Management Information Systems (MIS) Two Days Workshop May 20-21, 2014 Secretariat Training Institute(Establishment Division) Islamabad, Pakistan Brief Introduction  Syed Ali Zahir Bukhari  Researcher / Lecturer / Grid Administrator (CERN-ALICE)  Department of Computer Science  COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Park Road, Chak-Shehzad, Islamabad, Pakistan.  Phone(Off): +92-51-9049-5358, Cell: +92-333-5338173  Email: [email protected], [email protected] Overview of Workshop  Classification of IS  What is MIS?  Historical Perspective (evolution)  Scope of MIS  MIS Organization  Sources of MIS  Characteristics of MIS  MIS and Web Technology  Types of MIS  MIS Output Reports  Components of MIS  Relationship b/w MIS & Other IS.  Functional Uses of MIS  Discussion Classification of IS Information Technology for Information System What is MIS?  An MIS provides managers with information and support for effective decision making, and provides feedback on daily operations  Output, or reports, are usually generated through accumulation of transaction processing data  Each MIS is an integrated collection of subsystems, which are typically organized along functional lines within an organization Historical Perspective (Evolution)  MIS evolution corresponds to the five phases in the development of computing technology:  Mainframe and minicomputer computing,  Personal computers,  Client/server networks,  Enterprise computing,  Cloud computing. Cont  Mainframe and minicomputer computing  The first era was ruled by IBM and their mainframe computers  These computers would often take up whole rooms and require teams to run them  As technology advanced, these computers were able to handle greater capacities and therefore reduce their cost.  Smaller, more affordable minicomputers allowed larger businesses to run their own computing centers in-house. Cont  Personal computers  The second era began in 1965 as microprocessors started to compete with mainframes and minicomputers and accelerated the process of decentralizing computing power from large data centers to smaller offices.  It provide access to computing power that ten years before would have cost tens of thousands of dollars.  This proliferation of computers created a ready market for interconnecting networks and the popularization of the Internet. Cont  Client Server  As technological complexity increased and costs decreased, the need to share information within an enterprise also grew.  Computers on a common network access shared information on a server.  This lets thousands and even millions of people access data simultaneously. Cont  Enterprise  The fourth era enabled high speed networks  Tied all aspects of the business enterprise together offering rich information access encompassing the complete management structure.  Every computer is utilized Cont  Cloud computing  The fifth era is the latest and employs networking technology to deliver applications as well as data storage independent of the configuration, location or nature of the hardware.  This, along with high speed cell phone and wifi networks, led to new levels of mobility in which managers access the MIS remotely with laptop and tablet computers, plus smart phones. Nature and Scope of MIS MIS Organization Functions of MIS  The prime objective to set up MIS in an organization is to use the management information by its managers for decisionmaking.  MIS needs to perform the following functions to meet its objective :  Capturing Data  Processing Data  Information Storage  Information Retrieval  Disseminating management information Cont (Functions)  Capturing data :  MIS performs usage of data whether manual or through computer terminals by using several internal and external springs of an association .  The data related to transactions that take place in the organization is stored in some physical medium such as a paper form or entering it directly into a computer system by the end users.  Processing data :  Processing data includes converting the captured data into the required management information .  To process the data, you need to perform various activities such as calculating, comparing, sorting, classifying and summarizing the data.  These data processing activities organize, mathematical, operations research and other business models. Cont (Functions)  Information storage :  MIS saves the less frequently used information as an organizational record and thus stores the processed or unprocessed data for future use.  Data and information are reserved and organized in the form of fields, records , files and databases for future use.  Information retrieval :  Information retrieval includes retrieving the stored information as per the requirements of the management users.  The retrieved information is used or is processed again to meet the exact management information demands.  Disseminating management information :  MIS end product is divided and distributed to the users in an organization.  This information could be periodic, through reports or online through computer terminals. Source of MIS Business transactions Transaction processing systems Operational databases Employees Corporate databases of internal data Databases of valid transactions Databases of external data Management information systems Corporate intranet Decision support systems Application databases Drill-down reports Exception reports Demand reports Key-indicator reports Input and error list Scheduled reports Executive support systems Expert systems Characteristics of a Management Information System  To help executives of an organization make decisions that advance the organization's goals.  MIS assembles data available from company operations, external inputs and past activities into information that shows what the company has achieved in key areas of interest, and what is required for further progress.  The most important characteristics of an MIS are those that give decision-makers confidence that their actions will have the desired consequences. 8-Key Characteristics  Understandable  Relevant  Complete  Available  Reliable  Concise  Timely  Cost-effective Cont…  Understandable:  Since information is already in a summarized form, it must be understood by the receiver (Executive) so that he will interpret it correctly.  He must be able to decode any abbreviations, shorthand notations or any other acronyms contained in the information. Cont..  Relevance  Information is good only if it is relevant.  This means that it should be significant and meaningful to the decision maker and should be in his area of responsibility.  Complete  It should contain all the facts that are necessary for the decision maker to satisfactorily solve the problem at hand using such information.  Nothing important should be left out.  Although information cannot always be complete, every reasonable effort should be made to obtain it. Cont….  Available  Information may be useless if it is not readily accessible ‘ in the desired form, when it is needed.  Advances in technology have made information more accessible today than ever before.  Reliable  The information should be counted on to be trustworthy.  It should be accurate, consistent with facts and verifiable.  Inadequate or incorrect information generally leads to decisions of poor quality. Cont…  Concise  Too much information is a big burden on management and cannot be processed in time and accurately due to “bounded rationality”.  Information should be to the point and just enough – no more, no less.  Timely  Information must be delivered at the right time and the right place to the right person.  Premature information can become obsolete or be forgotten by the time it is actually needed.  Similarly, some crucial decisions can be delayed because proper and necessary information is not available in time, resulting in missed opportunities.  Accordingly the time gap between collection of data and the presentation of the proper information to the decision maker must be reduced as much as possible. Cont…  Cost-effective  The information is not desirable if the solution is more costly than the problem.  The cost of gathering data and processing it into information must be weighed against the benefits derived from using such information.