Information Technology
Principles, Practices, and Opportunities
Information Age
 Information technology provides the means to
rethink/recreate/reengineer conventional business processes.
 Reengineering: The reshaping of business processes to
remove barriers that prohibit an organization from providing
better products and services and to help the organization
capitalize on its strengths.
 Business Processes: Collections of activities, often spanning
several departments, that take one or more kinds of input and
create a result that is of value to a company’s customers.
Information Age
Welcome to the Information Age
The Characteristics of the Information Age
 Success in business is largely determined by the effectiveness
with which information technology is used.
 Information technology is embedded in many products and
services.
Welcome to the Information Age
The Characteristics of the Information Age
(Continued)
 Reengineering efforts to attain greater productivity:
 Industrial Age - Division of Labor: Separation of work process into
component task, with different workers specializing in each of the
tasks.
 Information Age – Teamwork, Interconnection, and Shared
Information.
What is Information Technology?
Definition
 A term used to refer to a wide variety of items and abilities
used in the creation, storage, and dispersal of data and
information. Its three main components are computers,
communications networks, and know-how.
What is Information Technology?
Definition (Continued)
 Data: Raw facts, figures, and details.
 Information: An organized, meaningful, and useful interpretation
of data.
 Knowledge: An awareness and understanding of a set of
information and how that information can be put to the best use.
What is Information Technology?
What is Information Technology?
Computers (Continued)
 Hardware: The computer and its associated equipment.
 Program: A set of instructions that directs a computer to perform
certain tasks and produce certain results.
 Software: The general term for a set of instructions that controls a
computer or a communications network.
What is Information Technology?
Computers (Continued)
 System: A set of components that interact to accomplish a
purpose.
 Information System: A business information system designed to
produce the information needed for successful management of a
structured problem, process, department, or business.
What is Information Technology?
What is Information Technology?
Communications Networks
 Communication: The sending and receiving of data and
information over a communications network.
 Communications Network: A set of locations, or nodes, consisting
of hardware, programs, and information linked together as a
system that transmits and receives data and information.
 Data Communication: The transmission of data and information
through a communications medium.
What is Information Technology?
Know-How
 The capability to do something well.
 Information technology know-how consists of:
 Familiarity with the tools of IT; including the Internet
 Possession of the skills needed to use these tools
 An understanding of when to use IT to solve a problem or create an
opportunity
The Principles of Information Technology
The Functions of Information Technology
 Capture: The process of compiling detailed records of activities.
 Processing: The process of converting, analyzing, computing,
and synthesizing all forms of data or information.
 Data Processing
 Information Processing
 Word Processing
 Image Processing
 Voice Processing
The Functions of Information Technology
 Generation: The process of organizing information into a useful
form, whether as numbers, text, sound, or visual image.
 Storage and Retrieval: Storage is the computer process of
retaining information for future use. Retrieval is the process by
which a computer locates and copies stored data or information
for further processing or for transmission to another user.
The Functions of Information Technology
 Transmission: The computer process of distributing information
over a communications network.
 Electronic Mail, or E-Mail
 Voice Messaging, or Voice Mail
The Benefits of Information Technology
The Opportunities of Information Technology
 Helping People
 Solving Problems
 Problem: A perceived difference between an existing condition and a
desired condition.
 Problem Solving: The process of recognizing a problem, identifying
alternatives for solving it, and successfully implementing the chosen
solution.
The Principles of Information Technolo
Information Technology Is All Around Us,
Improving Our Lives
 Television
 Education
 Training
 Entertainment
 Shipping
Information Technology Is All Around Us,
Improving Our Lives
 Paperwork
 Money and Investments
 Agriculture
 Taxation and Accounting
 Health and Medicine
Information Technology Is All Around Us,
Improving Our Lives (Continued)
 Manufacturing
 Journalism
 Energy
 Sports