Information system, a tool for managementIn the orb of Modern
Technology, the information system is such
where data are composed, classified and
processed decoding the effect thereon to endow with an incorporated chain of
information for additional transmission and analyzing. In a progressively more strong-willed
worldwide atmosphere, Information System plays the role as ‘enabler and
facilitator’, which endows with tactical values to the officialdom and considerable
step up to the excellence of administration. ‘An Information System is a
particular type of work system that uses information technology to detain, put
on the air, store, retrieve, manipulate or display information, thereby partisan
one or more other work structure’. In totting up to taking sides assessment
making, co-ordination and control, information systems may also help managers
and workers investigate problems, envisage complex subjects and generate new merchandise
or services.
Work systems and
the information systems that support typically undergo at least four phases:
a) initiation,
the process of defining the need to change an existing work system
b) Development,
the process of acquiring and configuring/installing the necessary hardware,
software and other resources
c) Implementation,
the process of building new system operational in the organisation, and
d) Operation and maintenance, the process
concerned with the operation of the system, correcting any problems that may
arise and ensuring that the system is delivering the anticipating benefits. The
management of these processes can be achieved and controlled using a series of
techniques and management tools which, collectively, tend to be known as
Structured
Methodologies. Two important
methodologies:
v PRINCE (Projects IN a Controlled
Environment), and
v SSADM (Structured Systems
Analysis and Design Methodology), developed by the Central Computing and
Telecommunications Agency (CCTA), are used widely in the UK public sector and
in some Developing Countries, like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal etc. Prior to
comment on the application of these methods in the Developing Countries, it
would be pertinent to describe brief outlines of these methodologies.
PRINCE is a scheme
administration process; not system improvement, which envelop the system of
government, management and control of projects. Since its introduction in 1989,
PRINCE has turned out to be widely used in both the public and private sectors
and is now the UK’s de facto
standard for project management. Although PRINCE was originally urbanized for
the needs of IT projects, the method has also been used on many non-IT
projects. PRINCE requires a dedicated
team to be established to manage and carry out each project. It therefore aims
to provide a supporting framework between the current state of affairs and the
planned future state. PRINCE focuses attention on end-products rather than
activities, ensuring that the organisation actually gets what it wants out of
the project. Quality is seen as a necessary and integral part of the project
and the focus on end-products enables the criteria by which quality is to be
judged to be specified at the outset of the project. It requires the
development of a viable “business case” for the venture at its outset and that
the business case requirements to be at regular intervals reviewed.