Page 8 - DCAP309_INFORMATION_SECURITY_AND_PRIVACY

Information Security and Privacy
Notes
2 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY
Any system designed to provide Information with above-discussed qualities to the managers in
an organization for decision-making is called an ‘Information System.’ But before formalizing
the word ‘Information System’, we need to understand the meaning of the term ‘System’ in more
detail and then look into the ‘Management Information System’ which is an important subset of
the overall information system in an organization.
1.1 Information Systems: Meaning
The word ‘System’ is a common term that we use in daily life. Literally speaking, a system is a
set of components that interact to accomplish some purpose or in other words, a system is a set
of interrelated components or objects that work together for the overall objective.
The term, system, is taken from the word ‘Systema’ which means an organized relationship
among its components. The system can be defined as orderly grouping of interdependent
components linked together according to plan to achieve a specific objective or goal. Therefore,
a system is designed to achieve one or more objectives. The components/parts of a system refer
to sub-system. A ‘sub-system’ is a system which is an element of a larger system. The large
system is called a super system or supra system.
Although the word, system, is used in many diverse areas, all systems have some common
properties—they have elements, environments, and communication between their elements
and with the environment. A system is designed to achieve a predefined objective. Also,
interrelation and interdependence must exist amongst the components.
So, broadly we can define a system as an organized collection of people, machines, procedures,
documents, data or any other entities such that they interact with each other as well as with the
environment to reach a predefined goal.
Now, it is time to see the real meaning and concept of Information Systems. Too often you hear
someone say, “Oh yeah, I know how to use a computer. I can surf the Web with the best of them
and I can play Solitaire for hours. I’m really good at computers.” Okay. So that person can pound
a keyboard, use a mouse at lightning speed, and has a list of favorite Web sites a mile long. But
the real question is “Is that person’s information literate?” Just because you can pound the
keyboard it doesn’t necessarily mean that you can leverage the technology to your advantage or
the advantage of your organization. An organization can gather and keep all the data on its
customers that a hard drive can hold. You can get all the output reports that one desk can
physically hold. You can have the fastest Internet connection created to date. But if the organization
doesn’t take advantage of customer data to create new opportunities, then all it has is useless
information. If the output report doesn’t tell the management that it has a serious problem on
the factory floor, then all that’s been accomplished is to kill a few more trees. If you don’t know
how to analyze the information from a Website to take advantage of new sales leads, then what
have you really done for yourself today?
Task Make distinction between sub-system and super system.
Self Assessment
Fill in the blanks:
1. Any system designed to provide Information with above-discussed qualities to the
managers in an organization for decision-making is called an ..................... .