Research Paper - (referencing sources) write a two-page Research Paper identifyi

Question

Research Paper - (referencing sources) write a two-page

Research Paper identifying the key components of information systems management: Five components of an Information System, Porter’s four competitive strategies model, Open Source Software Research Project, Cloud Profitability, data warehouses and data marts, and Business Process Management.

Provide a description of an organization you are familiar with (possibly a company you have worked for in the past or are currently working for) and describe briefly what services they contribute.

Then, select three out of the six questions below, and provide detailed answers, supporting those answers by referencing any sources used.

Be sure to use examples from your research to strengthen your argument as needed.

· What personal knowledge management tools does this organization utilize?

· What steps has this organization taken in securing their information and knowledge?

· What has this organization done to gain and sustain an advantage over their competitors?

· Describe in detail how this organization manages the components of its IT infrastructure.

· In what ways does the organization demonstrate successful collaboration?

· Identify at least two types of hardware and two types of software used by this organization. APA rules for formatting, quoting, paraphrasing, citing, and listing of sources are to be followed. Information about accessing the Blackboard Grading Rubric for this assignment is provided below.

Explanation / Answer

Technology can be thought of as the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes. From the invention of the wheel to the harnessing of electricity for artificial lighting, technology is a part of our lives in so many ways that we tend to take it for granted. As discussed before, the first three components of information systems – hardware, software, and data – all fall under the category of technology. Each of these will get its own chapter and a much lengthier discussion, but we will take a moment here to introduce them so we can get a full understanding of what an information system is.

Besides the components of hardware, software, and data, which have long been considered the core technology of information systems, it has been suggested that one other component should be added: communication. An information system can exist without the ability to communicate – the first personal computers were stand-alone machines that did not access the Internet. However, in today’s hyper-connected world, it is an extremely rare computer that does not connect to another device or to a network. Technically, the networking communication component is made up of hardware and software, but it is such a core feature of today’s information systems that it has become its own category.

Now that we have explored the different components of information systems, we need to turn our attention to the role that information systems play in an organization. So far we have looked at what the components of an information system are, but what do these components actually do for an organization? From our definitions above, we see that these components collect, store, organize, and distribute data throughout the organization. In fact, we might say that one of the roles of information systems is to take data and turn it into information, and then transform that into organizational knowledge. As technology has developed, this role has evolved into the backbone of the organization.

Strategic information systems (SIS) are information systems that are developed in response to corporate business initiative. They are intended to give competitive advantage to the organization. They may deliver a product or service that is at a lower cost, that is differentiated, that focuses on a particular market segment, or is innovative.

Strategic information management (SIM) is a salient feature in the world of information technology (IT). In a nutshell, SIM helps businesses and organizations categorize, store, process and transfer the information they create and receive. It also offers tools for helping companies apply metrics and analytical tools to their information repositories, allowing them to recognize opportunities for growth and pinpoint ways to improve operational efficiency.

Five components of an Information System, Porter’s four competitive strategies model,

It is imperative that these questions be answered by analysis, which will be the starting point for good strategic thinking, and will open up possibilities for the role of information systems.Industry profitability is a function of five basic competitive forces:

Every business or organization in the world possesses huge amounts of information, data, knowledge and expertise and this amount keeps mounting with each passing day. In order to use this knowledge in the best possible way, there is the need for a system that can collect data, store it, share it and manage it effectively. Knowledge management is a concept that deals with this storing and managing of information or data possessed by a working organization.

Personal knowledge management tools does this organization utilize

Personal knowledge management (PKM) is a collection of processes that a person uses to gather, classify, store, search, retrieve, and share knowledge in his or her daily activities.Top-down training models have not kept pace with our evolving work and work places. So how do we help our organizations lead these changes while advancing our own skills.

Steps has this organization taken in securing their information and knowledge

1) Identify and prioritize confidential information

The vast majority of organizations don't know how to start protecting confidential information. By categorizing types of information by value and confidentiality, companies can prioritize what data to secure first. In my experience, customer information systems or employee record systems are the easiest places to start because only a few specific systems typically own the ability to update that information.

