Management Information Systems

1) Define Information Technology. Describe various types of information systems. Is Information Technology as vital to modern global business as money? Why or why not? Discuss some trends in IT development. Ans: In order to define Information Technology, let me define the term information first. By the term "information" we mean data that has been shaped into meaningful form that is useful to human beings. Data, in contrast, are streams of raw facts representing events occurring in the organization or physical environment before it has been organized and arranged into a form that people can understand & use. (Put diagram similar to the one in Laudon page 17 figure 1-3 and explain the example). .The technology plays the role of delivering timely & error free information to all the required recipients who are users of this information. In the context of a business firm technology consists of all the hardware and software that a firm needs to use in order to achieve its business objectives. This includes not only computer machines, disk drives and handheld mobile devices but also software, such as windows or Linux operating systems, the microsoft desktop productivity suite and many thousands of computer programs found in a typically large business firm. IT has become a major facilitator of business activities in the world today. IT is also a catalyst of fundamental changes in the strategic structure and management of operations. IT can help in : * Improving Productivity * Reducing Cost * Improving decision making * Facilitating Collaboration * Enhancing Customer Relationships * Developing new strategies IT in its narrow definition, refers to the technological side of an information system. It includes the hardware, software, data & database, networks and other electronic devices. It can be considered as a subsystem of Information systems which has a wider definition as a system which is used for collecting, storing, analyzing and disseminating information for a