Infrastructure

Infrastructure, generally, is the set of interconnected structural

elements that provide the framework for supporting the entire
structure. It usually applies only to structures that are artificial. The
term is used differently in a variety of fields; perhaps the single most
well-known usage is in economics, where it refers to physical
infrastructure such as buildings and roads.
The notion that a structure has an internal framework is popular
especially in business organizations where a dependency on
interconnected information technology systems has become as
prevalent as a city's dependency on interconnected conveyance
systems for power, people and things.
Information infrastructure consists of the physical facilities services and
management that support all computing resources in an organization.
There are five major components of infrastructure

• Computer hardware
• General purpose software
• Networks & communication facilities
• Databases
Each of these components is designed in such manner to collectively meet
the needs and objectives of the organization.
The infrastructure will include
• The detailed configuration of the hardware
• Design of the operating system,
• Documentation of the operational and application software, and
• Documentation on how to technically manage and operate the entire
system
• Infrastructure also includes the integration, operation, documentation,
maintenance and management the components as defined in
infrastructure.
• It is guideline to how specific computing resources are arranged,
operated and managed.
9.1 Architecture
Architecture more specifically is related to defining the information
needs and how these will be obtained through the various application
software modules. Architecture is the “Blueprint” that provides the
conceptual foundation for building information infrastructure and specific
applications.
It is a way of mapping information requirements and resources.
Architecture covers following components:
• The business needs of the information
• Existing planned information infrastructure and applications in the
organizations.
9.1.1 Information Architecture
In context of web design Information (Or design for related media
Information). Architecture is defined by the Information Architecture
Institute as
1. The structural design of shared information environments.
2. The art and science of organizing and labeling web sites, intranets,
online communities and software to support usability.
An alternate definition of Information Architecture exists within the
context of information system design, in which information architecture
refers to data modeling and the analysis and design of the information in
the system, concentrating on entities and their interdependencies.
Data modeling depends on abstraction; the relationship between the
pieces of data is of more interest than the particulars of individual
records, though cataloging possible values is a common technique.
The term information architecture describes a specialized skill set which
relates to the management of information and employment of
informational tools. It has a significant degree of association with the
library sciences. Many library schools now teach information
architecture.
9.2 Components/Sub-Systems of CBIS
Following are the components / subsystems of CBIS
• Transaction Processing System
• Management Information System
• Support Systems
• Office Automation System
• Decision Support System
• Knowledge System
• Executive Support System
Let’s consider them one by one.
9.3 Transaction Processing System
This system is used to record transactions of routine and repetitive
nature.
For Instance
• Defining eh transaction recording structure
• Placing customer orders
• Billing customers
• Other basic business transactions
Features
• It is a repetitive number crunching system.
• Today the transaction processing systems are more sophisticated
and complex but spirit is same, that is to record routine business
transactions, irrespective of their complexity, so as to help in
analysis and report generation at a higher level.
• Help to cater needs for operational level management.
• Rapid Response
Fast performance with a rapid response time is critical. Businesses
cannot afford to have customers waiting for a TPS to respond, the
Reliability
• Many organizations rely heavily on their TPS; a breakdown will disrupt
operations or even stop the business. For a TPS to be effective its failure
rate must be very low. If a TPS does fail, then quick and accurate recovery
must be possible. This makes well–designed backup and recovery
procedures essential.
Inflexibility
• A TPS wants every transaction to be processed in the same way
regardless of the user, the customer or the time for day. If a TPS were
flexible, there would be too many opportunities for non-standard
operations, for example, a commercial airline needs to consistently accept
airline reservations from a range of travel agents, accepting different
transactions data from different travel agents would be a problem.
Controlled processing
• The processing in a TPS must support an organization's operations. For
example if an organization allocates roles and responsibilities to particular
employees, then the TPS should enforce and maintain this requirement.
Data Processing Tasks
• Major data processing tasks which a TPS is expected to per form are
• Data identification and Gathering – keying in the data or obtaining it
directly from machines by providing suitable interface
• Data manipulation/Analysis – refers to transformation of data into
information
• Classifying
• Sorting
• Calculating
• Summarizing
• Data storage – data is kept somewhere in a sequenced manner until
when needed.
• Document Preparation – output for managers as reports or as input to
other systems.
• Goals a TPS is supposed to achieve are predefined and highly
structured, for instance
• Checking a customer’s credit limit every time an order is received
9.4 Management Information System
MIRS makes information available to relevant users by producing pre-
determined and pre-designed reports required by the management.
Management information system helps middle level management
planning, controlling and decision making.
The data stored can be used or manipulated to produce differently
defined reports from pre-defined reports. It can be presented graphically
or pictorially. The reports generated by the MIS are used for analytical
decision making by the management. The application software can
construct projections, build scenarios, do what if analysis to enable
better decision making.
For Example
MIS will use the TPS data to generate monthly and weekly summaries as
per requirement (product, customer and salesperson. Major purpose is
report generation. We would discuss major types of reports.
• Periodic reports – daily, weekly, monthly, annually, format is
predefined and structured for convenience.
• Special – Management by Exception reports only when a special event
occurs which needs to be monitored. For instance
• Report sequence to highlight- fast moving & slow moving
Support Systems
Seeing the benefits of MIS for middle level managers, Computerised
systems have been devised for other employees in the organization to
help them complete their work efficiently and effectively.
10.1 Support systems can be classified into two categories
• Office automation systems
• Decision support systems
10.1.1 Office Automation Systems
Office automation system includes formal and informal electronic
systems primarily concerned with the communication of information to
and from persons both inside and outside the firm. It supports data
workers in an organization.
For Instance
• Word processing
• Desktop publishing
• Imaging & Web publishing
• Electronic calendars – manager’s appt. calendars
• Email
• Audio & video conferencing – establishing communication between
geographically dispersed persons.
10.1.2 Decision Support Systems
Before moving forward with the concept of decision support system, we
would take a look at the definition of MIS
“An integrated man-machine system for providing information to support
the operations, management and decision making functions in an
organization.”
(Prof. Gordon Davis University of Minnesota)
Four Criteria for designing models and systems to support management
decisions making were laid down
by J.D.C. Little. These were
• Robustness
• Ease of Control
• Simplicity
• Completeness of relevant detail
Decision Support Systems was defined by Bill Inmon, father of data
warehouse, as
“a system used to support managerial decisions. Usually DSS involves
the analysis of many units of data in a heuristic fashion. As a rule, DSS
processing does not involve the update of data”
Heuristic simply means a particular technique of directing one’s
attention in learning, discovery or problem solving. It assists in non-
routine decision making process due to powerful analytical abilities.
For Instance
For any scenario all the related factors with their ranges of variability
are entered into DSS, which helps guide managers for any new scenario
that emerges. DSS can stimulate innovation in decision making by
helping managers to existing decision making procedures.
An example of Decision Support System
An outfit store maintains ready made garments and stitched clothes for
various classes of society. Due to
fluctuating changes in fashion trends, pre-seasonal planning becomes
critical.
• A Planning and forecasting software can be used by management to
• When to initiate clearance sales for old stock
• Deciding about discount percentages
• When to order new stock for the season
10.2 Functionalities of MIS and DSS
1 Provides information on monitoring and controlling the business. Helps
in non routine decision making.
2 Fixed and regular reports are generated from data kept in TPS. Users
are not linked with the structured information flows.
3 Report formats are predefined. Greater emphasis on models, display
graphics & ad hoc queries.
4 User is part of the system DSS is a small part of users’ actions.
5 Controlled by IT Dept. Directly used by middle level managers