Information Systems - University of Florida

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Information

Systems

Information Systems

Richard T. Watson (editor)

University of Georgia

Copyright ? 2007 by the Global Text Project

This book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License

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Table of Contents

Preface...............................................................................................................................................................7

1. Being a systems innovator......................................................................................................9

Being a systems innovator................................................................................................................................9

Systems innovators are designers...................................................................................................................12

Innovations are new answers to problems.....................................................................................................13

Innovations are also reactions to change.......................................................................................................13

Exciting times for systems innovators............................................................................................................14

General insights into human (and information) systems..............................................................................15

General implications for a systems innovator................................................................................................15

How can I innovate?.......................................................................................................................................16

What do innovations achieve?........................................................................................................................17

Innovations achieve new products and profits..............................................................................................18

Innovations increase effectiveness.................................................................................................................19

2. 2. Achieving Efficiency and Effectiveness through Systems...............................................23

Introduction....................................................................................................................................................23

What is an information system?.....................................................................................................................23

IT is not information system..........................................................................................................................24

The four components of an information system............................................................................................24

Effectiveness...................................................................................................................................................29

3. Achieving efficiency and effectiveness through systems design.........................................36

Introduction....................................................................................................................................................36

Development process: from idea to detailed instructions.............................................................................36

Issues..............................................................................................................................................................39

Overall development strategy.........................................................................................................................43

Requirements..................................................................................................................................................45

Architecture....................................................................................................................................................50

Design.............................................................................................................................................................52

Code................................................................................................................................................................58

Test..................................................................................................................................................................58

Maintain..........................................................................................................................................................64

4. Business process modeling and process management........................................................69

Understanding the key steps of process management...................................................................................69

What is a process and what are the different types of processes?.................................................................70

Process orientation as prerequisite for process management.......................................................................72

What is business process modeling and what is it good for?.........................................................................74

Modeling with ePK..........................................................................................................................................77

Software for process modeling and process support.....................................................................................79

Process analysis and the benchmarking of processes...................................................................................80

A roadmap to process management...............................................................................................................84

5. Information systems methodologies....................................................................................89

Introduction....................................................................................................................................................89

Selecting a methodology ................................................................................................................................95

Quality selection criteria of methodologies....................................................................................................97

Methodologies misuse....................................................................................................................................97

6. Implementing systems........................................................................................................101

Introduction..................................................................................................................................................101

Demand for Knowledge Harvesting.............................................................................................................102

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Formalizing the Knowledge Harvesting Process..........................................................................................102

Current Practices in Knowledge Harvesting................................................................................................104

Bridge Building.............................................................................................................................................107

Recommendations........................................................................................................................................108

7. How hardware and software contribute to efficiency and effectiveness...........................112

Hardware progress........................................................................................................................................113

Progress in electronic technology.................................................................................................................114

Progress in storage technology......................................................................................................................115

Progress in communication technology........................................................................................................117

Software progress.........................................................................................................................................120

Batch processing...........................................................................................................................................120

Time sharing..................................................................................................................................................121

Personal computers.......................................................................................................................................121

Local area networks......................................................................................................................................123

Wide area networks¡ªthe Internet................................................................................................................124

Open source software....................................................................................................................................125

User supplied content...................................................................................................................................125

Composite applications.................................................................................................................................127

Software as a service.....................................................................................................................................128

Mobile, portable and location-aware applications.......................................................................................129

The long tail...................................................................................................................................................131

Collaboration support applications..............................................................................................................132

Will the progress continue?..........................................................................................................................134

Bumps in the information technology road..................................................................................................135

Capacity to handle video traffic....................................................................................................................135

Data center capacity and electric power.......................................................................................................136

Inequity.........................................................................................................................................................136

Vested interests can impede progress...........................................................................................................137

Intellectual property restrictions..................................................................................................................138

Security and privacy......................................................................................................................................139

8. Utilizing data for efficiency and effectiveness....................................................................142

Introduction .................................................................................................................................................142

Organizational decision making ..................................................................................................................142

Decision making: systems view ....................................................................................................................145

Using data to improve decision making ......................................................................................................147

9. Managing data for efficiency...............................................................................................156

Introduction and Data Modeling..................................................................................................................156

The role of data management technologies in achieving organizational efficiencies..................................158

Representing reality through data management.........................................................................................160

What are data?...............................................................................................................................................161

Question .......................................................................................................................................................162

Questions.......................................................................................................................................................163

Information and meaning.............................................................................................................................163

Knowledge.....................................................................................................................................................164

Data versus reality.........................................................................................................................................164

Granularity....................................................................................................................................................166

Question........................................................................................................................................................167

Identity..........................................................................................................................................................167

Assigning values............................................................................................................................................175

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Derived data values.......................................................................................................................................176

Representing composite entities...................................................................................................................178

Relationships.................................................................................................................................................179

Meta-data.......................................................................................................................................................181

10. Opportunities in the network age.....................................................................................185

Introduction..................................................................................................................................................185

Traditional strategy and killer applications.................................................................................................186

The five new forces........................................................................................................................................187

How the new five forces work in industries and markets............................................................................192

11. Opportunities in business to business systems................................................................202

What is integration and why is it important?..............................................................................................202

History of B2B systems................................................................................................................................206

What is a B2B system?..................................................................................................................................207

B2B technologies..........................................................................................................................................208

Challenges for B2B adoption........................................................................................................................212

Buyer Issues..................................................................................................................................................214

Supplier issues ..............................................................................................................................................214

Opportunities: New business models enabled by B2B systems...................................................................215

Future of B2B systems..................................................................................................................................215

12. Opportunities in peer-to-peer systems ............................................................................219

P2P in its historical context .........................................................................................................................220

Peer-to-peer file sharing...............................................................................................................................223

Other P2P Internet applications: communication, commerce, and collaboration.....................................226

One-to-one P2P applications........................................................................................................................227

One-to-many P2P applications....................................................................................................................229

Many-to-many P2P applications..................................................................................................................230

P2P and the Law of the Double-Edged Sword.............................................................................................232

13. Opportunities for new organizational forms....................................................................236

What is an organization?..............................................................................................................................237

Management and the Division of Labour....................................................................................................239

What Do Managers Do?...............................................................................................................................240

Development of information and communication technology....................................................................242

An interim summary....................................................................................................................................244

New Models of Organization........................................................................................................................244

Critique and Conclusions.............................................................................................................................250

14. Information systems security...........................................................................................252

Background...................................................................................................................................................252

The Principles...............................................................................................................................................257

Conclusion....................................................................................................................................................262

15. Avoiding information systems failures.............................................................................265

Managing the delivery of IS services: The role of IT infrastructure............................................................266

Defining information system failure: Confidentiality, integrity and availability........................................269

Potential causes of systems failure...............................................................................................................270

Mitigating risk: Reducing the probability of system failure.......................................................................272

16. Green IS: Building Sustainable Business Practices.........................................................290

Sustainability................................................................................................................................................290

The need for green IS and green IT..............................................................................................................291

The information drives ................................................................................................................................292

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