

VP Accounting

VP HRM

VP MIS

Analyze data

Layers of middle managers

Collect data

Customers

 New Major IS functions

The Changing Role of the Information Systems Department

Initiating and designing specific strategic information systems Incorporating the Internet and electronic commerce into the business Managing system integration including the Internet, intranets and extranets Educating the non-IS managers about IT Educating the IS staff about the business Supporting end-user computing Partnering with the executives Managing outsourcing Proactively using business and technical knowledge to seed innovative ideas about IT Creating business alliances with vendors and IS departments in the organisation

The Matrix Management

Project Focussed Multi-disciplinary teams Team members have more that one boss Project team disbanded when project completes New project team for new project Gives team members an insight into the workings of other departments Leadership training ground Allows people with ideas to carry them forward May cause blurring of communication lines

Modern Organisation structure

Customer Partner Bank Partner

C.E.O. Fin
Supplier Partner

Prod

HR

Mkt

IT

Legal Partner

teams

teams

teams

teams

teams

Contractor Partner

Distribution Partner

New structure - Decentralised

Management Team
Dir Fin Dir Mrkt Dir Acct Dir HRM Dir MIS

Strategy
Finance Team Marketing Team Accounting Team HRM Team

Corporate Database & Network

Sales Team

Methodology/Rules

Franchise

Customers