TECHNOLOGY

RESOURCE P.K. OWUSU

SYSTEMS & APPLICATION SOFTWARE

 Objectives
 To define how the different forms of software contribute to an
organization and review issues in the software selection.

 Understand how different types of software support business

management.

 Assess how the information management applications can support

information flows within and between organizations.
 MANAGEMENT ISSUES

Typical questions facing managers related to this topic:

■ How do we select the appropriate portfolio of
information management applications?
■ Should we make, buy or rent software?
■ Should we adopt open-source software?
 The main categories of software
 When an end-user in an organization uses and manages
information using an information system, they use two main types
of information technology – software and hardware.
 ‘Software’ refers to the instructions or programs used to control a
computer system.
 Software can be divided into two broad type: Application and
systems
 Classes of Software
◦ Systems software
 Set of programs that coordinates activities and
functions of the hardware and other various programs
◦ Application software
 Programs that help users solve computing problems
 Application Software
Different forms of applications software are used to support end-users in their
information management tasks whether;

They are general tasks such as writing a memo using a word-processing

application or

 Specific tasks such as analyzing the number of company debtors using an

accounting system.
The main categories of software cont’d
The main categories of software cont’d
The main categories of Application software
cont’d
 Enterprise Applications

 Enterprise applications are used to support business processes such as

marketing, sales, logistics and manufacturing.

A common goal for enterprise applications is to integrate information across these

different processes to increase process efficiency.

Enterprise Resource Planning systems is the main enterprise applications

system.
 ERP system must integrate with existing systems, often known as legacy
systems and also desktop or office applications.
 Business Applications
 CRM – customer relationship management – managing personal details of customers,
their product, order history and how they have responded to marketing campaigns.

SCM – supply chain management – managing the processes for obtaining raw
materials or services from suppliers and the distribution of products.

 SRM – supplier relationship management – managing the financial and business

relationships with different suppliers – large companies will have thousands of suppliers.
 Business Applications

PLM – product lifecycle management – managing the development

and production of a new product from conception to manufacturing.

Financials – used by the finance department to manage all the financial

transactions associated with managing the relationships listed above.

HRM – human resource management – managing the recruitment,

development and reward of staff within an organization.
 Departmental Applications

Electronic document management systems (EDMS) are used to

provide an organization with all the procedures, guidelines,
product information and standards necessary for it to operate.
Specialist software is used to support workers in one area of the
business which is not closely integrated with other areas of the
business.
Unlike enterprise applications, it is less important that these
departmental applications or their data are accessed by other parts of the
business.
 Departmental Applications

◦ Examples of specialist departmental applications include:

Computer-aided design (CAD) software for producing product or architectural
plans.
Computer-aided engineering (CAE).
Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM)
Financial modelling software for assessing company growth
Analysis software to assess the performance of marketing campaigns
Software for keeping an inventory or audit of IT equipment within a company.
 Office software Applications
Office software Applications are applications software with a more limited scope
which is used by the individual or to collaborate with co-workers.

The best-known example of this software is ‘office software’ such as Microsoft

Office.

Office software’ is sometimes referred to as ‘personal productivity software.

Personal productivity software is a software application that support staff in

administrative task.
 Categorizing applications by level of decision making

• Information management applications are also commonly categorized by

their role in supporting organizational planning and control.

• The 1965 ‘Anthony model’ identifies three levels of management

decision making.
Strategic Applications: Support decisions taken by senior managers
to direct the future of an organization. Long-term perspective, typically
greater than six months.
 Categorizing applications by level of decision making

Tactical applications; Support decisions taken by less senior

departmental managers which control planning to achieve strategic
objectives. Medium-term perspective, typically one month to twelve
months.

Operational applications; Support decisions taken on a day-to-day

basis by all types of employees during the operation of the business.
Short-term perspective, typically to resolve an immediate issue.
Categorizing applications by level of decision making
 Groupware
Software supporting group working and collaboration by employees.
Groupware assists teams of people to work together because it provides
key group functions; the ‘3Cs’.
Communication is the core groupware feature which allows
information to be shared or sent to others using electronic mail.
Groupware for conferencing is sometimes known as ‘computer-
mediated communication (CMC)’ software.
Collaboration is the act of joint cooperation in solving a business
problem or undertaking a task.
 Groupware cont.
◦ Coordination is the act of making sure that a team is working effectively and
meeting its goals.
◦ This includes distributing tasks to team members, reviewing their performance
or perhaps steering an electronic meeting.