2) Study current information flows and perform risk assessment

It's essential to understand current workflows, both procedurally and in practice, to see how confidential information flows around an organization. Identifying the major business processes that involve confidential information is a straightforward exercise, but determining the risk of leakage requires a more in-depth examination.

3) Determine appropriate access, usage and information-distribution policies

Based on the risk assessment, an organization can quickly craft distribution policies for various types of confidential information. These policies govern exactly who can access, use or receive which type of content and when, as well as oversee enforcement actions for violations of those policies.

4) Implement a monitoring and enforcement system

The ability to monitor and enforce policy adherence is crucial to the protection of confidential information assets. Control points must be established to monitor information usage and traffic, verifying compliance with distribution policies and performing enforcement actions for violation of those policies. Like airport security checkpoints, monitoring systems must be able to accurately identify threats and prevent them from passing those control points.

5) Review progress periodically

Lather, rinse and repeat. For maximum effectiveness, organizations need to regularly review their systems, policies and training. By using the visibility provided by monitoring systems, organizations can improve employee training, expand deployment and systematically eliminate vulnerabilities. In addition, systems should be reviewed extensively in the event of a breach to analyze system failures and to flag suspicious activity. External audits can also prove useful in checking for vulnerabilities and threats.

This organization done to gain and sustain an advantage over their competitors

A sustainable competitive advantage occurs when an organization acquires or develops an attribute or combination of attributes that allows it to outperform its competitors. These attributes can include access to natural resources or access to highly trained and skilled personnel human resources. It is an advantage, and must have some life; the competition must not be able to do it right away, or it is not sustainable. It is an advantage that is not easily copied and, thus, can be maintained over a long period of time. Competitive advantage is a key determinant of superior performance, and ensures survival and prominent placing in the market. Superior performance is the ultimate, desired goal of a firm; competitive advantage becomes the foundation. It gives firms the ability to stay ahead of present or potential competition and ensure market leadership.

Describe in detail how this organization manages the components of its IT infrastructure.

To perform business processes and for business intelligence, it is often
essential to draw information from different sources or different applications. However,
with the increasing complexity of an organization’s software needs, it is often impossible
to get all of the various applications to integrate seamlessly. In some cases, software
companies (such as Microsoft and IBM) offer a wide range of products, all of which can
interoperate quite well. However, business organizations sometimes shy away from being
completely dependent on a single vendor for their software needs. One way to increase the
independence while still being able to integrate various software applications is the use of
Web services.

organization demonstrate successful collaboration

Connect to the real world

Over time, company results tend towards the average for their industries; the best and the worst companies all become more average. And even during times of rapid growth, a significant percentage of companies are expected to go out of business. Coping with continuous changes in the business environment is not easy.

Understand how work gets done

Companies exist to organize work better than either customers can do by themselves or markets can do it for them. Ronald Coase won a Nobel Prize for Economics in 1991 for this insight. Collaboration helps work get done more effectively by bringing the right information, at the right time, to the right people, to make better work decisions.

Design a collaborative organization

Collaboration isn’t something you merely add to improve how work is done. It also requires that you look at how you should be organized to do work more effectively. Improving collaboration often involves restructuring the organization. That might mean redeveloping work teams to improve information flows, redesigning jobs to make better use of that information, or incentivizing collaborative behavior.

Identify at least two types of hardware and two types of software used by this organization

With the increased complexity of software, it is almost
impossible to build applications that are error free, and no matter whether such
applications are operating systems, Web sites, or enterprise-wide software, there is the
potential of unforeseen problems with the software. Typically, software developers will
account for these unforeseen problems by incorporating a patch management system into the application. Patch management is typically based on an online system that checks a Web service for available patches.

Application software are programs that direct the performance of a particular use, or application, of computers to meet the information processing needs of end users.

managing the software infrastructure is a complex task, often resulting in large fluctuations in operating costs for organizations.To better control such costs, business organizations increasingly use the services of application service providers (ASP).
.

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