Information Technology (IT) was born to support the needs within organizations. Among the IT applications are the automated Information Systems that serve for the recording of daily transactions and the generation of reports that present information with characteristics of importance, relevance, clarity, simplicity and timeliness in such a way that it is useful for people to who are delivered.
Its use is seen in many companies, ranging from a micro to large company classification; however, the application in each one may vary due to the magnitude of its activities, not due to its size. Among the most common applications are: Pay Sheets, Billing, VAT Registration, Bank Account Management, Inventory Control, Collections, Payments, Financial and Academic Records, Book Loan in Libraries, etc.
Each of these responds to the needs of the companies in which they are used; For example, in a commercial company the inventory of products can be automated in such a way that it increases when purchases are made and decreases when sales are registered.
Another application combined with this is the Register of Clients and Accounts Receivable, in which the opening of credit to clients is updated and their payments to the account are monitored until their definitive cancellation. Of course, this generates movement in financial data, so applications for Petty Cash and bank accounts are also used. Each of these is an automated Application through computer programs that, when integrated, form part of an Information System; in other words, the applications do not have to be separated from each other and are manipulated by people (users) who receive the data of each transaction. This data can appear in forms such as contracts, receipts, invoices and others.
When the users receive the data, they are prepared and entered into the company's Database through a computer application. The processing of this data depends on the purposes of each application in such a way that the appropriate information is generated and the respective reports are presented. The disposition of the data can be from the storage in a single computer to the connection of several for the access of the data through a Local Area Network and beyond this, in a Wide Area Network and whose technology can also support to access the Internet, intranets or extranets.
By reviewing the above, the following components of an Information System can be identified:
- Data: Isolated facts that by themselves do not mean much Information: Modified or combined data that have useful meaning for the recipient People: Employees (users) who make use of information systems and who develop them according to their position, manipulate, maintain or use the information resulting from them. Activities: Set of assignments or steps developed to complete a process or business function, such as: Record of purchases, sales, accounts receivable / payable; each of which is associated with a computer application.Networks: Integration of equipment in order to share hardware and software resourcesTechnology: Hardware and software that supports the rest of the components.
From the interrelation of these components, the following definition of Information System can be obtained:
"Integrated set of processes, developed in a user-computer environment, which supported by networks and computer technologies, operate on a set of structured data (Database) of an organization, collect, process and selectively distribute the necessary information, for the development of the daily activities of the organization and the activities of its management ”. (Gil Pechuán)
The information that is distributed with the systems is considered one of the valuable resources of organizations, in the sense that it is used to monitor daily activities. It should be taken into account then, that Information Systems help organizations to work smarter, not more complicated.
In fact, no one doubts that "information is power" so many organizations have the necessary resources to obtain and control it, since it and information technology help their competitive development, differentiating them from the competition. creating new products and services, new entry barriers, etc.
Thus, it follows that the fundamental role of information systems in companies is oriented to three areas:
- Business process support through:
- Transaction Processing Systems Industrial Process Control Systems Business Collaboration Systems
- Management decision-making support through:
- Management Information Systems with previously specified reports for managers Decision Support Systems Executive Information Systems
- Support to the strategy to generate competitive advantage