• Groupware may reduce some of the problems of traditional meetings, such as

finding a place and a time to meet, a lack of available Information or even
dominance by one forceful individual in a meeting.

• Groupware improves the efficiency of decision making and its effectiveness

by encouraging contributions from all group members.
 Role of Systems Software
System software…
Manages the computer resources such as the memory and processor and other
hardware components.

Is an interface between application software and hardware.

Controls the computer hardware and acts as an interface with application

programs.
 Operating
Application and
software systems
software
Users
Hardware
Operating System Functions
Provide a user interface
Managing access to systems resources; the operating system restricts
access to certain files or applications.
To enable this restricted access, users have to log on using an access
control system.
Managing system resources for different applications. Modern
operating systems enable multi-tasking,
Providing utilities for systems management; a disk defragmenter is
used periodically to improve the performance of the disk access.
 Operating System Functions
◦ Managing data transfer with hardware; The operating system
manages data transfer events from the mouse and the keyboard.
◦ It also controls saving data to storage devices such as a CD or hard
disk.

◦ Managing the file system; The operating system enables folders to

be created, modified and deleted.
◦ For the files, within each folder, the operating system enables each file to be
protected (set to read-only) and permissions can be set so that only certain
categories of users can access them.
Network software
◦ Network software or the network operating system (NOS) is another type of
systems software used to control access to and flow of information on a network
◦ The NOS has these main functions:
◦ Managing shared hardware resources. Examples includes file servers, backup
devices or printers.
◦ Managing shared data resources. Access to files on the servers are controlled
through the NOS.
◦ Managing communications between different systems. The NOS enables data
to be transferred between different machines.
◦ Managing access control. Managing access to different resources.
 User Interface
User interface is function of the operating system that allows individuals to
access and command the computer.
Command-based user interface
◦ A particular user interface that requires text commands be given to the
computer to perform basic activities.
◦ E.g., unix, DOS.
Graphical user interface (GUI)
◦ A user interface that uses pictures (icons) and menus displayed on the
screen to send commands to the computer system.
◦ E.g. Windows, MAC OS.
 Software Concepts
Network capability
◦ Aids in connecting the computer to a network.

Access to system resources

◦ Provides security for unauthorized access.

File management
◦ Ensures that files in secondary storage are available when needed, and
they are protected against unauthorized usage.
 Utility Programs
◦ Utility programs…
◦ Programs used to merge and sort sets of data, keep track
of computer jobs being run, compress files of data before
they are stored or transmitted over a network, and
perform other important tasks.
 Selecting appropriate software
Selecting the most suitable software for an organization is an involved
process.

For all organizations, regardless of size, software is a significant

investment.

