DBMS-3

• Information systems


  An integrated set of components for collecting, storing and processing data and for providing information, knowledge and digital products
• Business firms and other organizations rely on information systems to carry out and manage their operations, interact with their customers and suppliers and compete in the market place
• Main components of information systems

  • Computer hardware and software
  • Telecommunications
  • Databases and data warehouses
  • Human resources and procedures
• Information technology (IT)


  The hardware, software and telecommunications that are ingrained in the operations and management of organizations
• Computer hardware


  • Processors, monitors, keyboards and printers
• Computer software


  Programs used to organize, process and analyze data
• Types of computer software

  • Systems software
  • Application software
• Operating system


  The principal system software that manages the hardware, data and program files and other system resources and provide means for the user to control the computer generally via graphical user interface (GUI)
• Application software


  Programs designed to handle specific tasks for users
• Telecommunications


  • Used to connect or network computer systems and portable and wearable devices and to transmit information
  • Connections established via wired or wireless media
• Wired technologies


  Coaxial cable and fibre optics
• Wireless technologies


  Predominantly based on the transmission of microwaves and radio waves, support mobile computing
• Database


  A collection of interrelated data organized so that individual records or groups of records can be retrieved to satisfy various criteria
• Data warehouse


  Contains the archival data, collected over time, that can be mined for information in order to develop and market new products, serve the existing customers better, or reach out to potential new customers
• Technical personnel


  • Development and operations managers
  • Business analysts
  • Systems analysts and designers
  • Database administrators
  • Programmers
  • Computer security specialists
  • Computer operators
• Human Resources and Procedures

  Describe how specific data are processed and analyzed in order to get the answers for which the information system is designed
• Types of information systems

  • Operations support systems
  • Management information systems
  • Decision support systems
  • Executive information system
• Operations support systems


  Information systems that complement a certain operation of the business, such as transaction processing systems used in banks
• Management information systems


  Information systems that gather data from multiple online systems, store and analyze it, and report it to help management make decisions
• Decision support systems


  Information systems that help an organization make informed decisions regarding its operations, by analyzing rapidly changing information
• Executive information systems


  Management support systems used in senior-level decision-making, with a focus on graphical representation and an easy-to-understand interface
• The types of information systems encountered by civil engineers can be grouped into general-purpose systems and special-purpose systems
• General-purpose systems


  Management information systems that process data at a fairly rudimentary level, providing effective insight into day-to-day operations for individual teams
• Database management system


  Databases that provide a uniform way of capturing and correlating information in a machine-readable format, useful for tasks like task scheduling, budgeting, and human resources
• Enterprise resource planning (ERP)


  Software package that facilitates comprehensive strategic planning for a large organization, with custom-built modules for different divisions
• Feedback management systems


  Systems that help manage feedback from a wide variety of internal and external stakeholders for a civil engineering project
• Document management systems


  Systems that facilitate collaboration between technical stakeholders by managing the documentation generated throughout a project
• Special-purpose systems


  Decision support systems designed to provide clarity for complex decisions by correlating expert input into a database
• Geographic information systems


  Software used for collecting, synthesizing, and visualizing complex topographical and geological information to aid in resource extraction, conservation, and transportation network optimization
• Expert systems


  Information systems developed using artificial intelligence techniques to correlate expert input into a database for making specific technical decisions
• Information engineering


  A systematic approach to the analysis, design, assessment, implementation, test, maintenance and reengineering of software, with an emphasis on decision support needs and transaction-processing requirements
• DP-driven variant of information engineering

  Focuses on providing detailed business area analysis and business system design as a solid basis for system design
• Business-driven variant of information engineering for rapid delivery

  Focuses on addressing a rapidly changing business environment
• Information architecture is the structural design of information or content within a digital product, focused on organizing and labeling websites so that users can find what they are looking for
• Main components of information architecture

  • Organization schemes and structures
  • Labeling systems
  • Navigation systems
  • Search systems
• Effective information architecture depends on the interplay between ontology, taxonomy, and choreography
• Ontology


  The meaning of the product's elements, such as labels and tags
• Taxonomy


  The science or technique of classification, putting like elements together in a hierarchical structure
• Choreography


  The user flow, the path through a product that a user can take to accomplish a task
• Information architecture heuristics are a set of principles that can be used to evaluate existing information architecture and help predict the effectiveness of design