69. Information System

In a general sense, the term information system (IS) refers to a system of persons, data records and activities that process the data and information in an organization, and it includes the organization's manual and automated processes. In a narrow sense, the term information system (or computer-based information system) refers to the specific application software that is used to store data records in a computer system and automates some of the information-processing activities of the organization. Computer-based information systems are in the field of information technology. The discipline of Business process modelling describes the business processes supported by information systems.

The term "information system" has different meanings: In computer security, an information system is described by the following components (Aceituno, 2004): Structure: Repositories, which hold data permanently or temporarily, such as buffers, RAM, hard disks, cache, etc. Usually, a database management system. Interfaces, which exchange information with the non-digital world, such as keyboards, speakers, scanners, printers, etc. Channels, which connect repositories, such as buses, cables, wireless links, etc. A Network is a set of logical or physical: an introduction to informatics in Organisations. The common view of an information system is that of an Information processor, that involves Input-Process-Output.

Information Systems has a number of different areas of work: Information Systems Strategy, Information Systems Management and Information Systems Development. There are a wide variety of career paths in the information systems discipline. "Workers with specialized technical knowledge and strong communications skills will have the best prospects. People with management skills and an understanding of business practices and principles will have excellent opportunities, as companies are increasingly looking to technology to drive their revenue."

From prior studies and experiences with information systems there are at least four classes of information systems: Transaction processing systems, Management information systems, Decision support systems, Expert systems and Business intelligence. Information System development: The IT Department partly governs the information technology development, use, application and influence on a business or corporation. A computer based information system, following a definition of Langefors, is: a technologically implemented medium for recording, storing, and disseminating linguistic expressions, as well as for drawing conclusions from such expressions. This can be formulated as a generalized information systems design mathematical program.