Welcome to ACM 501

Technical Foundations
of
Business Information Systems
 Information

• Data are raw facts

– physical phenomena
– business transactions
• Information is data transformed into meaningful and useful form for user
• Almost all human activities require information
– getting to class means you know
• what time your class is held
• where it is held
• how do you get there

• Having the right information at the right time can make all the difference
• Sometimes hiding information is equally critical
 System

• A system is
– a set of interrelated components
– with a clearly defined boundary
– working together
– to achieve a common set of objectives

• For example a political system may include

– government institutions, citizens, political parties, interest groups
– defined by citizenship and territorial boundaries
– who interact with each other
– to provide the conditions of stability and prosperity ...hopefully
 Basic Functions of a System

• Input
– capturing and assembling elements that enter the system to be processed

• Processing
– transformation process that converts input into output

• Output
– transferring transformed elements to their ultimate destination

• Storage
– retaining the inputs, the outputs, and the transformation procedures as needed
 Information System

• An information system is an organized combination of

– people

– hardware and software

– communication networks

– data resources

– policies and procedures

• The system
– stores, retrieves, transforms, and disseminates information in an organization
 Types of Business Information Systems

• Operations Support Systems

– Efficiently process business transactions

– Control industrial processes

– Update corporate databases

– Support communication and collaboration

• Management Support Systems

– Provide information as reports and displays

– Give direct computer support to managerial decision-making

 Better, Faster and Cheaper

• Most modern information systems are based on computers

• A computer is a device that can
– input and store data for processing

– input and store instructions for how to process data

– process the data according to the instructions

– output and store the results of the data processing

• Information systems have become especially widespread with networks

– provides automatic dissemination globally

• Computers and networks have provided speed, accuracy and reliability

– precisely the problems with people and earlier modes of communications

• Computer systems increasingly provide these services cheaper as well

 Information Technologies

• Information Technologies
– Computer Hardware

– Networking Equipment

– Software

– Data management
 Trends in Information Systems

Trends in Business Systems closely follow development of Computers and Networks

Uses of Business Systems
How E-Business is Being Used
User level

People

Applications

Hardware
 Programming & Logical Aspects

High Level Language

Assembly Language

Machine Code

Computer Architecture

Logical Circuits
Network Architecture
Electrical and Electronics

Semiconductor Circuit

Transmission Line
 Mechanical and Manufacturing

Semiconductor defect
Liquid Crystal Defect

Solder Modeling
 Drivers of IT

ENIAC: Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (1946)

Computer Technology

ENIAC

-Took up a large room

-Was based on fragile vacuum tubes and you may

have had to check 19,000 tubes to find a failed one.

-Needed manual programming by setting switches,

and plugging and unplugging cables.
Hardware Miniaturization and Reliability
Hardware Cost
 Smart Products

Board with Built-in Test Equipment

 Programming Concepts

• Stored Program Concept

– Data and instructions are both stored in the memory.

– Used in the design of the IAS computer at the Institute for

Advanced Studies at Princeton by vonNeumann et al. in 1952.

– This is the prototype for later general purpose computers.

 Programming Languages

• Higher level languages

– First generation, 1G, or machine languages required detailed knowledge of the
insides of the computer, such as addresses of memory elements.
– 2G or assembly languages used mnemonics for numeric codes. Still useful for direct
hardware manipulation.
– 3G languages such as Basic, Fortran, C/C++ allow for syntax that is easier for
humans to understand.
– 4G languages are environments with more powerful statements for specialized
applications. For example SAS or SPSS let users run statistical analyses using more
complex statements that are available, instead of coding in 3G languages.
– 5G languages were attempted to give the computer the problem and the constraints
and have it generate the algorithm generated by the computer. E.g. Prolog. Uses
include AI applications. Mainly used in academic research. Alternatively, now refers
to visual programming environments.
 Communications and Networks

• Writing
• Printing Press
• Steam engine, Car, Railways, Aircraft
• Telegraph
• Telephone
• Broadcasting
• Wired packet switching networks
– Cheap and efficient data transfer between computers and increasingly other devices.
– LANs, WANs, internet
– E-business, virtual offices, global workgroups
– Now you can connect your toaster to the internet. Some will even burn today’s weather forecast on your
bread.
• Wireless and satellite communications
– GPS
– RFID
– m-commerce
 On the other hand ...

