Our professor gives us an assignment about the Elements of an Information System and this is what I have searched:))).. I'm going to pass it this afternoon.
Six Elements of an Information System
In
"Fundamentals of Information Systems," Ralph Stair and George
Reynolds define a computer-based information system (CBIS) as a "single
set of hardware, software, databases, telecommunications, people, and procedures
configured to collect, manipulate, store, and process data into
information." Some experts list five basic elements of a CBIS: hardware,
software, data, procedures and people. Others add a sixth element,
communications, to the list.
Hardware
·
Hardware is the
most obvious part of a computer-based information system. Hardware refers to
the computers themselves, along with any and all peripherals, including
servers, routers, monitors, printers and storage devices. A CBIS may use a
single computer or thousands.
Software
·
Without software,
the hardware wouldn't be very useful. Software, the second element of a CBIS,
is what tells the hardware how to function. It gathers, organizes and
manipulates data and carries out instructions. Everything you do using a
computer is done by the software.
·
Data
Data
·
Data, or
information, is the third element of a CBIS. Just as hardware cannot function
without software, software cannot function without data. This is the
information part of an information system, and whether that is statistical
data, sets of instructions, lists of names or even graphics and animations, it
is all key to a CBIS.
Procedures
·
It is commonly
said that "procedures are to people what software is to hardware."
The fourth element of CBIS, procedures are the rules, descriptions and
instructions for how things are done. In computer-based information systems,
procedures are frequently covered in instruction or user manuals that describe
how to use the hardware, software and data.
People
·
People are the most
often overlooked and most important part of a computer-based information
system. It is people who design and operate the software, input the data, build
the hardware and keep it running, write the procedures and it is ultimately
people who determine the success or failure of a CBIS.
Communication
·
Communication is
left out of some lists of CBIS elements, but for a CBIS that involves more than
one piece of hardware to function, communication or connectivity is a
necessity. This is, in part, because parts of it are covered under hardware.
The components that allow one computer to communicate with another are hardware
and are controlled by software. If communication between people is included in
this element, though, it is an important element.
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