Selecting the best type of software requires a systematic approach since

the software selected will affect its operational efficiency and
effectiveness.
 Selecting appropriate software cont’d
 Identify criteria and functionality for new system
 Take the make-rent-or-buy decision
 Identify possible suppliers
 Produce a shortlist of preferred suppliers
 Select supplier from shortlist
 Criteria for selecting software
◦ Functionality: The features of the application. Describes how well the
application meets the business need.
◦ Ease of use: Every system takes some time to learn, but system use should be
intuitive to minimize the time needed to learn how to use them.
 A well constructed piece of software will make it fast to conduct common task.
◦ Performance: The speed of the application to perform different functions.
◦ Scalability: Describes how well a system can adapt to higher workloads
which arise as a company grows.
◦ Compatibility or interoperability: This term refers to how easy it is to
integrate the application with other applications.
 Criteria for selecting software
◦ Extensibility: Describes how easy it is to add new functions or
features to a package by adding new modules from the original
vendor or other vendors.
◦ Stability or reliability: All applications have errors or bugs and
applications vary in the number of times they fail, depending on how
well they have been tested since they were first introduced
◦ Security: Capabilities for restricting access to applications should be
assessed.
◦ Support: Levels of support and the cost of support from the software
vendor will vary.
 The Make, Buy or Rent Decision
When an organization identifies the need for a new information
management application, it has a range of options for obtaining the system.
 Bespoke: With a bespoke development, a completely new, unique
application is developed from scratch through programming of a
solution.
 This is the costliest approach to obtaining applications since a team of technical
staff is required to design, build and test the application.
 Off-the-shelf or packaged: In a packaged implementation, a standard
existing system is purchased from a software vendor and installed on
computers located within an organization.
 The make, buy or rent decision
 Hosted solution (packaged). With a hosted solution, a standard system is
used, but it is not managed within the company; instead there is a third-party
applications service provider (ASP) or web services approach.
 Utility computing involves treating all aspects of IT as a commodity service
like water, gas, phone or electricity where payment is according to usage.
 This includes not only software which may be used on a pay-per-use basis, but also
using hardware.
 Tailored development is an off-the-shelf system or hosted solution which is
tailored according to an organization’s needs.
 Electronic commerce (e-commerce)
 E-business and e-commerce are now widely recognized concepts
which determine the types of software applications and information
management approaches used by organizations
Electronic commerce or e-commerce involves much more than
electronically mediated financial transactions between organizations
and customers
Most analysts now consider e-commerce to refer to both financial
and informational electronically mediated transactions between an
organization and any third party it deals with
 Electronic commerce (e-commerce)
E-commerce: Describes business that is conducted over the Internet
using any of the applications that rely on the Internet, such as e-mail,
instant messaging, shopping carts

E-commerce is the exchange of information across electronic

networks, at any stage in the supply chain, whether within an
organization, between businesses, between businesses and
consumers, or between the public and private sector, whether paid or
unpaid.
 Electronic commerce (e-commerce)
 All these definitions imply that electronic commerce is not solely
restricted to the actual buying and selling of products, but also applies to
pre-sale and post sales activities across the supply chain
 When evaluating the opportunities for e-commerce within an organization,
it is useful to identify the role of buy-side and sell-side e-commerce
transactions
Sell-side e-commerce refers to transactions involved with selling products
to an organization’s customers which is often referred to as Internet
marketing or e-marketing
Buy-side e-commerce refers to business-to-business transactions to
procure resources needed by an organization from its suppliers
 Electronic commerce (e-commerce)
In a university recruitment context, sell-side e-commerce includes both the
inbound e-marketing activities such as web self-service and online
applications, and
 Outbound e-marketing activities involve using e-mail to communicate,
such as reminding prospective students to visit a university on an open day
or sending out an e-newsletter.
 Electronic commerce (e-commerce)
 In a buy-side e-commerce it is the responsibility of those in the
operational and procurement functions of an organization.
If a university is building a new lecture hall or computer lab, the
university and its suppliers may use the Internet to procure facilities such
as furniture and computers.
 It is commonplace to identify both buy-side and sell-side e-
commerce transactions in terms of whether an organization is
transacting with consumers (business-to-consumer (B2C)) or other
businesses (business-to-business (B2B)).
 E-business
All digital information exchanges supporting business
processes that are mediated through Internet technology
including transactions within and between organizations
The transformation of key business processes using Internet
technologies.
E-commerce is a subset of e-business.
 ‘E-business is often also used to refer to the electronic
linkages that become possible with stakeholders.
 E-business benefits and management issues
The benefits to business of adopting e-business are a mix of
cost reduction achieved through lower costs of information
transfer and processing and the potential for increased revenue
arising from increased reach to a larger audience.

The Internet also offers opportunities for building relationships

with existing customers through providing online services and
e-mail communications
E-business
 E-business benefits and management issues
 There are many management issues involved with the adoption of e-
business, but perhaps the most significant are involved with managing
the organizational transformation needed to support e-business.

 How new organizational structures, new responsibilities, new

applications and new marketing and supply chain management tactics
may be needed.

 The Internet can also be used to impact business strategy through

offering opportunities for developing online products or exploiting new
markets.
Internet, intranets and extranets
Intranet and extranet are two terms use to describe applications of
Internet technologies that do not only involve communicating with
customers, but rather involve company staff (intranet) and third parties
such as suppliers and distributors (extranet).

