Information Systems Infrastructure (IS3314) 3 rd year BIS 2006 / 2007 Fergal Carton Business Information Systems
Last week Course objectives Basic flows of information in business Finance – cash Sales – orders, customers HR – employees
This week Homework – LowFares.com Sales information Data and information Basic flows of information in business Finance – cash Assessment dates
Course objectives Basic flows of information (Finance / HR / Sales) Understanding requirements for IS support Business processes & related applications Introduction to ERP systems ERP implementation projects IS issues in multi-national organisations
Basic flows Basic flows of information in business Finance – cash Sales – orders, customers HR – employees
Basic flows Difference between data and information?
Basic flows Difference between data and information? Information is data with a purpose
Data and information What is data? Numbers, characters, Stored as bits, bytes, … What is information? Organised data Data linked to a “physical” attribute (weight) Can be linked to a “virtual” attribute (price)
Basic flows Finance Sales HR
Basic flows Finance Sales HR
Basic flows Finance Sales HR Payroll Targets Comm
Basic flows Sales Availability Reservation # Seat # Customer name Loyalty card # Quantity Price Payment method … Airline Flight # Class Capacity Origin Destination Date Time
Basic flows Sales Customers & orders Availability Reservation # Seat # Customer name Loyalty card # Quantity Price Payment method … Products Airline Flight # Class Capacity Origin Destination Date Time
What about Marketing? Sales Customers & orders Availability Reservation # Seat # Customer name Loyalty card # Quantity Price Payment method … Products Airline Flight # Class Capacity Origin Destination Date Time Customer type Order type € year to date Revenue Profitability Sales channel Hotel / Car Hire
Business processes & related applications What is a business process? A business process is how a user in a given function or department might describe, in their own words, the sequence of tasks that make up their work. What is an application? Applications are information systems or tools that support users in their daily tasks, usually with the aim of automating the more time consuming elements of those processes.
Finance: eyes on the road ahead and on the rear-view mirror Control of costs and revenues Report on results to directors and shareholders Plan expenditure (budgets) Pay suppliers (including employees!) Collect cash from customers Manage cash flow and currency exposure Plan for financing requirements (eg. acquisitions)
Finance requirements Smooth transaction processing and A “crisp” database for reporting
Finance requirements Reliable, “one source of the truth” Efficient, automate manual processes Secure, safe from intrusion and disaster Easy to use, visual and accessible Fast, access to up to date information Ability to analyse, download to Excel
Finance requirements Planning (€ targets) Delivering (revenue, savings) Reporting (performance against goals)
Sales vs. Finance views Sale concluded, revenue = € x Cash collected, receipt = € y Discount level? Good payer? Paid in full? Paid when?
Assessment dates 40% for course work during the year –20% case study on 14 th November –20% MCQ on 12 th December
Recommended reading Introduction to Information Systems –Essentials for the e-Business Enterprise James A. O’Brien Publisher : McGraw Hill/Irwin 11 th Edition, 2003 Corporate Information Strategy & Management Applegate, Austin & McFarlan Publisher: McGraw Hill 6th edition, 2003
Recommended reading