Components and Infrastructures of Information Systems

Question one

An information system can be defined as a combination of hardware, software, infrastructure and trained personnel organized to facilitate planning, control, coordination, and decision making in an organization. This set of integrated components aid in collecting, storing and processing data in to information, knowledge and digital products.

Organizations rely on information systems to:

• Manage their daily operations
• Interact with their customers and suppliers
• Compete in the market places

It is made up of components that create, store, find, control, and access information. This computer based tool components includes the following:

• Hardware; these are the physical devices that enable data entry. For instance the keyboards, Phones.
• Software; tells the hardware what to do with various applications like excel.
• Data; raw material manipulated to generate information.
• People; Users who make other processes happen.
• Process; steps taken to accomplish a task especially while handling data.

Question two

Business architecture is a blueprint of the enterprise that provides a common understanding of the organization and is used to align strategic objectives and tactical demands

Information technology architecture is the process of development of methodical information technology specifications, models and guidelines.

Information infrastructure as all of the people, processes, procedures, tools, facilities, and technology which supports the creation, use, transport, storage, and destruction of information.

These are relate in a way that each plays part in forming up the information system of the organization.

Information systems and the organizations in which they are used interact with and influence each other. The introduction of a new information system will affect organizational structure, goals, work design, values, and competition between interest groups, decision making, and day-to-day behavior. At the same time, information systems must be designed to serve the needs of important organizational groups and will be shaped by the organization’s structure, tasks, goals, culture, politics, and management. Information technology can reduce transaction and agency costs, and such changes have been accentuated in organizations using the Internet. Information systems are closely intertwined with an organization’s structure, culture, and business processes. New systems disrupt established patterns of work and power relationships, so there is often considerable resistance to them when they are introduced. The complex relationship between information systems, organizational performance, and decision making must be carefully managed.