 They use the same technologies as the public Internet - data transfer
over the Internet network and the access of information through web
browsers and e-mail
Internet, intranets and extranets
Intranet: A network within a single company which enables access to
company information using the familiar tools of the Internet such as
web browsers.
Only staff within the company can access the intranet, which will be
password-protected

Extranet: Formed by extending the intranet beyond a company to

customers, suppliers, collaborators or even competitors. This is again
password-protected to prevent access by all Internet users
Intranet benefits and management issues
 Improved information sharing

Enhanced communications and information sharing

Increased consistency of information

Increased accuracy of information

Reduced or eliminated processing

Easier organizational publishing

 Extranet benefits and management
issues
Information sharing in secure environment

Cost reduction

Order processing and distribution

Customer service
 Management Issues
Are the levels of usage sufficient?
 Extranets require a substantial investment, but as with a public-facing website,
efforts need to be made to encourage usage since we are asking the users of the
service to change their behaviour.

 It is in the organization’s interest to encourage usage, to achieve a return on their

investment and achieve the cost savings and efficiencies intended.

 Education will be needed to explain the benefits of the extranet and incentives
such as increased commission may also be used.
 Management Issues
 Is it effective and efficient?
 Controls must be put in place to assess how well it is working and
improve its performance.

 Return on investment should be assessed.

 The direct and indirect cost savings achieved through each extranet
transaction can be calculated to help assess effectiveness.
 Management Issues cont.
Who has ownership of the extranet?
Functions with an interest in an extranet include;
 IT (technical infrastructure),
 Finance (setting payments and exchanging purchase orders and invoices),
 Marketing (providing marketing materials and sales data to distributors or
providing services to customers)
 Operations Management (exchanging information about inventory).
Clearly the needs of these different parties must be resolved and
management controls established.
 Management Issues

What are the levels of service quality?

 Since an extranet will become a vital part of an organization’s
operating process, a problem with the speed or availability of the
extranet could cause loss of a lot of money.
 Management Issues
Is the quality of the information adequate?
The most important attributes of information quality is that it is
up-to-date and accurate.
 Customer relationship management
applications
 Customer relationship management (CRM) is a term that refers to
practices, strategies and technologies that companies use to manage
and analyze customer interactions and data throughout the customer
lifecycle, with the goal of improving business relationships with
customers, assisting in customer retention and driving sales growth.
Customer relationship management applications
◦ A CRM system supports the following marketing applications
Sales force automation (SFA). Sales representatives are supported in
their account management through tools to arrange and record
customer visits.
 Customer service management. Representatives in contact centers
respond to customer requests for information by using an intranet to
access databases containing information on the customer, products and
previous queries.
Customer relationship management applications
◦ A CRM system supports the following marketing applications
Managing the sales process. This can be achieved through e-commerce sites, or
in a B2B context by supporting sales representatives by recording the sales process
(SFA).
Campaign management. Managing ad, direct mail, e-mail and other campaigns.
Analysis. Through technologies such as data warehouses and approaches such as
data mining, customers’ characteristics, their purchase behaviour and campaigns
can be analyzed in order to optimize the marketing mix.
 Types of customer data held in database
Personal and profile data. These include contact details and characteristics for profiling
customers such as age, sex, socio-economic group (B2C) and business size, industry sector
and individual’s role in the buying decision (B2B).

Transaction data. A record of each purchase transaction including specific product

purchased, quantities, category, location, date and time and channel where purchased.

Communications data. A record of which customers have been targeted by campaigns,

and their response to them (outbound communications).
Also includes a record of inbound enquiries and sales representative visits and reports (B2B).
 Supply chain management applications
Supply chain management: The coordination of all supply activities of
an organization from its suppliers and partners to its customers.

Value chain: A model for analysis of how supply chain activities can add
value to products and services delivered to the customer.

Value network: The links between an organization and its strategic and
non-strategic partners that form its external value chain
 Benefits of Supply Chain Management
Increased efficiency of individual processes
Reduced complexity of the supply chain
Improved data integration between elements of the supply
chain
Reduced cost through outsourcing
Innovation
 Q&A

Thank you