Computer Software

Computer software is the set of programs and associated data that drive the computer hardware to do the things that it does, such as performing arithmetic calculations or generating and printing a report. Software typically comes in one of two forms: custom-written application programs or off-the-shelf software packages. Custom written application programs are usually written by an organization’s own programming team or by professional contract programmers to satisfy unique organizational requirements. Off-theshelf software packages are produced by software development companies and made commercially available to the public. 

 

They usually fall in one of two main categories, namely system software or application software. The former includes such specialized programs as operating systems, compilers, utility programs, and device drivers. While these programs are important—and necessary to the overall performance of an information system (especially from the ‘‘machine’’ perspective), they are not the primary focus of corporate information systems. Their basic functions are more machine-oriented than human-oriented.
 

Application software is designed to more directly help human users in the performance of their specific job responsibilities, such as business decision making, inventory tracking, and customer record keeping. From a software perspective, this is what corporate information systems are primarily concerned with.
One of the very important information systems functions is systems analysis and design, that is, analyzing a client’s business situation (or problem), with respect to information processing, and designing and implementing an appropriate usually computerized—solution to the problem. Information systems professionals who specialize in this area are known as systems analysts.
 

The process begins with a detailed determination of the client’s information requirements and business processes. The solution frequently involves some programming, as well as the use of an appropriate application software package(s), such as a database management system (DBMS) for designing and implementing a database for the client. It may also involve some networking considerations, depending on the user’s requirements and goals. Some typical organizational information systems that can result from a systems analysis and design effort include the following.
 

Transaction processing systems: These record and track an organization’s transactions, such as sales transactions or inventory items, from the moment each is first created until it leaves the system. This helps managers at the day to day operational level keep track of daily transactions as well as make decisions on when to place orders, make shipments, and so on.
 

Management information and reporting systems. These systems provide mid-level and senior managers with periodic, often summarized, reports that help them assess performance (e.g., a particular region’s sales performance in a given time period) and make appropriate decisions based on that information.
 

Decision support systems: These systems are designed to help mid-level and senior managers make those difficult decisions about which not every relevant parameter is known. These decisions, referred to as semistructured decisions, are characteristic of the types of decisions made at the higher levels of management. A decision on whether or not to introduce a particular (brandnew) product into an organization’s product line is an example of a semistructured decision. Another example is the decision on whether or not to open a branch in a foreign country. Some of the parameters that go into the making of these decisions are known. However, there are also many unknown f a c t or s—henc e t he ‘‘semistructuredness’’ of these decisions. The value of a decision support system (DSS) is in its ability to permit ‘‘what-if’’ analyses (e.g., What if interest rates rose by 2 percent? What if our main competitor lowered its price by 5 percent? What if import tariffs are imposed or increased in the foreign country in which we do, or plan to do, business?). That is, a DSS helps the user (decision maker) to model and analyze different scenarios in order to arrive at a final, reasonable decision, based on the analysis. There are decision support systems that help groups (as opposed to individuals) to make consensus-based decisions. These are known as group decision support systems (GDSS).
 

A type of decision support system that is geared primarily toward high-level senior managers is the executive information system (EIS) or executive support system (ESS). While this has the capability to do very detailed analyses, just like a regular DSS, it is designed primarily to help executives keep track of a few selected items that are critical to their day-to-day high-level decisions. Examples of such items include performance trends for selected product or customer groups, interest rate yields, and the market performance of major competitors.
 

Expert systems: An expert system is built by modeling into the computer the thought processes and decision-making heuristics of a recognized expert in a particular field. Thus, this type of information system is theoretically capable of making decisions for a user, based on input received from the user. However, due to the complex and uncertain nature of most business decision environments, expert system technology has traditionally been used in these environments primarily like decision support systems that is, to help a human decision maker arrive at a reasonable decision, rather than to actually make the decision for the user.