• Technological changes
• Travel reservations systems: Rosenbluth, Travelocity, Orbitz

• What IT could not do for businesses:

• Solectron
• Chrysler
• Andersen Consulting
• FEDEX

• Sophisticated technologies and models

• Enron
• Day Trading
• Sub-prime lending: Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae
• Sophisticated Modeling, Level 3 assets
• Wall Street has no more investment banks!
• Asian crises, UAL
 Potential Considerations
• Business models and procedures are still the key
– With a flawed business model you will make mistakes at the speed of light
– Many projects fail because of lack proper focus on business requirements
– There is a reason software is sold “as is”
– IT is a means for you to run your business better
• Bill Gates versus Warren Buffet
• You can have virtual inventories but you cannot sell a virtual product
– Implementation costs and disruptions
• Customers want service, not a sophisticated mess (AT&T wireless)
– If your raw material costs are higher than Chinese selling price
– Need to know why you are implementing IT
– Competitors may come up with similar or alternative services

• Transforming organizations can be difficult

– People are resistant to change: habit, motivation, risks.
– Can and should management change its style?
– Vertical integration
 Is Information Technology Still Important?
• Yes. More so than ever
– The hype phase of IT is over and useful applications have remained.
– Companies routinely use IT to solve appropriate problems.
– Customers expect a level of service and will not pay for your inefficiencies
• in business processes
• in Information technology implementation
• You can compete on factors other than cost
– Service
– Quality
– Lower order quantities
– Faster deliveries
• These factors can be helped by IT with proper implementation
– Better knowledge of global market conditions
– Better integration and communications with customers
– Better internal communications and controls
– Automated manufacturing processes, improved quality control
– Just-in-time manufacturing
Management Information Systems
Developing IS Solutions
 Historical Development

• We used to think ancient people had no computing technology

• They just used machines and tools for help with physical labor
 Antikythera Mechanism

• Fragments discovered in 1900

• From around the 1st century BC
• Mechanical computer
• For astronomical calculations
 Mechanical Calculators
• For the next 1500 years we did go back to the abacus
• Tables for navigation or scientific work had many mistakes
• 1600's – 1800's, gear technology was re-applied
 Mechanical Calculators
• The program was in the hardware itself ...

Reckoner 1674

Schickard 1623

Pascaline 1642
Difference Engine, 1822
 Mechanical Computer

– Analytical Engine
– Designed by Babbage
– General Purpose, Programmable
• store (memory)
• mill (computation unit)
• input section (punched card reader)
• output section (punched or printed)
– Ada Lovelace was the first programmer Analytical Engine, designed 1837-1871
– Program on punched cards
– Technologically infeasible at the time
– Insufficient funding
– How can we make such advanced computers today?
• we use computers to design and manufacture newer computers
• better computers  increased applications  more investments
 Electromechanical Computers

• Late 1800's on, electromagnetic circuits

Punched Card Electromechanical Tabulators

• Hermann Hollerith, 1890

Punched Card Electromechanical Tabulators

• Programming
– connecting cables on a panel
– later removable panels
• offline programming

• Idea became popular

• Many businesses started using it
• Company later became IBM
 Electromechanical Relay Computers
• Konrad Zuse 1930’s and early 40’s
 Electromechanical Relay Computers
• Mark I, Howards Aitken, 1942
– 8 feet tall, 51 feet long, 2 feet thick, weighed 5 tons,
– used about 750,000 parts
– memory on decimal wheels, instructions on paper tape
 Electronic Computers
• The first digital electronic computer was the Colossus
 Electronic Computers
• Vacuum Tube Technology
 Electronic Computers
• Vacuum Tube Technology
 First Generation

• First generation electronic computers

– Used vacuum tubes
– Punched cards for input/ output
– Rotating magnetic drums for internal storage
– Programs were in machine or assembly language
 First Generation

• ENIAC by Eckert and Mauchley

– was to be used for calculating tables for heavy artillery
– finished in 1946 after the war was over
• occupied a building
• weighed 30 tons
• consumed 140kW of power
• used 17500 vacuum tubes,
• 1500 relays
– Had to be programmed by
• Setting up to 6000 switches
• connecting wires to sockets
– First major calculation wrong
– Right answer 20% of the time
– 1000 times faster than Mark I
– Many similar computers followed
• EDSAC, ILLIAC etc ...
– Inventors started their company
• Later became Unisys
 First Generation

• Successor EDVAC was not a great success

• Led to a report on EDVAC by John von Neumann

• Neumann and his colleagues developed the IAS in 1952

– computer at the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton
 First Generation

• IAS is very similar to modern computers in architecture

• Modern machines follow the von Neumann architecture
• The von Neumann machine has
– Memory that stores data and instructions Central Processing Unit

– arithmetic logic unit

– control unit Arithmetic
– input and output Logic
unit

Input/
Main
Output
Memory

Program
Control
unit
 First Generation

• At the same time

– MIT developed a computer Whirlwind I for real-time control
• led to the development of Ferrite Core memory
• eventually led to the development of mini-computers

– IBM started to develop vacuum tube based mainframes in 1953

• dominated scientific computing
• series ran from 701 to 709

– Eckert and Mauchely developed the UNIVAC

• general purpose commercial computer
 Second Generation

• Transistor technology
• Shockley, Bardeen and Brittain, 1948
– solid state device
– logic element is on a slice of silicon
– compared to vacuum tubes
• much smaller
• much more reliable
– made vacuum tubes obsolete in 10 years
 Second Generation

