Introduction to MIS

Chapter 2
Components & Role of MIS
Outline
What types of computers are needed for
business applications?
What are the basic objects that computers
process?
What are the main components of a computer?
Why is the operating system so important?
How does the Internet change the role of
computers?
What are the main software applications used in
business?
MIS Objective
MIS is the use of hardware, software and
telecommunication networks to achieve
business objectives.
For example, if a person works for a
company that has clients in many different
locations, they will be required to visit the
clients from time to time.
The following diagram shows the
architecture of a typical MIS infrastructure :
Computer hardware
Computer hardware refers to the physical
devices such as servers, desktop computers,
laptops, portable devices, networking
devices, storage devices and printers, etc.
Let's now look at each of these elements
separately
Trends
Hardware
◦ Size (capacity)
◦ Speed (performance)
◦ Reliability
◦ Mobility and physical size
◦ Price
◦ Data types: Text, Images, Audio, Video
Software and Operating System Trends
◦ Original: User/Programmer
◦ Early: Sequential Questions
◦ Easier: Menus
◦ Current: User/Event Driven
Technology Trends
Cost of workers increasing
Cost of technology decreasing
Capabilities increasing
◦ Processing speed
◦ Storage capacity
◦ Types of data
 text
 image
 sound
 video

◦ Quality and reliability

◦ Communications
 Big Numbers (Terminology)
Term Approximate Power Power IEC Binary value
of 10 of 2 term
Kilo Thousand 3 10 Kibi 1024

Mega Million 6 20 Mebi 1,048,576

Giga Billion 9 30 Gibi 1,073,741,824

Tera Trillion 12 40 Tebi 1,099,511,627,776

Peta Quadrillion 15 50 Pebi 1,125,899,906,842,624

Exa Quintillion 18 60 Exbi 1,152,921,504,606,846,976

Zetta Sextillion 21 70 Zebi 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424

Yotta Septillion 24 80 Yobi …

Some people use different names for powers of ten versus two.
Powers of ten use a base of 1000.
Powers of two use a base of 1024.
The IEC (electrical) standard in 1999 defines different terms for decimal
versus binary numbers.
 Data Types
Input Process Output
000001100
Numbers 12 + 8 = 20
20
000001000
---------------
000010100

Text This is a test 84 104 73 115 … This is a test

0010000000000000000
0100000000000001001
0110000011000011011
0111111111111001111
Images 1111111111111011111
1111111111100011111

pitch or Time 
volume 

Sound
8905…
000001000 000001001 000010100 …

00101010111 00101010111 00101010111

Video 11010101010
01010101010
11110100011
11010101010
01010101010
11110100011
11010101010
01010101010
11110100011
00101011011 00101011011 00101011011

00101010111 00101010111
11010101010 11010101010
01010101010 01010101010
11110100011 11110100011
00101011011 00101011011
Application Objects
 Primary Objects  Primary Functions
◦ Text ◦ Cut
◦ Numbers ◦ Copy
◦ Pictures ◦ Paste
◦ Edit
◦ Sound
◦ Save and Retrieve
◦ Video
◦ Align
O bject At t r ibu t es F u n ct ion s
All Cu t , cop y, p a st e, ed it , s a ve,
r et r ieve, a lign .
N u m ber s P r ecis ion , sca le. Tot a l, ca lcu la t e, com p a r e.
Text T yp efa ce, size, bold , it a lic, et c. S ea r ch , for m a t , s p ell-ch eck .
Im a ge Resolu t ion , n u m ber of color s Color a n d ligh t ch a n ges
bit -m a p or vect or . r esca le, r ot a t e, blen d , et c.
S ou n d S a m p le r a t e, fr equ en cy & a m p lit u d e, Recor d, p la yba ck , fr equ en cy a n d
M ID I or sa m ple. a m p lit u d e s h ift s .
Vid eo In h er it im a ge a n d s ou n d a t t r ibu t es Recor d, p la yba ck
a n d fu n ct ion s, fr a m es p er secon d. com p r ess a n d d ecom pr ess .
 Audio Samples
frequency (pitch)
lower / higher

440.01

Frequency: (hertz) cycles per second

time

amplitude (volume)

37.15 Amplitude: height of the wave

time

How many measurements per second?

Two numbers, 16 bits each, times two for stereo.
Video: Adobe Premiere

Video capture
or animation
Transition

Video overlay

Superimpose text

Superimpose text

Audio (2 channels)
with volume fade.

NTSC Video, full screen, 30 fps: 3 MB/sec (compressed)

Data Compression

Storing every single pixel requires a huge amount of space.

Compression looks for patterns. For example, instead of storing
1000 black dots in a row, it is much shorter to store a note that
says 1000 black dots come next.

