Information Systems Hardware – Creates a Competitive Edge
In an information-based economy, information plays a crucial role in speeding up decision making, reducing costs and improving productivity. It can also be used to improve management effectiveness. However, one key area that often gets left out is how information is stored and retrieved, and what impact that information has on organizational productivity.
In a nutshell, information is processed, structured and organized information. It gives context to data and allows effective decision making. For instance, a single customer’s sale in a restaurant is complex information systems-this becomes data when the company is able to accurately identify the top or bottom dish on the menu.
The problem, however, is that when processing this massive amount of information, no one is looking at the same information-there are five components involved. First, the format and design. This pertains to the way the information is transmitted and stored on different types of media. Next is the content, which refers to the actual text or images in the document. Then there are the formats, such as PDF and HTML, and finally there are the users, who will be responsible for opening, reading and printing the documents. By default, a computer system uses the word processing application software on its default function keys; this is why word processing application software is considered to be the foundation of any information systems.
The five components of a comprehensive information systems also include access control, distribution, accounting, central processing, and user access. The access control refers to the ways in which users gain access to different parts of a system. Some information systems use physical access control keys, while others rely on logical access control. Accounting is used to track all financial transactions and distribution can be performed on either an asset or a location basis.
In order for information systems hardware to work together, both input and output devices need to be designed and implemented. This means that if you want to have a web browser open on your personal computer, you need to make sure that your hardware can interface with the web browser, and that the connection is secure. The design of the information system’s hardware will determine how the software is developed, how well it works, and ultimately how well it interacts with the user. The distribution part involves making sure that users have easy access to the required hardware, and that the distribution does not hinder performance.
When the development of information systems was first started, the idea was to create better ways for organizations to gather and present data, as well as for companies to more easily process and utilize it. Over the years, however, competition has increased, and more organizations are relying on web technologies to increase their competitiveness. Wal-Mart relies heavily on ecommerce, and Google has been building out its own collection of informational technologies. The trends in information technology are changing the way we interact with each other, and that may mean that the knowledge that organizations have about how the web works could change the face of how we work.