STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Strategic Information Systems

Strategic Information Systems

Introduction

An information system established with the goal of creating competitive advantage and improving the competitive position of an organisation. A strategic information system supports and shapes the corporate strategy of an organisation, often leading to innovation in the way the organisation conducts its business, the creation of new business opportunities, or the development of products and services based on information technology. Strategic information systems represent a development in organisational use of information systems, following in the wake of MISs, EISs, and decision support systems.

An information system is a complex object that evolves in an even more complex. It would therefore be unrealistic to undertake the development of such a system without using an appropriate method and without a thorough knowledge of some tools and techniques. The manual, entitled the development of information systems: an integrated approach to the transformation process, which can be sometimes referred noting Rivard and Talbot, proposes a method that emphasizes the importance of an integrated approach to process improvement and business development of information systems. It describes the main tools available to the analyst, whose information-gathering techniques, modelling tools and documentation of business processes and information systems, data normalization and entity-relationship modeling (Huber, Piercy, McKeown, 2006, 103-117).

In practice, the term information system is used in a very general sense, both in technical literature and in general publications. For example, in Computing Reviews, information system is a major category that has subcategories: models and principles, database management, information storage and retrieval, and information systems applications. Computerworld annually lists the most effective users of information systems. Sometimes the term information processing system is used when the focus is on the processing of information rather than on its use. The term data processing system is frequently used synonymously with information processing system.

Background

Information systems accept (as input), store (in files or a database), and display (as output) strings of symbols that are grouped in various ways (digits, alphabetic characters, special symbols). Users of an information system attribute some value or meaning to the string of symbols. In this article, the emphasis is on the characteristics of systems rather than on the meaning attached to the output. One component of an information system is machines, or hardware, including the central processing units, or servers, and various input and output devices, such as personal computers, workstations, readers, printers, and terminals (Huber, Piercy, McKeown, 2006, 103-117). In distributed systems, the hardware also includes communication equipment. Next is a set of system software (hard software), including operating systems, utility programs, and database management systems.

The hardware and system software constitute the computer system or platform. In addition, there are programs specially prepared for the particular system, frequently known as application software, which are usually prepared in some high-level programming language. The data stored in and maintained by the system is called the database and is stored on auxiliary memory devices such as disks and tapes. In some systems, a distinction is made between data, applications software, and ...