The JPEG standard supports lossy compression, which

matches patterns if they are close—saving more space, but
reducing quality.
Computer Components
Input Process Output

seconds - milliseconds
nanoseconds seconds - milliseconds
• Keyboard • Processor • Video monitor
• Mouse • RAM • Printer
• Optical scanner • Device controllers • Plotter
• Voice input • Process control
• Bar code • Voice output
Secondary
• Touch screen • Music synthesizers
• Light pen storage milliseconds • Other computers
• MICR • Magnetic Disk
• Magnetic strips • Floppy Disk
• Card reader • Optical Disk
• Other computers • Tape Drive
• USB Drive
 Motherboard

Basic Computer Board Disk drives

RAM
IDE
Processor
—under the SATA
fan and
heat sink

Power
supply

Keyboard, video, Graphics Expansion

and other connectors Onboard and slots
external
 Intel Processor Speeds by Year
SysMark 2007 Intel Processor Performance
300
Multi-core
250

200

150

100

50

0
1996

1998

2004

2006
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995

1997

1999
2000
2001
2002
2003

2005

2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
 Cache Memory
Processor
Cache on File
Processor Needed
Might need
Read ahead
Fast
Cache
Memory

Processor is faster than disk drive. Disk Drive

Reads ahead and stores several pieces Slow
of the file into cache memory.
Pulls data from cache as needed.
Cache is used as a buffer between two
devices of different speeds. Disk-
>RAM, RAM->Processor
Networking devices
Networking devices are used to
interconnect computing resources so that
they can communicate with each other.
Common networking devices include
networking hubs and switches, Wi-Fi
routers, etc.
What is a Server?
Reliability
Easy backup
Easy maintenance
Multi-user
Scalability
◦ Product family consistency (IBM)
◦ Server Farm (Microsoft)
What is a Client/Browser?
Display device/standards
User interface
Data collection
New: Wireless
◦ Cell phones
◦ Tablets
MIS System software, application
software, package software solutions
The software runs on top of the hardware.
Software refers to computer programs that
perform specific tasks. The software is usually
divided into two major categories namely system
and application software.
MIS System Software
Application Software
Software Categories
Operating System
Utilities
Programming Languages and Tools
Application
◦ General purpose examples
 Word processing
 Spreadsheets
 Graphics
◦ Single purpose examples
 Accounting
 Tax preparation
 Games
 CAD-CAM
Database Management Systems (DBMS)
 Operating Systems
Device
driver Device
driver
Device
Operating System driver
Device
 Operating system tasks. driver
◦ Identify user (security).
◦ User interface.
◦ Load applications.
◦ Coordinate devices.
 Device drivers for independence.
 Input.
 Process.
 Output.
 Secondary storage.
 Operating Systems: User Interface
Gr a ph ica l u ser in t er fa ce
Ta sk Win dows, Ma cin t osh
St a r t a pplica t ion Click on icon
Copy a file Dr a g icon wh ile h oldin g CTRL
k ey
List files Gr a ph ica l explorer
E dit file Mou se, keyboar d, m en u s
Im a ges, a u dio, et c. E m bedded in syst em
St a n da r ds Ven dor s volu n t ar ily im plem en t
st a n dar d act ion s.
St r en gt hs E a sier t o lea r n .
Mu lt im edia.
Com m a n d-lin e
DOS, U NIX, IBM CMS
Type t h e n a m e (m em or ize)
copy file n ew
dir *.*
k eyboa r d com m a nds (m em or ize)
n ot a va ila ble
E ver y pr ogr a m is differ en t .
F a st er for som e t ask s.
Less over h ea d (ch ea per syst em ).
 Virtual Machine (VM)
One set of computer hardware configured to
run multiple, independent operating systems.

Multiple core processor

VM1: Windows Server
1 processor, 4 GB RAM

Shared Memory VM2: Linux Database Server

2 processors, 8 GB RAM
Allocated
disk VM3: Windows PC
space Shared network 1 processor, 2 GB RAM

One physical Computer

You have to purchase operating systems and

software for each VM, but only one set of hardware.
Database features, data management,
designing databases

A database is a collection of related data

stored in one place with minimum
redundancy. Most business applications
record the day to day business transactions
through these databases. There are various
databases available for accessing and
storing data like RDBMS, NoSQL, XML,
etc.
Cloud Computing

Server and data

Display
browser
application
Telecommunication systems and
networks
Telecommunication is the exchange of
information over long distances.
Telecommunication uses transmitters and
receivers to facilitate communication.
Signals can be sent via physical cables or
the sent via a wireless network.
A telecommunication network refers to
multiple transmitters and receivers
exchanging data.
Data structures and algorithms

Data structures and algorithms are an

efficient way of organizing and managing
data, especially large datasets. Data structures
usually refer to the way the data is stored.
For example, a class is a representation of a
real-world entity. A customer class will
contain properties i.e. name, account number,
address, etc. and methods i.e. make a
purchase, make a payment, etc.
Summary:
Information technology as a business tool is used to
efficiently archive business goals and reduce
operational costs in the long run. At a minimum, an
implementation of information technology requires
hardware, software, and telecommunication networks.
Hardware refers to the physical devices such as
servers, workstations, printers, etc. The software most
used included database servers, email servers,
spreadsheet applications, word processors, etc. Local
area networks and sometimes wide area networks are
used to share resources among users.
Topics to study:
Computer Hardware
MIS System software, application
software, package software solutions
Database features, data management,
designing databases
Telecommunication systems and
networks
Data structures and algorithms