• Second generation computers

– Used transistors for logic elements
– Magnetic tape and disks began to replace punched cards
– Magnetic cores were the primary internal memory
– Supported higher level languages like FORTRAN and COBOL

• MIT built the first transistor-based computer, TX-0

– like the Whirlwind I
– was a preliminary test device for TX-2
 Second Generation

• IBM built the 7090, a transistorized version of the 709

– Fastest computer in the world at the time

• Kenneth Olsen from the TX-2 group started DEC

– the company created the first minicomputer, PDP 1
– half the performance of 7090
– cost $120,000 whereas the 7090 cost millions
 Third Generation

• Third generation computers

– Around 1960 the integrated circuit was developed
• Kilby and Noyce developed it independently
– the idea is to put more than one transistor on a wafer
– makes circuits much smaller, faster, much more reliable
 Third Generation

• Third generation computers

– individual transistors were replaced by integrated circuits
– magnetic tape and disks replaced punch cards
– memory started to be based on semiconductor chips
– Operating systems were developed
– Advanced programming languages like BASIC developed
 Fourth Generation

• Fourth generation computers

– trend is to put more and more transistors on one chip
• LSI, VLSI
– microprocessors where entire CPU is on one chip
• ALU, control, memory circuits
– development of personal and mobile computing
– applications such as spreadsheets, word-processing
– graphical user interfaces such as Windows, OS X, X-Windows
 Fourth Generation

• Enabling technologies
– Surface mount manufacturing

• Primary concerns
– Heat Dissipation
 Overview of Trend

• Computer technology has developed very fast

– Faster, better, cheaper, more reliable, smaller
 Overview of Trend

• Capabilities continue to rise and prices keep falling

 Overview of Trend

• Applications programming is much easier

– hardwired in the mechanical tabulator and ENIAC
– machine level or assembly level in 1st generation
– Fortran, COBOL in second generation
– BASIC, C, in third generation
– visual and graphic programming in 4th generation
 Types of Computers

• The definition does not consider computer capabilities

– how much data it can store
– how fast it can process data
– does it output colored video

• Performance requirements depend on the application

– traded-off versus considerations such as cost, size, weight

• A variety of devices qualify to be called computers

 Disposable Computers
• Disposable computers are the smallest
• Cost a few cents
• Typically store a small amount of information
• Almost no processing
– musical greeting cards
– radio frequency identification (RFID) chips
– smart cards
 Microcontrollers
• Microcontrollers are also called embedded computers
• Found in devices such as
– home appliances and electronics
– computer peripherals
– medical devices
– automobile systems
• Cost a few dollars
• Programmed by manufacturer specific to application
• Interact with user through device controls
• Work in real time
• Need to fit device constraints on size, power and weight
 Game Boxes
• Sony PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo
• Cost in the range of $100
• Processor slower than the latest personal computers
• Optimized for
– highly interactive 3-D gaming
– high quality stereo
• Not many options for upgrades or extensions
 Personal Computers

• Most familiar type of computer

• Earlier PC’s were for home use
• Professional work needed workstations
– faster processors such as SunSPARC
– better graphics quality
• The difference is smaller now
• Notebooks are designed for mobility
– configured to be smaller
– lighter than PC’s
– consume less power
• PDAs are miniature versions
 Servers
• Basically higher capability PC’s or workstations
– can have one or more processors
– much larger memory
– higher disk space
– high speed network connections
– used on networks
– handle thousands of transactions per second
 Mainframes
• Can carry out billions of calculations per second
• Can access vast amounts of data
• Cost hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars
• Used by large corporations
– banking, airline reservations, aerospace, government accounting
 Supercomputers
• Supercomputers cost millions of dollars
• Parallel computing based on many processors
• Carry out trillions of calculations per second
– weather prediction
– simulating nuclear explosions
– complex engineering simulations

NEC SX-9 Supercomputer

 Clusters of Workstations

• Supercomputers are becoming less popular

• Workstations can be interconnected into a cluster
• Special software lets them work together on one problem
• Cheaper as clusters are formed from COTS computers
• Easily scalable depending on the size of the problem
 Common Points

• Modern computers have basic commonalities

– store all data in terms of binary digits
– use simple semiconductor circuits which can basically
• add or subtract numbers
• compare two numbers
• The overall architecture can be divided as
– Physical level
– Digital Logic level
– Microarchitecture level
– Instruction Set Architecture level
– Operating System Level
– Assembly and High Level Languages
 Packaging Levels
• Chip
– digital logic elements
– memory elements
– on-chip circuitry

• Component
– protects the chip
– signal, power lines
– heat dissipation

• Board
– mechanical support
– signal, power connections
– expansion slots
– connectors for other boards
– connectors for peripherals

• System
– board backplane
– power supply
– cooling system