What are the six types of information systems

5th Oct 2016

This is Part 1 of a 3-part series on building Information Systems:

Part 1 - [You Are Here] - Six types of Information Systems

Part 2 - How To Develop and Implement Information Systems

Part 3 - Why Information Systems are a thing of the past

Here's the thing‚

The longer we work in IT and business, the more we rely on information systems to turn raw data into information and reports that make sense to us.

What is an Information System?

Information System is a system that handles the flow and maintenance of information, which supports the business operation.

The components of information systems are people, equipment, procedures and data.

Information Systems are used by organization for different purposes.

According to Wikipedia an information system is:

An Information System (IS) is a system composed of people and computers that processes or interprets information. The term is also sometimes used in more restricted senses to refer to only the software used to run a computerised database or to refer to only a computer system.

( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_system)

Looking at those two definitions, we know that Information systems can be broken down in 6 different components:

The first 4 components are used for a Computer-based information system:

  1. Hardware
  2. Software
  3. Data
  4. ProceduresIn addition to a purely computer based information system you will need the following two components to make your Information system work:
  5. People to use the system
  6. Feedback

 What to use Information Systems for

Businesses use Information systems for a variety of reasons. Due to the complexity of business processes, you need multiple information systems to support the various functions in a company.

The following are the six most common types of information systems and functions:

  1. Transaction Processing Systems (TPS) serve the people in the operational level of an organization. It collects and stores information about transactions, and controls some aspects of transactions. A sale of item in the store is an example of a transaction.
  2. Knowledge work systems (KWS) is used by technical staff as model functions to convert design specifications into graphical designs. It uses computer-aided design/manufacture (CAD/CAM).
  3. Office automation systems (OAS) serve those that belong to the knowledge level of an organization. The system helps individuals in the processing of personal and organizational data, perform calculations, and create documents. e.g. word processing, spreadsheets, file managers, personal calendars, presentation packages.
  4. Decision-support systems (DSS) help the strategic management staff (senior officers) in making decisions. The system uses information, models, or analysis tools in order for managers to make simulations and predictions. Example of DSS is the 5-year investment plan.
  5. Management information systems (MIS) serve the management level of the organization. The system condenses and converts the TPS data into information for purposes of monitoring performance and managing the organization. Transactions that were recorded in the TPS are analysed and reported by an MIS. Example of an MIS output is the budget report. Scheduled reports, Key Indicator reports, Exception reports, Ad hoc reports, Drill down reports.
  6. Executive support systems (ESS) serve the strategic level of an organization. A system provides top-level executive of a readily accessible, interactive format to get the overview of the entire organizations performance.

Each of these systems interact with each other and support a part of the business, as you can see in this video:

The next article in this series covers ideas and experiences with the development and implementation of Information Systems in organisations. 

Want to know more about Information Systems?

Check out The Art of Service LAB

Our Art of Service LAB has 1636 Information Systems related Files in 12 Toolkits : Click here to access [LAB]

  • Business Intelligence Analysis : 95 Total Files - Consisting of: 57 PDFs, 18 Word Documents, 20 Powerpoint Presentations
  • Database Administration : 237 Total Files - Consisting of: 108 PDFs, 59 Word Documents, 70 Powerpoint Presentations
  • Information Security : 220 Total Files - Consisting of: 108 PDFs, 44 Word Documents, 68 Powerpoint Presentations
  • Business Intelligence Analysis : 95 Total Files - Consisting of: 57 PDFs, 18 Word Documents, 20 Powerpoint Presentations
  • Database Administration : 237 Total Files - Consisting of: 108 PDFs, 59 Word Documents, 70 Powerpoint Presentations
  • Information Security : 220 Total Files - Consisting of: 108 PDFs, 44 Word Documents, 68 Powerpoint Presentations
  • IT Security : 106 Total Files - Consisting of: 56 PDFs, 23 Word Documents, 27 Powerpoint Presentations
  • Managing Scrum Projects with Team Foundation Server : 61 Total Files - Consisting of: 32 PDFs, 15 Word Documents, 14 Powerpoint Presentations
  • Mobile Application and Device Security : 82 Total Files - Consisting of: 18 PDFs, 32 Word Documents, 32 Powerpoint Presentations
  • Programming SQL : 93 Total Files - Consisting of: 42 PDFs, 18 Word Documents, 33 Powerpoint Presentations
  • Security Awareness : 120 Total Files - Consisting of: 58 PDFs, 29 Word Documents, 33 Powerpoint Presentations
  • Security Engineering : 101 Total Files - Consisting of: 53 PDFs, 24 Word Documents, 24 Powerpoint Presentations
  • Six Types of Information systems : 61 Total Files - Consisting of: 27 PDFs, 13 Word Documents, 21 Powerpoint Presentations
  • System and Network Security Introduction : 87 Total Files - Consisting of: 20 PDFs, 34 Word Documents, 33 Powerpoint Presentations
  • Web Development : 373 Total Files - Consisting of: 173 PDFs, 90 Word Documents, 110 Powerpoint Presentations
  • : 106 Total Files - Consisting of: 56 PDFs, 23 Word Documents, 27 Powerpoint Presentations
  • Managing Scrum Projects with Team Foundation Server : 61 Total Files - Consisting of: 32 PDFs, 15 Word Documents, 14 Powerpoint Presentations
  • Mobile Application and Device Security : 82 Total Files - Consisting of: 18 PDFs, 32 Word Documents, 32 Powerpoint Presentations
  • Programming SQL : 93 Total Files - Consisting of: 42 PDFs, 18 Word Documents, 33 Powerpoint Presentations
  • Security Awareness : 120 Total Files - Consisting of: 58 PDFs, 29 Word Documents, 33 Powerpoint Presentations
  • Security Engineering : 101 Total Files - Consisting of: 53 PDFs, 24 Word Documents, 24 Powerpoint Presentations
  • Six Types of Information systems : 61 Total Files - Consisting of: 27 PDFs, 13 Word Documents, 21 Powerpoint Presentations
  • System and Network Security Introduction : 87 Total Files - Consisting of: 20 PDFs, 34 Word Documents, 33 Powerpoint Presentations
  • Web Development : 373 Total Files - Consisting of: 173 PDFs, 90 Word Documents, 110 Powerpoint Presentations

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